Help with sizing

Skates run smaller than shoes — most senior players drop 1 to 1.5 sizes, juniors and youth about 1. Treat that as a starting point only: CCM, Bauer and True do not share a last, so the same number fits differently across brands.

Measuring your foot

Sit down wearing the sock thickness you skate in, and measure each foot separately — most people have one foot longer than the other, and you fit the larger one. Place your heel against a wall with your foot flat on a sheet of paper, mark the end of your longest toe, and measure the distance. Repeat across the widest part of the forefoot for your width.

Checking the fit

Unlaced, with your toes touching the toe cap, you should fit about one finger behind your heel. Laced up, your toes should feather the cap without curling under. Your heel should be locked in place — if it lifts when you flex forward, the skate is too big or the lacing is wrong.

Most skates can be heat moulded to fit closer, but moulding cannot fix a skate that is the wrong length.

Two skaters with the same foot length can need completely different skates. Length decides your size; the fit profile decides the shape of the boot — how wide it is across the forefoot and how much room it leaves over the instep. Getting this wrong is the single most common reason a correctly sized skate is uncomfortable.

Finding your profile

Stand with your weight on the foot and measure across the widest part of the forefoot, then measure the height of your instep at its highest point. Match both against the table below, and if the two disagree, follow the width — volume can be adjusted with lacing and moulding, width cannot.

Width-only profiles

Fit D and Fit EE change the width of a standard-volume boot without changing its depth. They suit a foot that is narrow or wide but otherwise average through the instep.

Profiles are not interchangeable between brands: a Fit 2 in one line is not the same last as a medium in another. Where a skate lists a profile, it is on the product page under the size guide.

Length

Standing in skates, a stick that reaches somewhere between your chin and your nose suits most players. Shorter favours puck handling and a quick release; longer favours reach and defending.

Flex

Start at roughly half your body weight in pounds — a 180 lb player lands near an 85 to 90 flex. Go softer if you shoot mostly wrist shots or are still building strength, stiffer if you lean on slap shots.

Cutting a stick down stiffens it by about 5 flex per inch removed, so choose your flex with your final length in mind. Extensions have the opposite effect.

Hand

A left-handed stick means your left hand is the lower hand on the shaft. If you are buying for someone else and are not certain, check which way they naturally hold a broom.

Glove size in inches is the measurement from the tip of your middle finger, up your hand, to the start of your elbow pad. If you measure 14.5", you want a 15" glove.

Fit style

A tighter, tapered glove reduces dead space and feels like a second skin, at some cost to wrist mobility. A traditional four-roll fit is boxier and roomier throughout. This is preference, and usually comes down to what you have worn before.

Checking the fit

With your hand in as if playing, your fingers should reach the ends of the finger slots without pressing into them, and your palm should not spill over the palm material onto the cuff. If you cannot easily pick a stick up off the floor, the glove is too big.

Fitting for growth

Allow no more than an index finger's width between the top of the palm and the edge of the cuff, and make sure the pinky sits at least three quarters of the way into its slot. More room than that and the glove fits sloppily.

Whatever you choose, minimise the gap between cuff and elbow pad. If you prefer a short cuff, a slash guard covers the exposed wrist.

Put your shoulder pads and gloves on and have someone measure the gap between them in inches. The elbow pad has to close that gap at both ends, with no bare forearm showing when your arm is extended.

Your elbow must sit centred in the cup. If the pad slides off the point of the elbow when you flex, it is either too large or strapped too loosely — and a pad that rotates protects nothing.

Measure the circumference of your chest just below the armpits. The critical check is that your shoulders sit directly under the shoulder caps. If they land beside the caps, your collarbones, shoulders and upper arms are unprotected no matter how good the pad is.

Higher levels of play call for more protection, but more protective does not have to mean bulkier — the better designs add coverage while keeping mobility.

Most models adjust at the bicep guard. Set it so it meets your elbow pad without overlapping enough to restrict your arm; on a growing player you can lower it over time.

Decide first whether the pad will sit over your skate tongue or behind it, because that changes the length you want. Then bend your knee to 90 degrees and measure in inches from the centre of your kneecap to the top of your skate boot.

