Ice skates are boots with blades attached to the bottom, used to propel oneself across a sheet of ice. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. A pole with a sharp metal spike was used for pushing the skater forward.
Skates in ice hockey[]
Skates play an essential role in the game of ice hockey and in order to suit the needs of hockey players better, skates have evolved throughout the years so that nowadays, hockey players have specialized skates.
Players occupying the positions commonly designed as skaters (i.e. the defencemen and forwards) have their own model, with the boot generally made of molded plastic, leather (often synthetic), and ballistic nylon. Skates used in competitive hockey rarely use molded plastic for the upper boot, as this results in limited mobility.
Goaltenders, on the other hand, have somewhat different skates adapted for their needs. While they ressemble the other players' skates, they differ in that they are cut lower and that the blade is set into a different kind of holder, with a protective shell called a cowling. This design provides more protection than forwards' and defencemen's.
The first commercially manufactured ice skate[]
Starr Manufacturing based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia started to manufacture the first modern ice skate in 1864. The Forbes Acme skate would be sold for the next 75 years. By 1878 the Encyclopedia Britannica would note the Starr Acme skate was acknowledged as the best ice skate.[1]