CCM (ice hockey)

CCM Hockey is a Canadian brand of ice hockey equipment. CCM (formerly an initialism for Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd.) was held by two separate entities both maintaining the CCM trademark, one (Reebok-CCM by Adidas, formerly "The Hockey Company")[1] manufacturing hockey equipment and the other, CCM Bicycles manufacturing bicycles.

CCM Hockey
TypePrivate
IndustrySporting goods
Founded1899 (1899) in Weston, Ontario, Canada
Headquarters
Montreal, Quebec
,
Canada
Key people
Rick Blackshaw (CEO)
Products
ParentBirch Hill Equity Partners
Websiteccmhockey.com

The company is currently owned by Canadian private "Birch Hill Equity Partners", after the Adidas Group sold the brand for around $100 million in 2017.[2]

CCM range of products for hockey includes sticks, skates, helmets, shoulder pads, elbow pads, goaltender masks, knee pads, throat collar and team uniforms.

History

CCM was founded in 1899 after the collapse of the bicycle market. Established "when the operations of four major Canadian bicycle manufacturers amalgamated: H. A. Lozier, Massey-Harris, Goold, and Welland Vale Manufacturing."[3] CCM produced bicycles for many years in the area of Weston, Toronto, Ontario. They also briefly produced the Russell automobile.

By 1905, with saturation in the bicycle market, CCM began producing hockey skates using scrap steel that was left over at the plant from the manufacture of bicycles and automobiles,[4] and subsequently began manufacturing other hockey gear.[5]

In 1937, CCM acquired the Tackaberry brand made by a Manitoban named George Tackaberry and "Tacks" remained the company's signature skate until late 2006, when the Tacks line was replaced with the "Vector" line, then the "U+" line, and"RBZ" line, now the "Jetspeed" line. The "Tacks" line was later reintroduced in 2014.

The original CCM went bankrupt in 1983. All of the assets of the Company were purchased by Procycle Group Inc. of Quebec who retained the bicycle division and sold off the hockey division to Montreal businessman David Zunenshine who owned GC Knitting, a manufacturer of hockey jerseys. The company subsequently used the CCM brand when producing hockey equipment.[6]

The company entered the toy industry in 1988 through the acquisition of Coleco Industries and in 1990 when they acquired another financially troubled company, Buddy L Corp., a 70-year-old manufacturer of steel and plastic toy cars and trucks based in the United States.[6]

Former CCM logo, replaced by the current one in 2007, although this one is still occasionally used on throwback merchandise.

In 1991, the company incorporated and took the name "SLM International" Inc.[6] SLM purchased Kevin Sports Toys International Inc. (the maker of the Wayne Gretzky NHL hockey game), Norca Industries Inc. (a plastic toy manufacturer of such products as swimming pools, sleds, and sandboxes), and Innova-Dex Sports Inc. of Montreal (a bicycle helmet manufacturer).[6]

SLM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in 1995, selling off Buddy L and the SLM Fitness equipment business.[6] The company emerged from bankruptcy protection in 1997 and reorganized.[6] The company acquired Montreal-based Sports Holdings, Inc, in 1998, and became the world's top producer of hockey merchandise[6] adding the brands Koho, Titan, Jofa, Canadien and Heaton. Titan and Canadien were well-known brands of wooden hockey sticks in the 1980s and 1990s, with Wayne Gretzky having used the Titan 2020 while playing with the Edmonton Oilers. Heaton was known for its goalie equipment, which was worn for years by Martin Brodeur.

Koho-tuote Oy was established in 1964 by Finnish hockey player Kai Aro. He started the Titan hockey stick development in Helsinki during his student days. Titan stick was developed by Antti-Jussi Tiitola in early 70's. The company was founded in late 60's. Finnish sport equipment company Karhu (Est.1916) bought Titan 1972. Cooperation with Wayne Gretzky started in Lake Placed olympics 1980. Two Canadians and two Finns agreed in the sauna the cooperation. One was called Antti-Jussi and another one was Wayne. Antti-Jussi's farther was a one of the charter member of hockey club Ilves, Tampere.

