Canucks' Schenn made an odd DIY addition to his hockey skates
Vancouver Canucks defenceman Luke Schenn isn’t particularly precious about his hockey gear.
“I couldn’t even tell you what skates I’m using or gloves,” said Schenn. “I know they’re Bauer, but I don’t know what model.”
For the record, Schenn is currently wearing Bauer Supreme Shadow skates, but he’s made one crucial DIY addition.
“I’m the only guy in the history of the NHL, probably, to have zip ties in the front of the skates,” he said.
Daniel Wagner/Daily Hive
Yes, Schenn has literal zip ties across the bottom-two eyelets of each of his skates. And it’s for a very good reason.
“Obviously, I’m a heavier guy. I go through a lot more skates just because I’m so heavy and they break down,” said Schenn. “When I push — I think it’s by the angle I skate but also the heaviness — to generate power, the skate pushes apart.
“So, these zip ties, they keep the boot together. It’s probably a trainer’s nightmare.”
Head equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton and assistant equipment manager Brodie St. Jacques, who happened to be in the Canucks’ room at the time and overheard Schenn, could only laugh.
“We’re getting into the zip ties!” said Schenn to Hamilton and St. Jacques with a grin.
Top-end skates typically have a very stiff boot, as it provides the most direct transfer of power from a player’s foot to the ice. Any softness in the boot absorbs energy, resulting in poorer performance.
For Schenn, even the stiffest boot had too much give, especially around the bottom of the boot near the toe box. The zip ties provide that extra stiffness.
“What’s your strongest pair of zip ties?”
Schenn has been using the zip ties on his skates for nearly a decade, starting with his fourth NHL team, where a veteran equipment manager came up with the unusual solution to Schenn’s issues with his skates.
“I started it in Arizona when I was playing there,” he said. “Stan Wilson was the head equipment guy, had been there for like 30 years with the [Winnipeg] Jets. I was just, like, ‘My skates are falling apart. Can I make them any stiffer?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s as stiff as they go. Why don’t we try zip-tying them?'”
Wilson is still the equipment manager with the Utah Mammoth and is heading into his 37th NHL season with the same franchise, moving with the team from Winnipeg to Phoenix and now to Utah.
The last couple of seasons, when Schenn himself was with the new Winnipeg Jets, he ran into a new problem.
“In Winnipeg, the zip ties kept snapping,” said Schenn. “So, they went to Home Depot, and they’re like, ‘What’s your strongest pair of zip ties?'”
Red clarified that now they just order Schenn’s zip ties off Amazon.
“I was one of the first guys to start wearing shotblockers”
The white zip ties are easy to miss, partly because they blend into Schenn’s white laces but also because Schenn wears moulded shotblockers over the boot of his skate to provide extra protection.
He started wearing them in his rookie year with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I think I was one of the first guys to start wearing shotblockers,” said Schenn. “Ron Wilson, in 2008, he wanted his defencemen to come out on the flank against the power play and turn their feet to block shots.
“They had just started making these moulded custom shotblockers, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna start using these things.'”
Schenn suggested that what he really needs is a ski boot-style ratchet system on his skates to keep them tight across the top, which can be seen in some modern goalie skates like the Bauer Konekt series.
There are two issues with a ratchet system. One is a practical concern, as the ratchets would be more likely to break from blocking a shot and would be harder to replace than laces, so they would need some serious shotblockers overtop to protect them.
The other issue is aesthetics.
“No one wants to have that bad a style, besides me,” said Schenn with a laugh.