We’ve given you a guide to hockey equipment that you NEED to have to play hockey, but what about Accessories? Most hockey players carry a few extra items in their hockey bag, and in this post we will show you the 5 Essential (and a few optional) accessories that a hockey player should have in their bag.
What’s in your hockey bag?
The Essential
Hockey Tape
“Got any clear?” I hear that every time I’m in the dressing room. “Any one have some stick tape?” Yeah I hear that quite a bit too. I actually don’t use clear hockey tape, but I think 99% of hockey players do.
Clear tape helps hold up your socks and keep your shin pads in place. Almost every hockey player uses it before every game, so you need some in your bag
Stick tape gives you extra grip on the blade of your stick so you can dangle and then rip bar down beauties. You will need to re-tape your stick every 5 or so games (some guys more some guys less)
Skate Laces
This is one of those items that you only need when you need it, and then you need it badly. It has happened to me a number of times. I’m pulling my laces nice and tight, ready to rush onto the ice and then SNAP, my lace breaks and I’m left with 2 feet of lace in my hand.
Laces are prone to nicks, rips and cuts from contact with skate blades. Don’t be caught with your laces in your hand carry an extra set so you are prepared for emergencies.
Water Bottle
This is one item I can’t be without. I get really thirsty when I play, if I don’t have my water bottle I start figuring out ways I can steal squirts from other people’s bottles (which I don’t like to do).
When you get a water bottle you want one that doesn’t leak and you will be surprised how leaky some brand new bottles will be.
Pucks
These are important, especially when you are just starting hockey. You will find yourself at a lot of pick-up hockey, shinny hockey and stick and puck sessions, and sometimes pucks won’t be readily available. You don’t want to be the first guy on the ice and not have any pucks!
Carry a few pucks in your bag, you never know when you might need them
A Sweet Stick
Sometimes when you are skating you will turn sharp expecting your edges to dig into the ice and carry you through that turn, but instead you blow a tire and slide along the ice. This is called losing an edge, and usually means you need to get your skates sharpened.
When I was young coaches and older guys use to always have stones in their bags. When they lost and edge they would run a stone along the sides of the skate blade to get any burs or flat spots off. I tried this method but never noticed much of a difference, but then I tried the Sweet Stick. This thing works wonders!
A Sweet Stick will bail you out when you lose an edge and can hold you over when you forget to sharpen your skates
Optional Accessories
Base Layer
This isn’t really an accessory but it’s not really a mandatory piece of hockey equipment. You can do without it, but I wouldn’t want to. A base layer (or Under Armour) is really nice to wear underneath your hockey equipment.
When you are giving it your all for an hour on the ice you will work up a sweat, all that sweat usually gets soaked into your hockey equipment (along with your oil, dead skin cells, etc) and it can lead to your equipment stinking. Wearing a layer underneath helps wick away a lot of the sweat, and also makes drying your equipment out after a lot easier.
A Stickhandling Ball
You got to the arena early and now you don’t have anything to do. Why not grab your stickhandling ball and warm up your hands?
Being prepared for a game is important, and you can use a stickhandling ball anywhere.
Wood or Plastic?
There is a company that makes the Smart Hockey stickhandling ball which is designed to feel just like a puck does on the ice. Personally I don’t mind the ol’ wooden ball. You can find them in stores for around $4 or in a craft store for about $1
Stick Wax
Not everyone uses stick wax so that’s why I put this as an optional accessory.
Some guys like to use stick wax for a few reasons, it can give you a little extra grip, but mainly it keeps snow, ice and water from gathering on your tape.
Skate Guards
You don’t need skate guards, I didn’t use them during my 12 years of playing minor hockey, but I started using them as an adult rec player and actually like them.
Why bother with skate guards? The biggest reason for me is because they protect the sharp edges of your skate blade and help maintain good edges. If your skates are just loose in your bag they can bang off anything you have in there. You can also keep them on when tying your skates so you don’t step on any rocks or sand that other people brought in with their boots and shoes. Cloth skate guards can also help absorb some moisture that is left on your skates, which will help protect your blades from rusting up.
