Youth skates are a very important proposition – they may be one of the first skates your little guy or girl tries on! Youth sizes are Y6.0 – Y13.5, and children fitting that range of sizes are generally toddlers or children aged 9 or younger, sporting a shoe size of 1.5 or less! A youth skate also is typically much more flexible than a Junior or Senior boot, as children don’t need that stiff boot for power transfer, but need a bit of a softer fit! If you are in a hurry, the CCM Jetspeed FT2 Youth Hockey Skate is our top choice of the year. It is a great new offering from CCM packed with technology for your little skater. See all our top youth hockey skate choices below, and following them are all of our in detail reviews!
Top Youth Skate
CCM's Best Youth Skate
Slotting in just below the 2S in our rankings is the CCM JetSpeed FT2, featuring all the top technology found in its bigger sibling senior skate
The Jetspeed FT2 Youth Skate has everything your young child could want in a skate. Lightweight, protective, and featuring many comfort adding technologies, this skate in our opinion will give your child the best chance to excel while keeping his or her foot as comfortable as possible all game long!
A Close Second
Top Performing Youth Skate
Featuring tons of great technology from the 2X Pro Senior and Junior skates, this is a top of the line choice sure to help your child cruise up and down the ice!
The Vapor 2X comes in a super close second for our top youth hockey skate, as it shares many technologies with its big brother, the Vapor 2X Pro Junior Skate! Comfort edge padding as well as memory foam pads for ankle comfort, this skate will feel amazing on your little skaters feet ensuring he or she doesn’t ever want to get off the ice!
A Bargain Youth Skate
Great Budget Friendly Youth Skates
The Vapor X2.7 has a few less features than the 2X, but will keep some cash in your wallet while giving your child a solid, excellent performing skate
The Vapor X2.7 focuses on hitting crucial needs your child requires in a skate, while holding off on some upper level tech in order to save you money. A one piece boot with a poly-carb quarter for increased flexibility, memory foam liner padding, and a microfiber liner for comfort, this skate nails all the essentials without nailing you on the credit card bill!
For New Skaters
Great Budget Friendly Toddler Skates
The Lil Champs are for brand new skaters, when you are trying to gauge your child’s desire to learn the game. The also come in a fantastic Lil Angels model in pink in case your child is so inclined!
With an easy to slip into boot, and an adjustable strap to give your toddler the perfect fit, these inexpensive skates are the best choice for anyone who’s toddler isn’t a full fledged hockey player yet, but would love to get out on the ice and learn to skate!
Curious what we think the best Senior Hockey Skates are for this year? Click here to see our article!
Our Recommendations
Close Second!
Featuring a fully moldable boot, this skate wins our top pick for its combination of technology and comfort
Buying Options
Best Kids Skate
Featuring lot’s of top technology from the senior skate, if the 2S doesn’t fit quite right then the FT2 is the next best choice
Buying Options
Budget Friendly Option
A great skate coming in typically around the $100 USD mark, featuring technologies from the 2X for a better value!
Buying Options
Our Research and Findings
Contents
- The Best Youth Hockey Skates
- 1. CCM Jetspeed FT2 Youth - Best Youth Hockey Skate
- 2. Bauer Vapor 2X Youth - Best Bauer Youth Skates
- 3. Bauer Supreme 2S Youth
- 4. Bauer Vapor X2.7 Youth - Best Budget Youth Skate
- 5. CCM Tacks 9060 Youth
- 6. Bauer NS Youth - Best Youth Skate For Brand New Hockey Players
- 7. Bauer Lil Champ - Best Hockey Skate for Toddlers and Young Children
- Conclusion
Selecting a childs hockey skates is no easy task. It isn’t easy to understand if they fit completely right, and it isnt feasable to be dropping top dollar every few years for skates sometimes either. With youth skates you need to be even more careful to ensure that your small child enjoys the fit and wants to get out there and play!
CCM and Bauer make all of the Youth Hockey Skates we have come across, so expect to see only them in our detailed reviews!
Curious about what we think are the best hockey goalie skates our there? Click here to check out our article!
The Best Youth Hockey Skates
Specifications and Features:
- Durable Boot – CCM has increased the stiffness and durability in this years model, making sure that the skate will last as long as your child needs it
- Brushed Micro Fiber Lining – CCM integrated this technology to help with comfort and blisters, ensuring your child enjoys skating in the FT2’s
- Matte Black Speedblade – An attractive matte black finish on CCM’s awesome speedblade runners ensure your child will love the look of their skate
Pros:
- CCM set out to make a lightweight and comfortable package, and adopted many of the senior models technologies to do so
- The skate also features lace bite protection. We all know that comfort is king with children so this is a fantastic feature
Cons:
As with the 2S, this is CCM’s top of the line Youth skate so it comes at a bit of a premium to other models. However if your child is excelling and needs the performance, the FT2 is well worth the price.
BOTTOM LINE:
A fantastic skate with many of the Senior models technologies filtering down to it, the FT2 is a great top of the line choice for your child. With a micro fiber liner featuring abrasion protection and anti lace bite technology, your child will have no problem skating for extended periods in extreme comfort while flying up and down the ice.
Specifications and Features:
- Comfort Edge Padding – A super comfortable liner designed to improve the feel of the skate on foot!
- Lightspeed PRO II Holder – A locked in runner made from Bauer LS1 stainless steel
- 30 oz Felt Tongue – A thick and flexible tongue designed to protect your childs ankle from impacts!
