True Catalyst 9X4 Senior Hockey Skates

You're buying these skates for the fit. You'll never buy another brand again. The problem that True has with these skates is that they won't feel great on your feet in the store, off the shelf. They're hard. They're super stiff. They're perhaps not the stunner in looks like the newest CCM or Bauer. I had a problem convincing myself to spend $830 on what are considered "mid-range" (LOL so expensive already) skates last season and had several trips to the shop to get them punched, baked, re-baked just to get them to feel 90%. These ones, after one bake at home (not even pro-style in the shop), felt like they were made for me. Not much more can be said. My only issue, is one of the runners will squeak at the front end of the blade, but not all the time, and if I swap the blades from left to right, it seems to go away. Not sure why it does that, and only periodically. Not loud enough to hear it on the ice at all but it is a super minor flaw and perhaps not a rock-solid connection point between my foot and the ice, so I docked one star for that. On the ice, they offer fantastic protection as I've taken several hard sticks and blocked several shots with direct hits to the boot in various spots, on the tongue, runner took a big direct snap shot, didn't feel a thing on any of them. I'm not a paid hockey player so can't recommend ANYONE go out and buy skates that NHL players use. But if you're older, just want one pair of skates that feels amazing and hopefully won't need to replace within 5 or 6 years, these are the best skates I've ever had.