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Thinking about starting to play ice hockey? Well there is a large amount of equipment that you need to play hockey so start collecting it now. This article will give you a good list of the most important hockey items that you will need.

Hockey skates are the most important piece of equipment to get the best match for your feet and your wallet. If you have poor skates, you will struggle to skate well and you will fight the skates while you are on the ice. Spend the time and money to find a pair of skates that fit right from the first time you try them on at your local hockey shop. It will still take you a couple of weeks to a couple of months to get the hockey skates broken in to your feet and vice versa but starting with the best fitting skates will make this process go a lot quicker.

Hockey isn’t hockey without a hockey stick. Ice hockey sticks come in a very large range of choices. Start off with a wood hockey stick and a relatively mild curve on the blade. You don’t want a big curve on your blade when you are first starting out because it makes receiving a pass backhanded very difficult and you won’t learn the proper shooting techniques. For stick number one it is all about getting a basic model and then growing your skills before choosing your second stick.

With skates and stick in hand it is time for all of the defensive gear and there are a lot of pieces that you will need. The list goes like this: shin guards, hockey jill or hockey jock, hockey pants, check guard, elbow pads, gloves and a helmet. In most recreation leagues a full face shield is required on the helmet but some allow visors or no face protection at all. You will save a lot of bruises if you wear your protective equipment on when you are first learning to skate.

Clothing comes next and there are under garments and outer layers to get. The under garments include skate socks, a hockey jock or jill, and an under shirt. Outer clothing include hockey sock that go over then shin guards and a hockey jersey. It is pretty standard to need both a white jersey and a dark jersey so players are easily dividable into teams.

There are a bunch of extra accessories that you will also need. First there are two kinds of hockey tape. Shin guard tape goes around your shin guards to hold them firmly in place. The second tape is cloth tape that is used to wrap you hockey stick blade for a better grip on the puck and to make a better grip and the handle end of your hockey stick. Other accessory items include hockey pucks, a mouth guard, a hockey bag for all of your equipment and a water bottle.

Once you have all of your gear and you start using it you will soon realize that it gets wet and smelly very quickly. Best practice for keeping your gear clean is to take it out of your hockey bag and air dry it after every game. Many rinks also have special hockey gear washing machines. Use them! If you don’t take proper care of your gear it becomes a breeding ground for germs and bacterial. Get into the habit of good gear maintenance right from the beginning and you won’t have to fight bigger problems down the road.

Yes, there is a lot of gear required for you to play ice hockey! Once you get your first round of gear together you can swap out one piece at a time so the costs won’t be so bad. One other thing to note is that it is very important that this gear fit correctly. Use the folks at your local hockey shop if you have any concerns about getting the right fit. Have fun and skate all out!

Tags: Exercise //