Pros:
- Bauer’s 2X Youth skate is built with no less than FOUR technologies to help make this a wonderful, comfortable fit for your child
- LOCK-FIT liner really helps anchor your childs foot in the boot, helping prevent slippage and blisters
Cons:
The Vapor 2X is right at the top of the lineup with the FT2 and Supreme 2S, so you will be paying a bit more for it compared to some youth skate offerings
BOTTOM LINE:
If you have a budding superstar on your hand, who has a slimmer, more anatomical foot, the Vapor 2X could be the perfect boot for your child. A very lightweight yet protective offering, Bauer packs this thing full of comfort features to keep your kid happy!
Specifications and Features:
- Fully Thermoformable – A feature unique to the Bauer lineup ensures your child won’t experience any discomfort and comes as close as you can get to a custom skate
- Fiber Composite Boot – Helps shave weight while maintaining protection for the skaters foot
- Tuuk Lightspeed Pro II – Lightweight and strong, featuring the LS1 Stainless Runner
Pros:
- The 2S Youth has a durable fiber composite material built into its boot, ensuring a lightweight but strong skate
- Outsole is constructed from a TPR material, same as the S27 skate it replaces. This gives the entire boot excellent torsional stiffness making the skate extremely responsive
Cons:
Being a top of the line choice, this skate is near the top of the price bracket for youth skates
BOTTOM LINE:
If you have a little hockey player who is playing high level children’s hockey, or you want a complete package to help your child make the jump, the 2S is the choice for you. The fully thermoformable boot wins us over as it is a feature lacking in many children’s skates.
Specifications and Features:
- One Piece 3D Boot – Made out of Bauer’s strong and light Polycarb material, this allows for better flexibility in the rear quarter of the skate
- COMFORTFLEX System – Memory foam padding and a microfiber liner for support and comfort
- TUUK lightspeed Pro II – A durable and excellent performing runner, these blades will last the lifetime of the skate
Pros:
- Bauer’s COMFORTFLEX system is the sum of the entire skates technologies, focused on making your child’s skate extremely comfortable without sacrificing performance
- The Tuuk Lightspeed PRO II holder is the same as found in the 2X skate giving your child top of the line power transfer with every stride
- Excellent price point – This skate will take it easy on your wallet, usually landing in the area of $100 USD
Cons:
The mid level Bauer skates do not feature the full moldable boots, which means the skates may require a little bit more break in time than higher end models.
BOTTOM LINE:
The Bauer X2.7 is a fantastic choice when you are looking to save some money. Carrying over several top line features from the 2X model, but coming in around half the price, these skates will be a great choice for your child while saving you some money.
Is your child getting a little bit older and you might need bigger skates? Check out our best junior ice hockey skates article!
Specifications and Features:
- New Quarter Package – Featuring CCM’s Metaframe technology, the Tacks offer a fantastic fit
- HD Micro Fiber Liner – Featuring the same DuraZone abrasion technology, your child’s feet will be safe from blisters in this boot
- 90 Day Satisfaction Guarantee – CCM offers a guarantee on these skates meaning you are at little to no risk if your child doesn’t like them!
Advantages:
- The Tacks 9060 skate takes many great features from the Super Tacks, and pays attention to fit and finish to ensure your child feels great while wearing them. Really, at this age, what is more important then your kid enjoying throwing the skates on?
Disadvantages:
No major ones, the price is right, but obviously the skate lacks a few features the top of the line models have
BOTTOM LINE:
The CCM Tacks 9060 is another great budget pick slotting in right in the middle of the line in terms of tech. You sacrifice some of the top of the line features like better steel runners and certain fitment features, but as long as you nail the size these are a perfectly fine choice for any child!
Specifications and Features:
- Stainless Runners and Lightspeed Pro II Holder – An economic but great performing holder runner combo
- EVA Foam Foot Bed – A comfortable EVA sole that will conform to your foot after several icetimes
- Anaform Ankle Pads – Designed to minimize wear and blisters, these ankle pads will keep your childs skates feeling comfortable all game long!
Advantages:
- The Bauer NS youth skates come in at a fantastic price point, typically around 50 USD. For this small price you are getting comfortable, protective skates that will have your child loving their ice times without hammering your bank account
Disadvantages:
You can’t expect top of the line performance from a budgetary skate like these, but they get the job done!
BOTTOM LINE:
If you have a little tyke that needs hockey skates for their first season or two, the Bauer NS is a great choice. A no nonsense pair of skates with great comfort features, these will definitely suffice until you are sure you want to drop the big bucks on your kid!
Specifications and Features:
- Adjustable Fit –An easy to adjust buckled strap helps your child slide in and out of the skate easily, and making it simple for your to lock their foot in place once its time to skate!
- Amazing Price – This is literally the most inexpensive skate you can buy, which is perfect for those who want to get their kid into hockey but aren’t sure if he or she will take to it!
BOTTOM LINE:
There’s not much to say about the Lil Champ that we haven’t already! You are paying a rock bottom price for a basic skate that will be perfect if you are trying to teach your child to skate for the first time!
Conclusion
There are tons of things to consider when buying your child a pair of skates. Are they playing high level hockey skating 4-6 times a week or are they just getting into it? Do they have slim or wide feet? Do you want to focus on performance or comfort? All of these need to be taken into account, and in our opinion then Bauer Supreme 2S does it the best of all. Let us know your thoughts on our reviews in the comments below!
