Local hockey players now have the opportunity to have their skates sharpened on the same machine that once served Maple Leafs' favourites Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner.
Located in the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre, Competitive Edge Sports recently acquired the Toronto team’s old skate-sharpening machine.
“We’ve had it now for a couple of weeks,” says sports store owner Dean Bezanson. “It had been with the Leafs for three years.”
“This is NHL quality. The quality of it is very precise in its sharpening. Each hollow is very precise.”
But a little bit of happenstance helped Bezanson land the state-of-the-art machine that once served hockey royalty.
He had been researching models and his search took him to Montreal-based firm Elite Technologies.
“I had heard a couple of things about them,” he said.
A company representative told Bezanson he could check out one of their high–level offerings at a store in Sudbury or two locations in the Toronto area.
Bezanson opted to head to The Skater's Edge in Sudbury, which actually has three of the company's models, and after being so impressed with how well the machine worked, he called Elite Technologies back upon his return home.
“They said you can help us out,” he recalls. “They told me the Toronto Maple Leafs want to upgrade, but want to sell their machine first.”
From there, Bezanson headed to Leafland where he met with the team’s equipment manager and a deal was struck.
“This machine is going to outperform me,” Bezanson jokes, adding it’s only three years old and was worth the $60,000 investment.
“So far, it’s worked like a charm. Now, (customers) are getting the most precise skate sharpening on the market.”
But since the machine’s previous users featured only men, Bezanson says some adjustments had to be made to ensure it could also handle youth, women’s and figure skates.
“We sharpen about 20,000 skates a year,” Bezanson says, noting Junior C. and rep-level players want to ensure their blades help them reach peak performance so will have them sharpened more often than a recreational skater.
The shop, which carries a wide range of sports equipment, offers a skate-sharpening card costing $90 for 12 sharpenings. The regular price is $10 per sharpening.
But Bezanson doesn’t plan to get rid of his Blademaster machine that he notes cost about $30,000 when he purchased it three years ago.
“This (the Leafs’ former machine) is a huge investment. We now have easily $120,000 worth of skate sharpening equipment.”
To learn more about the business, check out its website.
