Warrior Enters the Skate Market at $1,199.99 With New Balance Behind It

The Warrior Alpha Pro is a senior ice hockey skate, and the line around it is very short. HockeyMonkey lists exactly two models, the senior at $1,199.99 and the intermediate at $1,099.99, with nothing below them.

The interesting part is whose shoe this is. HockeyMonkey's copy calls it "Warrior's first entry in to the skate market" and says it "comes after years of research and synergy with New Balance, a global leader in footwear." That is not filler. New Balance obtained a controlling interest in Warrior in 2004, and the parts list reads like a footwear company's work. The boot is a Minimus Carbon 3 one piece shell and the tongue is a FuelCore tongue.

The shell is seamless, one piece and thermoformable, and the retailer says it molds precisely to the foot. Inside it is an Intuition liner, which HockeyMonkey describes as heat moldable with excellent memory and low shrinkage when heated. The holder is Warrior's XCL with a quick release mechanism for blade changes, and the runner is the XCL-D, DLC coated, which the same copy credits with next level edge retention and glide. The skate is sold in three volumes, Fit 1 low and narrow, Fit 2 medium, and Fit 3 high and wide, which is a lot of fit coverage for a first attempt.

Who is it for? Warrior has no fit reputation in skates to trade on, so the three volume split is the whole argument. Rather than ask you to trust one Warrior last, it offers three of them in a shell that thermoforms to what you have. Anyone shopping at this price is already in a Bauer or CCM boot that fits, so the honest question is whether a moldable one piece shell in your exact volume beats the one you know.

Price is $1,199.99 senior and $1,099.99 intermediate at HockeyMonkey, with no sale price shown there or at Sports Excellence, which lists the two in Canada at CA$1,449.99 and CA$1,249.99. Sizing runs men's shoe 8.5 to 14.0, which maps to skate 7.0 to 12.5. The warranty is 90 days.