Sparx Skate Sharpener | Professional Skate Sharpening | Sparx Hockey (2024)

FAQs

Do NHL teams use Sparx? ›

PRO-LEVEL ACCURACY

Used by more than 25 NHL teams, the Sparx Sharpener produces professional results with ease.

There's a reason more than 25 NHL teams use Sparx Sharpening technology - professional results every time with virtually no adjustment needed.

Portability is one of the best features of the new Sparx Sharpener. Can you sharpen goalie skates? Yes.

Connor McDavid uses custom Tydan Performance Blades. This Hockey Blade curve is a great option for players who play the game with the puck on the toe of their stick, due to the toe curve with an open face.

Jochen Hecht of the Buffalo Sabres, Dennis Seidenberg of the New York Islanders, Marcel Goc of the Nashville Predators, and Christian Ehrhoff of the Buffalo Sabres are NHL players who use T-Blade skates.

Most skates are sharpened by cutting an arc in between the two edges, known as the radius of hollow (ROH). This is measured in inches. Hockey player and goalie skates are often sharpened with a ROH from 3/8” up to 1-1/2”. Figure skates are generally sharpened to 1”, and speed skates are COMPLETELY FLAT!

Each player also has his own preference as to how often his skates are sharpened. Some players may go a couple of games between sharpenings, while others may even request that their skates are sharpened between periods. Occasionally, a player will even change the depth of his hollow depending on ice conditions.

While your skates can never be too sharp, they can certainly be too dull and that can take a whole lot of fun out of the game. For those skaters who do feel their skates are too sharp at times, we recommend reviewing our post on selecting an ROH. You should experiment with a slightly shallower radius.

In my experience, when blades are properly maintained and sharpened properly by a skilled tech after every 20-30 hours of skating, most skaters can get around 30 sharpenings out of a blade.

How to tell if skate blades are dull? ›

A quick test for a sharp edge is to hold the skate upside down, place one thumbnail on the edge of the blade and gently pull down and away from the blade on three or four parts of the blade. A good, sharp blade will easily scrape a layer of your thumbnail, leaving the remnants on the blade.

PRO-LEVEL ACCURACY

Used by more than 25 NHL teams, the Sparx Sharpener produces professional results with ease.

The Sharpener Pro features the same high-tech third generation Sparx technology as the standard sharpener but includes a re-designed premium pro base. Keep your sharpener on the Pro base when at home and easily transfer it to the standard base when you hit the road.

Love my Sparx Beam! Super easy to use and seems to be extremely accurate. Love it so far!

Some wear skates until they fall apart. Some prefer the new skate feel and switch them out often. Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault changes skates every three or four games and goes through 20 to 25 pairs in a single season. Some players have different stick flexes they use throughout the season.

The NHL does not use synthetic ice for its games. The league uses natural ice for all matches, made by freezing water on a rink surface. However, other aspects of hockey do use synthetic ice. Many NHL teams use synthetic ice for practice.

Reasoner recently told officials with the NHL Players' Association the heated blades “maybe helped me accelerate out of a turn,” said a person familiar with the matter. However, Lapointe said he used the heated blades three times – once during an NHL game – and was unimpressed.