Nike Bauer Hockey History

Bauer hockey equipment started out as Western Shoe Company which was owned by the Bauer family.  Bauer the hockey company did not come into effect until 1927 in Kitchener, Ontario.  Bauer introduced the very first ice hockey skate to have the blade attached to the boot.  Bauer made the boot and the skate blade was made by Starr Manufacturing who now no longer exist.  The new skate boot, blade combo was marketed under the name Bauer Supreme.  After this skate was introduced Bauer became one of the top skate manufacturer.  This lasted until the CCM Tack was introduced and Bauer noticed a shift power to CCM.  It was not until Bauer signed Bobby Hull to endorse their skates and the invention of the TUUK chassis that Bauer again return to dominance in the hockey world.  In the early 70's Jim Roberts began wearing the TUUK blade and was followed by his teammates Guy Lafluer, Steve Shutt and Jacques Lemaire.  The TUUK blade was so successful that by 1995 Bauer had 70% of the NHL market share while their TUUK and ICM holders combined for 95% of the share.  In 1994 Bauer began making the perforated TUUK chassis which allowed them to make skates lighter than they ever had been before.  This is the same time that Nike aquired Canstar which was Bauer's parent company.  When this happened Nike made hockey equipment and Bauer made hockey equipment but both under their respective logos.  It was not until 2006 when they started making hockey equipment under one Nike Bauer logo.