Apparently Wayne Gretzky is a believer in the Therma Blade, a battery-warmed skate blade that melts ice to give its wearer more speed with less effort. The brainchild of former steam engineer Tory Weber, who has invested 5 years and $5 million in to the invention. Quoted in The Star as saying “It’s not super technical. We heat the blade and it creates a thin film of water between the skate blade and the ice and gives the user substantial performance benefits.” Weber provided The Great One a pair in 2004 and impressed him enough to get his endorsement. The only trouble is it's not Gretzky who needs convincing, though it probably helps, the NHL brass want to make sure the blade doesn't adversely affect it's ice. The Therma Blade will launch next month but the big league has not given the okay for them on it's ice, so we won't be seeing them on NHLers any time soon. No price point was revealed but they are said to fit any skate boot and are likely to be higher priced than traditional blades. Thanks to Engadget for this story.
