Skate right into summer with these hot hockey sandals

Wayne Gretzky, Dustin Brown and the entire St. Louis Blues team are just some of the supporters of a new hockey-focused sandal on the market.

From sewing skate laces on old flip-flops in the basement to filling an order for the St. Louis Blues, it’s been a crazy couple years for Myles Doak, Kevin Hennessy and the SummerSkates team.

The brainchild of Doak, the sandals featuring a hockey-lace band are an idea he had as a teenager. In 2011, he received a deal when he appeared on the hit TV show Dragon’s Den. Two years later, Hennessy joined the team the company took off.

Doak and Hennessy sold their first pair of sandals to the St. Louis Blues, in time for their first game of the playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks last season, after sending a pair to Blues governor and chairman, Tom Stillman.

“He loved them,” Hennessy said. “So he had us outfit the entire team with their number on it.”

SummerSkates has since provided sandals to Wayne Gretzky for his hockey school and fantasy camp and added Nashville Predators’ Rich Clune and Los Angeles Kings’ captain Dustin Brown to their ownership group.

“I wanted Dustin because he was a leader,” Hennessy said. “With his leadership, winning Cups and being up for the Messier Award, it was a perfect fit for who we are.”

SummerSkates are now sold in eight arenas across the NHL and can be found at Pro Hockey Life, various Canadian Tire stores and on their website.

By Craig Hagerman