By Terry Martin
Are you serious about being a better hockey player or ringette player? How about improving your skating performance as a competitor in figure skating? If so, what would you do to improve your chances of succeeding in the sport you love? Well, you could ask Olympic and World gold medalists Sale and Pelletier, or NHL players sporting championship rings like Jay Bouwmeester, Todd Marchant, Doug Weight, or Ray Whitney and their answers would be the same: “Work with the best.” That is both people and tools. The most important tool-of-the-trade for all high-performance athletes is their “wheels,” or in this case, the skates and blades, which help leverage their physical power to generate speed, control and agility. Naturally the performance of their skates also means skates feeling perfectly comfortable – and when all is combined the results are more confidence and increased performance. The best skate fitting for performance experts who serve the needs of skaters such as Sale and Pelletier, Dubriel and Lauzon or players like Marchant or local sensation Jay Bouwmeester is Pro-Skate, a company Jay has been involved with since playing in Edmonton’s minor hockey league. At the heart of Pro-Skate, a company with over 25 years of hardearned experience, is Kenny Slywka. Kenny, a soft spoken former Sherwood Park Crusader, is committed to helping people achieve their aspirations and goals.
and many times I’ve seen them talk parents out of buying the most expensive skates, in favour of buying the right skates – they’re about value not price.” It’s been hard work and dedicated work that has brought Pro-Skate to where it is today, along with a willingness to learn and adapt. “All the stuff we do didn’t happen overnight. When we first started doing blade alignment for hockey 25 years ago, we borrowed from common knowledge in the figure skating world where blades were never pre-mounted onto the boot – you needed to shave the soles and adjust the blade to ensure it was straight underneath the foot so you’re right on the flat of the blade. We took that experience into hockey, adding things like making sure the stiffness of the boot fit how aggressive the skater was, and assessing how this boot would break down from the amount of skating someone did. Things just evolved, like training and nutrition and everything else in the game,” said Kenny.
When a skate fits correctly you gain the ultimate control and comfort of your boot “We fit skates for performance, and blade, and maximizes your ability and that means making the boot and performance Also important is having accommodate the foot, rather than the other way around, which is what you find with “off-the-rack” fittings in most retail stores,” said Kenny. What many skaters and parents don’t understand is that a correctly fit pair of skates not only offers comfort but has a positive and dramatic impact on improving performance. “It’s always surprising how often we hear from people who still believe that skates have to be uncomfortable before they ‘break in’ which is just not the case at all,” said Kenny. Professionals understand the relationship between the skate boot and the rest of their body. “Beginning from the hips, through the legs and feet, the boot is a part of the kinetic chain and becomes an extension of the foot to the blades edges, and ultimately the ice surface. When a skate fits correctly you gain the ultimate control and comfort of your boot and blade, and maximizes your ability and performance which holds true for any level of skater or player, age and ability doesn’t matter, because the physics are the same,” said Kenny. Pro-Skate has built itself a reputation that goes beyond the locals. When visiting teams are in town to play the Oilers, players drop in to the store. “It’s the relationship they build with you over time, and they just do what’s right for you,” confirmed Dan Bouwmeester, Jay’s dad. Jay now plays with the Calgary Flames. “It has nothing to do with being an NHL star or having nothing but money to spend. They fit kids properly
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knowledgeable and trained staff, he said. ProSkate is filled with people who want to build relationships, whether with professionals or young, aspiring athletes. “In the end though, rather than patting ourselves on the back, we prefer having the results of our work speak on our behalf,” said Kenny. Well good on ya, Kenny and Pro-Skate, but the list of those who want to pat you on the back goes on… Jarome Iginla, Mike Comrie, Scottie Upshall, Vern Fiddler, and on… Patrick Lauzon, MarieFrance Dubriel, Kurt Browning, Paul Coffey, Jaromir Jagr, and on… Any last words Jay B? “Yeah, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose – except maybe your poor fitting skates.”