Nike Bauer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bauer is one of the leading manufacturers of hockey equipment, fitness and recreational skates. The hockey equipment that Bauer produces include: helmets, gloves, sticks, skates, shinguards, pants, shoulder pads, elbow pads, as well as goalie equipment. In 1994, Canstar, the parent company of Bauer became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nike, Inc. In 2006, the release of the Nike Bauer Supreme One90 showed for the first time, the new brand name 'Nike Bauer' on the one product. This was also the first time Nike has ever had a joint brand name on a product. The company now uses the Nike Bauer name on most of its products.

Contents 1 History of the skate 2 History of Bauer innovation 3 Spring Product Line 4 Reference

[edit] History of the skate

The history of the hockey skate begins in 1863, when the Starr Manufacturing Company of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (founded in 1861 as a manufacturer of nails) introduced the Starr "Acme Club" self-fastening spring skates. This was followed in 1865 by the Starr "Hockey " Skate - the world's first dedicated hockey skate.

Skate development inched along with only minor technological advancements until the midst of the economic depression in the late 19th century, when the Western Shoe Company hit upon an idea of permanently attaching a blade assembly to a boot. Skates had hitherto been comprised the blade as a separate entity, the blade being fastened to a regular boot only as the skater was about to take to the ice. Skate blades from Starr were used and the skate as we know it today hit the market, sold under the "Bauer Supreme" trade name.

In 1900, Starr introduced the "Silver King". This was the first skate to use the tube set up that became the standard in hockey for the next 70 years until the introduction of the TUUK holder. Starr stopped manufacturing skates in 1939. Brendan Grube is the chief of nike bauer hockey operations.

[edit] History of Bauer innovation

The owners of Western Shoe Company, the Bauer family, established the Bauer company as it is known today in 1927 in Kitchener, Ontario. Bauer would grow over the years, buying up smaller rivals such as Micron. But in 1994, Nike announced the acquisition of Canstar, the parent company of Bauer. The purchase was completed in February of 1995.

Bauer was the first hockey company to begin producing hockey skates in which the blade was attached to the boot. The boot was made by Bauer and the skate blade by the now-defunct Starr Manufacturing Company. This new product was then marketed under the trade name "Bauer Supreme".

But the arrival of the legendary George Tackaberry boot, now made by CCM (The Hockey Company) under the Tacks trademark - the Tackaberry name having been acquired by CCM in 1937 - saw a shift in the balance of power to Bauer's rival. The Tackaberry boot with CCM Pro-Lite blade would be worn by all NHL scoring champions from 1939 through 1969.

The Bauer name returned to prominence after the company undertook a pioneering step of paying superstar Bobby Hull to endorse their skates. This move, and the introduction soon after of the TUUK holder, ushered in a new era for the company.

The current NHL rule banning the use of fancy skates was introduced on September 24, 1927. At the time, this effectively outlawed all skates other than tube skates. The plastic/rubber stopper seen on the heel of later tube skates was developed by CCM in 1960 following an injury to the Montréal Canadiens' Maurice "Rocket" Richard in the 1958-59 season. It was made mandatory by the NHL in 1964.

Then in the early 1970's, Jim Roberts, also of the Canadiens, began wearing the now famous TUUK blade. High-profile teammates Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt and Jacques Lemaire soon followed. The success of this blade chassis was such that by 1995, the various Canstar skate brands (Micron, Bauer, etc.) had a 70% NHL market share while their TUUK and ICM holders combined for a 95% share. (Note: Bauer no longer offers the ICM holder on player skates although it is still offered with goalie skates, in addition to the TUUK cowling.)

In 1994, Bauer began producing the perforated TUUK chassis, which is the piece of equipment that connects the steel blade to the actual boot of the skate. This revolutionized the sport of hockey because it allowed skates to be made lighter, as well as more durable. Their current flagship skate is called the Nike Bauer Supreme One90, which weighs in at an amazingly light 750 grams in a size 8. Ironically enough though, this low weight was achieved without the use of perforated runners.

[edit] Spring Product Line

[edit] Reference

• Nike Bauer Website

Since buying Bauer, Nike has moved almost all manufacturing from Canada to developing countries such as China and Thailand. Flagship products such as the Supreme One90 are, however, still manufactured in Canada.