Hockey Gear Review: MLX Skates - Part 1

Did you know that Mario Lemieux is involved with new company creating innovative ice hockey skates? MLX Skates are the brainchild of US Olympic Hall of Fame speed skater David Cruikshank, the owner of DC Hybrid Skating performance school of Milwaukee. Worn by Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, MLX skates boast to be skates designed "for skaters, by skaters."

The good folks from MLX Skates have asked yours truly to give them a try and write a review, and I even get to keep the skates as a thank you. Now, of course this isn't going to skew my review, but the FTC dictates that I inform the reading public when I receive goods and services for review.

I haven't purchased new skates since 2001 when I upgraded from the old CCM 852 Super Tacks to my beautiful CCM 1052s. I love the 1052s. Comfortable, supportive, but heavy as can be. These MLX skates brag about their composite build, which in addition to being incredibly light, also protect the foot and ankle better than a traditional leather skate by deflecting the pressure of impact across the composite framework. They also provide better support through their innovative use of heat molding. Now, heat molding isn't anything new in fitting skates, but the MLX heat molding system is a little different.

MLX Skates come with a series of inserts instead of being one piece. This means they are sized a bit differently than your traditional skate.

Then you simply stick them in your 200 degree oven and follow the fit instructions.

After they come out of the oven, it's time to go with the fitting process

Now, as soon as they arrive, I'll continue part 2 on the ice.

So, on what do you skate?