With advances in technology, there are new options for sharpening your Bauer Lightspeed or CCM SpeedBlade hockey skate runners. The first two stem from these advances while the others are traditional methods of skate sharpening.

1. Skate Sharpening by Mail: Thanks to technology like the Bauer Tuuk Lightspeed Edge holder and replacement steel runners, you can quickly swap out your runners with a squeeze of a trigger. The steel runner is not only easy to swap out, it is extremely portable. Elite players have started carrying back-up sets of Bauer and CCM steel that they rotate. Players now sharpen several pair at a time and replace a dull set with ease, sometimes between shifts. The portability of steel runners allow skaters to take advantage of convenient mail-in sharpening services which can be fast using USPS Priority Mail.

2. Automated Skate Sharpener: There are a couple new automated skate sharpeners on the market for those looking for convenience. Evidently, anyone can operate one of these. There may be an opportunity to recoup your investment and even save a few dollars if used frequently over a long period of time. I am sure that the technology will continue to evolve and someday automated skate sharpeners will have the same precision as the trained professional with decades of experience behind a Blademaster skate sharpener. When the technology is right, I may consider having a skate lab full of automated sharpeners for customers to use self-service. I am not convinced we are there yet.

3. You have a “Guy” to Sharpen: You can still drive to your local hockey shop and have your guy sharpen your skates. Growing up playing the game, we had a guy named Joe that would sharpen skates in his basement. He was a legend, but you had to catch him when he wasn’t out rabbit hunting. As the local hockey shop, we want to remain that "Guy" by providing personalized and precise skate sharpening.

4. Learn to Sharpen Skates at Home: Some have decided to save a buck and sharpen at home using a portable skate sharpener. When my kids were younger, I had a portable sharpener that I would use at home and take on the road. With my years of experience sharpening, I had the precision but would argue it wasn’t convenient. In addition to the investment, there is a learning curve and it takes a significant amount of your time to sharpen with accuracy.

Conclusion
If you don’t have a local “Guy” to sharpen with precision but still want to skate with confidence, HockeyGuys Precision Skate Sharpening by Mail might be for you. With 75 years of combined experience and more than 250,000 runners sharpened, our guys are some of the best . With our convenient mail-in process, your runners are back in your bag within four days.