Goalie Skates. Besides your helmet, we argue that the goalie skates you chose are the single most important piece of equipment you’ll ever buy. If you can’t skate, you’ll have a tough time getting in front of pucks. If you have a tough time getting in front of pucks, your odds of making the save is lower and you’ll find yourself riding pine, as they say! Choose a pair of skates that are heavy and on the lower end of the price range, and you’re going to be upgrading in a year or two.

Opt for a high performance, lightweight goalie skate, and you’ll wear them for years. Case in point. A few years ago, one of my young goalies was struggling to find a skate he liked. He was in a set of Bauer Reactor skates (remember those?!) and opted for a top of the line at the time, Bauer 2S Pro. Mind you, 5 years later, these are still great skates if you can find them. He wore these skates for 4 years!

We get asked this question time and time again, “what is best goalie skate?”. Keeping the story from above in mind, we say that you should buy the most high end goalie skate that you can afford.

In our honest opinion, that’s going to be a CCM SuperTacks AS3 pro or the Bauer PRO, but we’ll get into that below.

These are the best goalie skates money can buy.  

• CCM SuperTacks AS3 Pro
• Bauer PRO Goalie Skates
• Bauer UltraSonic 
• Bauer Vapor 2X Pro
• CCM JetSpeed FT2 
• True 2 Piece Pro 
• Bauer Elite
• Bauer 3S Pro
• True Custom 1 Piece Pro  

What are the best goalie skates for 2021?

The most popular goalie skate, and the best bang for your buck this year, is the CCM SuperTacks AS3 Pro.

As the game of hockey evolves, goalies are becoming faster and quicker with their edges on the ice.  Players are moving at fast speeds and shots are coming from all angles in split seconds. Having high quality skates is more important than ever before in hockey history.  

First, we must point out that the best goalie skates are the skates that fit you the best. When your skates fit well, you’ll move better. When you move better, you get in front of more pucks. When you get in front of more pucks, well, you get the point.

We update this list of the top goalie skates on a regular basis, and right now, CCM makes the best goalie skate on the market for both elite and youth goalies alike.

CCM SuperTacks AS3 Pro

Move over, True Hockey. Without question, the CCM SuperTacks AS3 Pro goalie skate is the single best goalie skate on the market. We wrote a more advanced in depth CCM AS3 goalie skate review on another section of our website, so for the sake of time we’ll hit the big stuff in this section.

The CCM SuperTacks AS3 Pro has been a long time coming. For years, CCM has focused on their bread and butter, the goalie pads. It’s not that skates haven’t been a priority, it’s just that they’ve been focused on perfecting their goalie gear lineup in other areas.

That said, however, it’s time to take a look at the AS3 Pro. Now, we should point out that when it comes to us writing about the “best of the best”, we don’t like to just make things up.

So, when we start hearing from our pro clients about a certain piece of gear.. we take notice. Over the past summer, we heard and saw quite a bit of rumblings about the AS3 goalie skate making a name for itself. Having worn this skate for a couple months, we decided it was fit for the top ranking on this list.

See, Bauer basically reinvented the goalie skate with the “cowling-less” profile. CCM and other brands soon followed, but they couldn’t match the performance of Bauer.

While Bauer has shifted focus into sticks, they’ve offered less innovation on the skate side. Now, don’t get us wrong. They still make one of the most elite goalie skates available to the public in the UltraSonic, 2S, 3S and now, Bauer PRO.

So, our favorite things about the AS3?

These skates are built to basically form to your foot on the ice. Which, is what a great skate should do. They’re a one piece frame, with a low cut ankle and stiff profile designed to form to your foot. Wait, what? Stiff skates that form to your foot? How?

• The tongue is built with memory foam designed to mold to the top of your foot
• Built with Rocketframe composite, super lightweight, NHL caliber material designed to shape with your foot
• Thermo-formable core fits your foot from the start and gets better with time
• Molded dual density footbed is the single best performing sole of a goalie skate on the market

Why are the AS3 goalie skates the #1 goalie skate this year? 

These skates will perform at every level of play. They’ll also adapt to ANY FOOT. Unlike thin profile skates (Bauer 2S / 3S) the CCM AS3 are built with literally every goalie in mind. They combine performance and adaptability unlike anything else on the market, and they’re worth every penny.

