While there are individuals at the junior levels who wear padded ski gloves and the like, it's not recommended. There are many ways to injure your hands in this sport and many players depend on their hands for mobility else where in life, so it's important to protect them. Besides being slashed or checked with another stick (very common in AB hockey) the chances of being hit by a puck or jabbed with a stick pick are greater since they are more difficult to avoid on a sledge. Also, the whole edge of your sledge is a potential pinch zone. You'll find your self colliding with other sledges, the boards, the goal posts, pushers and referees (Try hard not to hit the later two, it's a long way down to the ice!), and your hands are constantly running beside this zone. Consider the amount of protection around the wrists as well.
Your blades are not the only thing that touches the ice. When turning your sledge many players are riding on one blade and using the knuckles of their gloves for balance. When righting themselves they are pushing with their hands against the ice. When protecting the puck or receiving a pass they lay their sticks flat on the ice and dragging their gloves. Pick gloves with a tough covering material, they'll last longer! Of course the heavier you are or clumbsier you are (like myself) the shorter the life span of your gloves.
The palms of your gloves are likely to wear out much more quickly than in AB hockey. You're constantly gripping and slipping the stick in your hands. The heavier and/or stonger you are the more quickly you will wear out the palms. Black hockey tape dye is corrosive to the palms as well. If anyone has any ideas on how to make the leather last longer please comment!
The life of your gloves can be extended with duct tape. It's best to repair tears from picks and abrasions from dragging as soon as possible otherwise the padding is likely to fall out and become lost! When patching the top of a segment of a finger cut a piece of tape larger than the top and lay it flat. Cut slits in the tape from each of the four corners to where the tape meets the pad. Fold down the opposite sides of the tape and stick them to the sides of the segment. Repeat for the remaining two sides.
You can get some extra life out of the palms by sewing them up before they get out of hand. Any other ideas out there?
Keep your slicks (and gloves) on the ice :)
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6 comments:
Great articles! I like the glove one especially since it has great information about the struggles that players face in the game.
Truly a great start to the blog so far! I'll be back often!
Teebz
A friend of mine plays sledge hockey and it's true what you say. He had so much trouble finding gloves to use. His gloves would rip very often.
He also has slightly disfigured hands and could never find gloves to fit them. He found this company that makes custom gloves to fit any hand even if they are a little different from the norm. They're called Falcon Hockey Gloves
Other than that, theres a special spray that you can put on the palms of your gloves if the palms are genuine leather. It makes the gloves last much longer. Not sure the name of it though.
Love all the information. My husband will be joining a team soon here in Connecticut. Can you guide me to a site where I can buy a catch glove with spikes?? He will be goalie. Thanks.
Tompkinstara@yahoo.com
Hi,
I don't know of any source of Sledge Hockey Goalie gloves. The demographic is just too small and the individual's needs just too diverse. I believe that you will have to go to a shoe maker or good sports shop that can do leather work and negotiate with them. I'll ask around and see what people have come up with. I know track shoes have removable rivets. Perhaps something can be adapted from that. I was in goal once with such a glove. What I remember was that after a while the spikes seemed to retreat into the glove and I couldn't get any traction so... make sure they're placed on a very stiff part of the glove or that, that part of the glove is reinforced. Oh ya, the other thing I remember was that I couldn't feel the end of my right index finger for 6 months (don't try to stop the puck with the palm side of your stick hand :) )
All Puckered Out
Interesting post as for me. I'd like to read a bit more concerning this topic. Thanks for sharing that material.
Joan Stepsen
Gadget sale
-Getting palms of hockey gloves to last?*** Use Pure (not prime) Neatsfoot Oil. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neatsfoot_oil for more info. I re-palmed my gloves for about $50 (the shells were very good quality already) and this oil is keeping them hole free and supple so far. I find I need to reapply every 3 or 4 games.
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