Ontario hockey player shocked when skate shatters after being hit by puck

A Barrie, Ont. recreational hockey player says he was stunned when he blocked a shot during a game and the puck shattered the toe on his two-year-old skates.

"I looked at my foot and my toe cap had completely exploded from my skate," said Dylan Swan. “It was pretty much right in the toe. The whole cap busted open."

Swan said he plays in three men’s leagues, three times a week, and said the skates he had were CCM FT380's, which were about two years old and originally cost about $600.

When the toe cap on the skate shattered, it also split his toenail, his foot became swollen, and he hasn’t been able to go back on the ice for the past three weeks.

“My foot went numb. Immediately I stood up from the pure adrenaline and then I slipped back onto the ice," said Swan.

When he contacted CCM Canada to tell them what happened he was told it was unfortunate, but that the skates were no longer under warranty.

“What they told me is with the perfect shot, from the perfect angle it could happen. So my questions is why are they designing them that way?” said Swan.

CTV News Toronto reached out to CCM Canada headquartered in Montreal and the company said skates are designed for fast action and rough play so it's very unusual for a toe cap on a skate to shatter.

Jeff Dalzell, the Chief Product Officer with CCM, said skates are rigorously tested and the same level of safety goes into skates whether they are for someone who plays in the NHL or recreational hockey.

“CCM stands behind its products and always will with safety being first. We have been producing skates since 1904 with our brand and we have a very robust and rigorous process to make sure what comes to market meets all our safety requirements,” said Dalzell.

Dalzell said skates have pucks fired at them at speeds of 160 kilometres an hour during the testing process and said it is extremely rare for a toe cap to shatter.

Dalzell said without seeing the skate beforehand it's difficult to speculate on what happened, but said cold weather, wear and tear, and other factors could have caused the toe cap to fail.

“There could have been something compromised. There could have been rivets that were loose that left the toe cap not in an ideal position. There could have been a gash in the skate from a blade that compromised the toe cap," argued Dalzell.

CCM asked Swan to send the damaged skate to them so it can be examined and inspected by researchers at the company.

CCM gave Swan another pair of premium CCM skates as a replacement.

“They are the top of the line ones, so they should offer some ample protection, more than I had, I'm hoping anyway,” said Swan.

CCM said that because hockey can be a rough sport all players should examine their equipment often looking for cracks, gashes or loose parts and if gear is damaged it should be replaced before it fails.