T-Blades are a recent development manufactured by the German company "t'blade GmbH" as an alternative to the traditional steel blades found on most hockey skates. They are sold on top-end hockey skates such as CCM's Vectors and Pro Tacks and Graf Skates or can be installed onto any skate boot. Instead of sharpening the blades, T-blades are replaced when worn out. T-Blades stay sharper much longer than a traditional skate blade. As stated on the manufacture's website "Compared to a conventional skate sharpening, the t'blade runner lasts 4-5 times longer." This balances the cost of buying T-Blades versus sharpening a normal blade because the normal skate must be sharpened regularly. This same concept keeps a skater's stride more regular over time because a normal skate blade tends to become uneven on the inside and outside edges after prolonged use and re-sharpening. The T-Blade Runner or blade itself is held to the skate chassis by a stabilizer and six screws which require a special three-pronged wrench. Unlike traditional skate blades which consist of a single piece of steel, the T-blade is made up of strong plastic material that has only a 1 mm steel blade at the bottom, making it lighter (30% lighter). The thin blade featured in T-Blades heats up faster from friction and has a better glide to it (40% increase). T-Blades have a very distinct sound when cutting into the ice, they are louder and have a bit of a scratchy sound. The blades are sold pre-sharpened, the concept being that the harder the steel the better and longer it will hold its edge and that repeated sharpening softens the edge of a blade and it loses it ability to stay sharp. The fact that edges are precision-made by machines is appreciated by some skaters, since one does not have to rely on a human operator to apply edges on the skates' blades. On the other hand, this is possibly why T-Blades are not very popular among professional players, because of the skill level of equipment managers at that level. Jochen Hecht of the Buffalo Sabres, Marcel Goc and Christian Ehrhoff of the San Jose Sharks, and Patrik Eliáš of the New Jersey Devils are part of a small group of NHL players who use T-Blade skates.
References
- ^ On-ice safety is secondary:
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