MLX Skates, endorsed by Mario Lemieux, are marketed as high-quality, fully customizable ice hockey skates designed for speed skating . While the skates were made available to the public in the summer of 2010, they made their debut on NHL players, such as Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
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History of MLX Skates
In 2001, Dave Cruikshank, the founder & CEO of MLX Skates, retired from Olympic Speed Skating and began training hockey players. He founded David Cruikshank Hybrid Skating, LLC, which translated his sprinting specialty over to hockey by understanding the concepts behind speed on ice in November 2002. Curtis Brackenbury joined forces with Cruikshank in 2004, bringing in his 16 years of elite level hockey experience. Together, they combined their expertise to produce a “Hybrid” program.
From training hockey players, Cruikshank found the equipment hockey players were using was not allowing them to perform up to their full potential. Improperly fitted skates were causing his athletes to have physical issues, and Cruikshank figured a more form-fitting boot would ensure more comfort and better performance, ultimately improving the play. His goal became determining how to make an ice hockey skate that would deliver the performance features necessary for the game of hockey at the highest levels, all while delivering the speed elements from speed skating.
Since August 2009, Cruikshank has been the founder and owner of DASC, a company behind MLX high-performance ice hockey skates. Cruikshank called upon Scott Van Horne, founder and current President of VH Inc., the world leader in developing and manufacturing high-performance speed skates. Van Horne, a former competitive speed skater for 13 years, received undergraduate and graduate degrees in the field of biomechanics, specializing in speed skating biomechanics, at the University of Calgary, after his retirement from the sport. When Cruikshank competed, his skates were made by Van Horne, and since the founding of VH Inc., speed skaters wearing VH boots have set half of the current speed skating World Records and have won many Olympic and World medals. Andy Gabel, a four-time, short track speed skating U.S. Olympian and silver medalist, is also part of the MLX team as the President.
More recently, Mario Lemieux wore MLX skates on the ice at The Consol Center for the first skate. MLX has also partnered with ECAC Hockey to be ECAC Hockey’s Weekly Award presenting sponsors for the 2010-11 season.
MLX Products and Features
MLX skates, constructed from aircraft grade composite material, are handmade skates that are fully customizable, from blade to tongue. The composite disperses energy away from a player’s foot, protecting the normal impacts from the puck and stick during a game.
One piece patented thermoplastic materials are designed to mold to a player’s foot and ankle in order to provide support for the arch, inside and outside of the foot, and the ankle bone area. Heat molding of the skates can be done in a household oven.
Blades can be adjusted by skaters to a desired position to keep players centered on the ice by loosening the bolts. This accommodates for any player’s different techniques and body designs, whether a player is bow-legged, pushes more forward, or leans backwards.
The flexible tongue and tendon guard allow players to fully flex to get a full, natural range of motion. While flexible, the tongue is still stiff enough to prevent lace bite which is a common problem among skaters. The tongue is also removable, so if it ever wears out, a player can replace it. Another feature is that the tendon guard can also be detached with an Allen wrench, so if they break, a player can replace them rather than having to send the whole boot to get repaired or having to buy an entirely new skate.
MLX also sells skate parts and MLX t-shirts on their website.