Editors note: since we’ve wrote this, Bauer has released the Bauer PRO. The Bauer PRO comes in three “FITs”, designed to adapt to any foot.

Bauer PRO Goalie Skates

We’ve been testing the Bauer PRO goalie skates for over a month now, and feel comfortable enough to include these here. There are three things that make the Bauer PRO goalie skate the most advanced skate ever manufactured by the company.

Here’s what’s new with the Bauer PRO Goalie Skates

• Redesigned ankle collar
• New “Stanceflex Pro” boot design, for improved mobility and attack angle
• Introduction of the “Agility” blade profile specifically for goalies

Redesigned ankle collar. Honestly, this one’s a bit of a marketing ploy by Bauer. Basically, they’re saying they used new material in the ankle region of the skate. In my personal opinion, we’re at the phase of goalie skate design where companies are being forced to coin new phrases and say things are all new, so this isn’t a huge improvement (the ankle area on previous Bauer skates was not broken).

New “Stanceflex Pro”.Marketing jargon aside, this is a pretty big deal. From the ankle to the toe, the boot of this skate has been slimmed down, giving the goalie a lighter product that offers better attack angles and positioning from head to toe. Believe it or not, the height of your goalie skate does make a difference, even if in just the way your pads sit on your foot.

“Agility Blade”. This is also big.

Bauer Supreme UltraSonic

With the rate at which goalie gear manufacturers release new gear, it feels as if the Bauer Ultrasonic goalie skates are distant history.

If you just want the best of the best, go with the new Bauer PRO goalie skates. You can buy them at either Pure Goalie or Goalie Monkey.

With that said, if you’re patient, you could pick up the Bauer Ultrasonic skates at a discount as retailers try to move them. I’ve been wearing a pair of Bauer 2S skates since before they were released several years ago, and they still perform like they’re brand new. Seriously. Bauer does not miss when it comes to goalie skates.

These are a top pair of goalie skates that many pros have been wearing in practice leading up to the August NHL playoffs.

Advantages

• Lightweight
• Low angle design allows for lower stances
• Some of the most comfortable goalie skates
• Carbon coated steel
• Durability

Disadvantages

• Expensive

The Ultrasonic skates are some of the best stock option goalie skates you are going to find on the market.  If you can afford them, they’re worth it.

Bauer Vapor 2X Pro

Third on my list are the Bauer Vapor 2x Pro skates. Honestly, the Bauer 2S or the 2X skate could easily change out as the top skate with True’s VH series. However, the option to have a true custom skate fit to your foot is just a bit too much to pass up.

Bauer, like True, has had a large part of the control in skate sales and is popular amongst pro goalies. 

Bauer’s Vapor 2x skates are one of the lightest skates on the market today and are very advanced in terms of technology.  The Curv Composite in the skate provides excellent protection but keeps the skate down in terms of weight.

Flex edge technology in the ankle area of the skate lets goalies twist and turn every which way, without the skate cutting into the ankle.  Since the skates do not have a cowling on them, goalies can get a lower attack angle on the ice as well. To remove the blades on these skates are easy as well since they feature the Edge Trigger System that allows for blades to be replaced in seconds. 

I think that the Bauer Vapor 2x skates are the third best skate on the market today due to the skates light weight, comfort and protection.  

Biggest features of Bauer Vapor 2X Pro skates

• Second to none protection with Curv Composite
• Great ankle mobility
• No cowling means a lower attack angle
• Swapping blades is a breeze

Biggest disadvantages

• The Bauer 2X skate is right in the middle of the launch of the Bauer UltraSonic skate, which means they’ll soon be “outdated”

CCM JetSpeed FT2 

Fourth on the list of top goalie skates we’re going to send some love over to CCM. 

Honestly, CCM has been slightly behind in the goalie skate industry in recent years.

With that said, the CCM JetSpeed FT2 skates are an excellent skate for fans of the brand. Many older goalies will remember the days of the CCM Tack skate line. In and around the early 2000’s, CCM was the king of the skate market with their Tack and SuperTacks skates.   

Today, the FT2 skates are made of RocketFrame composite which creates a very light weight boot. TotalDri moisture technology in the interior of the skate keeps it aerated and dry throughout the season. 