In 1999, SLM was renamed The Hockey Company.[6] In June 2004, The Hockey Company was bought by Reebok.[7] All brands other than the CCM brand were retired and Reebok introduced its own RBK Hockey gear, later to be rebranded as Reebok Hockey.[8] Reebok in turn was acquired by Adidas in 2005.

In the fall of 2013, The Hockey Company created a new goaltending equipment line under the CCM brand name.[9] Beginning in 2015, The Hockey Company began phasing out the Reebok name from their hockey equipment lines, by creating equivalent or similar product lines under the CCM name. CCM is now the only brand name used by the company on its hockey equipment.[10]

In 2017, Adidas sold CCM to a Canadian private equity firm, Birch Hill Equity Partners, for around $100 million.[2] In 2018 CCM hired a new CEO, Rick Blackshaw. Blackshaw told the media that "We have some nice momentum. We're seeking to make investment in product and product innovation and the brand.[11]

Products and marketing

CCM manufactures a wide range of ice hockey equipment at all price points, from recreational to professional. One major rival is Bauer Hockey. CCM is one of the official licensees, sponsors, and on-ice suppliers of hockey equipment for the National Hockey League (NHL) until 2014. CCM has changed its logo multiple times but use all three.

NHL player George Parsons was forced to retire due to a career-ending eye injury in 1939.[12] He then became involved with CCM hockey, helping to develop helmets and facial protection which would be safer for players. By early 1976, CCM had developed a hockey helmet complete with eye and face shield and lower face protector that was both approved by the Canadian Standards Association and endorsed by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.[13]

Main endorsers of CCM players gear include Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid.

In recent decades, CCM has been one of the most used goalie pads in the NHL. This popularity was in large part due to CCM's partnership with Quebec-based goalie equipment company EGB, owned by the Lefebvre family (name stylized as Lefevre on products and marketing materials).[14] Some notable goalies that used CCM were Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury and Montreal's Carey Price. Until recently, Price was typically seen as the main advertiser and face of CCM's goalie sector, being prominently featured in CCM's marketing campaigns. However, following an end to the partnership between CCM and EGB, breakdown of relations between the two companies,[15] and subsequent purchase of EGB by True Hockey,[16] many goaltenders, including Price, stopped wearing CCM leg pads and gloves in favor of Lefevre-produced, True-branded equipment. The four main goalie pad series that CCM currently offers are the Extreme Flex 4, Axis, Retro Flex, and the youth YT Flex.[17]

See also

References
  1. THE HOCKEY COMPANY WILL OFFICIALLY CHANGE NAME TO REEBOK-CCM HOCKEY on Reebok website, Montreal, 10 Jan 2007
  2. Adidas laces up $100M hockey brand sale by Josh Kosman, July 20, 2017
  3. "CCM Light Delivery: A Thousand Variations on a Theme - Canada Science and Technology Museum". Archived from the original on 18 November 2005. Retrieved 18 December 2005.
  4. "The story of CCM: Weston plant created much more than bikes and skates", Toronto Star, 24 July 2011
  5. About Us: CCM's Roots on CCM Hockey website (archived, 29 May 2010)
  6. The Hockey Company -- Company History, Funding Universe (retrieved 15 September 2010)
  7. "Reebok to buy CCM, Jofar, Koho brands".
  8. "Reebok to buy CCM, Jofa, Koho brands".
  9. http://ingoalmag.com/gear/carey-price-new-cmm-gear/
  10. "Reebok Hockey". reebokhockey.com. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  11. Hockey goods giant CCM gets new captain at the helm by Gregory Todaro on CBC Canada, 10 March 2018
  12. "George Parsons". Legends of Hockey. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  13. "George Henry Parsons Bio". CCM Vintage. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  14. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Sports-. "Le monde des gardiens change : les Lefebvre remontent en selle!". Radio-Canada.ca (in French). Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  15. "Renowned Quebec goalie equipment company in David-and-Goliath legal battle with CCM | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  16. "TRUE Sports Acquires Iconic Goalie Company Lefevre Inc". TRUE Hockey. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  17. “CCM Goalie Series”, CCM Hockey
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