Once strapped on, the pad should be snug and should not twist, rotate or slide. Your kneecap belongs in the centre of the knee cup — if the pad rides up and your knee falls out of that pocket, the size is wrong.

If your current pads fit well, staying at the same size is a reasonable guide. If you have outgrown them, move up one.

Pants are sized by waist, and should sit snug but not tight, with the belt just above your hip bones.

Fitting true to size

The hem should fall between the middle and the top of your kneecap standing straight. In a hockey stance it will ride up to meet the top of your shin guards.

Fitting for growth

Aim for the hem to reach the bottom of the kneecap standing straight, rising to mid-kneecap in a stance. Any longer and it will fight your shin guards. Once a pant no longer reaches the top of the kneecap standing straight, it is too small.

Suspenders are optional but useful when fitting for growth, since they add length without needing a tighter waist. Tall versions add about an inch of length at the same waist size.

Measure the circumference of your head about an inch above your eyebrows, keeping the tape level all the way around.

The helmet should sit one finger-width above your eyebrows and should not shift when you shake your head with the chin strap fastened. Most helmets adjust within their size range, so if you fall between two sizes, take the smaller one and open it up.

A well-fitted entry-level helmet protects you better than a poorly fitted premium one.

Leg pads are sized by measurement, not height. Take two: mid-ankle to mid-knee (outer ankle bone to the centre of the kneecap), which sets your base pad size, and mid-knee to mid-thigh, which indicates how much thigh rise you can carry.

Where your knee should land

On a senior pad, sizing with about 1.5" of growing room keeps control while leaving space to grow into. On intermediate, junior and youth pads the knee stack is smaller, so aim for the centre of your knee roughly 1" below the centre of the stack. Measure to the centre of the knee, not the top where it meets your thigh — get that wrong and you will miss the stack entirely in the butterfly.

If you have finished growing, land directly in the middle of the knee stack.

Start from your age and the measurement from the heel of your palm to the tip of your middle finger, then confirm the fit by hand.

Catcher

Your palm has to line up with the glove's palm so the trapper closes without excessive force. If you have to squeeze hard to close it, the break sits in the wrong place for your hand — a different model will suit you better than a different size.

Blocker

Your fingertips should sit close to the seam, or within about half an inch if you are still growing. The wrist strap belongs across the wrist bone rather than above it.

The job is complete coverage without limiting range of motion, so start from the chart and then check four things on your body.

The arms should end just before the wrist bone, so your catcher and blocker cuffs close the gap. There should be a small gap between the collar and your neck — you should be able to look down freely in your ready position. The belly should stay covered when you drop into the butterfly, and nothing should ride up over your collarbone.

A unit that fails those checks is the wrong size regardless of what the label says.

Goalie pants carry far more protection than player pants — reinforced hips, squared-off thighs, and a beefed-up waist — and they are built for lateral movement rather than skating back and forth.

Match your waist to the chart on the product, but do not treat an exact match as essential. Many goalies deliberately wear pants wider than their waist for net coverage, mobility and comfort, held up with suspenders or by the pads themselves.

Some brands list an oversized waist. Where they do, add roughly 8" to 10" to your measured waist to find your size.

Measure your head's circumference about 1" above your eyebrows, keeping the tape parallel to the ground the whole way round. If you are using a hat size, use a fitted hat that is neither tight nor loose.

Four checks for a proper fit

The temples and cheeks should sit snug against the foam, with little or no visible gap either side, so the mask cannot shift laterally. The chin should be cradled without pressure. Your sightline through the cage should be clear and unobstructed in your stance. And the backplate should tension evenly without pulling the mask off your face.

Fit beats price here: a well-fitted entry-level mask outperforms an ill-fitting premium one.

Paddle height is the measurement that matters — the wide section, from the heel of the stick to where the paddle meets the shaft. It sets your depth in the ready stance and positions your blocker.

Stance depth varies far more between goalies than height does, which is why this is the most subjective sizing on the site. Younger goalies in particular often end up on a taller paddle than their height suggests, because their stance is not yet as deep.