The boot collar has Asymmetric Flex Stance that allows goalies to get deep into his or her stance without any cutting into the ankle, similar to the other two skates above this one on my list. CCM claims to have done work to the footbed, midsole and the stiffness of the skate to keep the energy transfer better than ever. 

Overall a lot of people have said good things about how CCM has improved their goalie skate and with the technology added to this one, I believe it ranks up there with the best of them.  

Biggest features of CCM JetSpeed FT2 Skates

• RocketFrame composite rivals Bauer’s Curv Composite (we rank Bauer’s slightly better in both durability and weight)
• Excellent moisture control in the skate boot
• Superior ankle mobility

Biggest disadvantages

• You’re buying a skate from a brand that has not led in the goalie skate market in recent years

Related: Best Goalie Sticks

True 2 Piece Pro

Next on my list of the top rated goalie skates for 2021 will be another True skate.  This time we’re talking about the True 2 Piece pros. 

These skates are going to be similar to True’s one piece skates but these are stock model compared to a custom fit.  

These skates still hold many of the positives I like in the first skate on the list, such as, the design of the eyelets to keep the angle of the skate attacking the ice lower, the carbon fiber design and monocoque toe, and the comfort that allows for long playing periods without pain. 

The True 2 Piece skate works by attaching a boot and runner separately. What does this mean? There is most likely a decrease in energy transferring from the push to the ice compared to their one piece offering (honestly that seems minuscule, unless you’re Carey Price).

I think that if you are looking for a comfy skate with a cheaper price tag than the 1 – piece goalie skates made by True, definitely go with these ones.  

Biggest features of True 2 Piece Pro Skates

• RocketFrame composite rivals Bauer’s Curv Composite (we rank Bauer’s slightly better in both durability and weight)
• Excellent moisture control in the skate boot
• Superior ankle mobility

Biggest disadvantages

• You’re buying a skate from a brand that has not led in the goalie skate market in recent years

Bauer 2S Pro

Bauer released these skates about two years ago and they are still popular amongst goalies.  The 2s skates are very light, an obvious trend with Bauer is that they’ve been trying to get light gear out there and these skates are.  These skates have a higher inside heel fit for support in the ankle, but don’t restrict any movement.

The 2s skates are very comfortable with extra padding added in the interior so you can play in them for hours without pain in the foot or ankle.  The shell of the skate is ultra light composite that is designed for protection but also ventilation so your feet are getting air. These skates also have the quick blade release system and a tongue that keeps one from getting ankle bite from your laces. 

Overall I’m a huge fan of these skates so they surely deserve a spot in my top five.  

Related: Best Goalie Masks

True Custom 1 Piece Pro

First on my list was an easy decision for me, the True – 1 Piece Custom goal skate.  True excels in the skate department and in recent years we’ve seen many pro goalies switch over to them. 

True says that since the skate is designed as a one piece there is less energy loss from the push to the ice, if that’s true or not (I’m hilarious) the company has a convincing case going for itself. 

The skate is one of the most comfortable skates on the market right now hands down. With that being said, it isn’t the lightest.  The outer shell is made of carbon fiber and the toe wields what they call the “True ToeCap” that absorbs pucks off the toe without pain in the foot. This is a huge bonus.

The eyelets of the skate are put in such a way that goalies wearing them are at a lower angle to the ice which is better for grabbing an edge here or there quickly. Not only that but True also uses a 3D scan to create a skate that will fit each goalie individually, a huge advantage over other stock skates.  These, like most skates on the market aren’t without a hefty price tag, but the performance and comfort surely won’t disappoint.  

Biggest features of True Custom 1 Piece Pro

• They’re custom fit to your foot (yeah, that means custom)
• These are the single best goalie skate money can buy
• True ToeCap designed to absorb pucks off the toe

Biggest disadvantages

• They’re the most expensive goalie skate on the market

Related: Best Goalie Pads

Honorable mention goalie skates

Some Honorable Mentions

That will wrap up this post on the best goalie skates of 2021.  If you weren’t able to find something that will fit your budget, remember that each skate on this list has different skate options in the same lineup which are priced lower.  

For example, if you want the Bauer Ultrasonic skates but at a better price, get the Bauer Supreme 3S skates.  

They’re not the same quality as the 3S are lesser than the Ultrasonics, but still very good.

Good luck this season!