50% tariff on many popular Canadian goods<\/a>, including hockey equipment, went into effect after trade talks between the countries stalled. Since then, Canada has vowed to enact retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods as part of a pointed trade war that started after President Donald Trump began his second term in 2025.<\/p>\nChanges on campus<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s hockey program at the University of St. Thomas works exclusively with equipment manufacturer CCM, which is headquartered in Montreal and was founded in 1899 as Canada Cycle and Motor. With each member of the Tommies\u2019 roster using between 12 and 24 sticks each season, Adam Krinsky \u2014 the school\u2019s assistant athletics director for equipment operations \u2014 buys in bulk.<\/p>\n
That provides a bit of a break from retail prices, but Krinsky acknowledged he has been hearing from CCM reps more than usual as the U.S. and Canada escalate their war of words.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got an email this morning. I got an email two days ago,\u201d Krinsky said last week. \u201cIt\u2019s very much on everyone\u2019s radar right now, and we\u2019re just trying to figure it all out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tommies\u2019 equipment budget for the 2026-27 season was drafted last January, and many of the orders for gear such as sticks, helmets, gloves, pants and elbow pads were placed in July. Since then, the White House announced its new tariffs, and specifically mentioned hockey sticks in its announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings change so much, so you have to have a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C,\u201d Krinsky said. \u201cMoving forward, I think that\u2019s what everybody is doing right now. We\u2019re having to adjust on the fly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retail readies for a rise<\/p>\n
At the youth and high school levels, where the cost of playing hockey is a perpetual concern for families, the international trade talks hit home. Economists point out that in most trade wars, the cost of tariffs is ultimately borne by the consumer. In this case, that means moms and dads who drive their children to and from the rink most winter nights.<\/p>\n
Stop into Strauss Skates in St. Paul, or Pure Hockey in Burnsville, and they can outfit you with everything you will need to get onto the ice. It won\u2019t be cheap, there or anywhere.<\/p>\n
![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/STP-L-jea-05-HOCKEY_TARIFFS-0902.jpg\")
Andrew Ellis adds price stickers to a hockey stick at Strauss Skates & Bicycles in Maplewood on Wednesday, Sept 2, 2026. (John Autey \/ Pioneer Press)<\/p>\n
A few generations ago there were a handful of hockey stick manufacturers based in Minnesota crafting the tools of the trade almost exclusively out of ash, birch and maple. While you can still buy wood sticks named Northland (originally made in St. Paul) or Christian Brothers (founded in Warroad), they\u2019re now made in Canada \u2014 and sold mostly for nostalgia and senior leagues. The vast majority of sticks are now composites and made in Asian or Mexican factories for Canadian companies.<\/p>\n
A wood stick like the Christian Brothers Superlite 5000 would cost $25 or $30 in the early 1980s, when the gradual switch to materials like aluminum and composite began. At Pure Hockey last week, a high-end Bauer composite stick was for sale at $389.<\/p>\n
A clerk there who declined to share their name said they haven\u2019t seen tariffs affect prices yet but acknowledged it\u2019s a situation that they are watching closely.<\/p>\n
Stick shortages during COVID<\/p>\n
This is not the first time world events have trickled down to a hockey team\u2019s stick room. A few months before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down many aspects of American life, the folks in the Minnesota hockey community could already feel a storm coming.<\/p>\n
There was a massive interruption of the supply chain when Chinese factories were closed because of the initial spread of the virus. It made hockey sticks harder to come by as early as December 2019, three months before the first local mandates to \u201cflatten the curve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSticks were harder to get during COVID, but we never had an issue getting what we needed for our players,\u201d a Minnesota Wild spokesperson said. It should be noted that in times of equipment shortages, NHL teams are generally first in the pecking order, and most professional players receive their equipment directly from sponsors.<\/p>\n
Politics in play<\/p>\n
Following the COVID-related shortages, and with trade tensions between the U.S. and China seemingly always a factor, some hockey gear companies have moved their manufacturing operations to other countries, including Vietnam, in an effort to avoid the tariffs imposed on Chinese-made goods.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike many goods, when China became the focus of our trade conflict, the folks that were producing those products in China moved nearby to other Southeast Asian economies that were not facing that tariff,\u201d said King Banaian, a professor in St. Cloud State University\u2019s school of economics and a former Minnesota state representative.<\/p>\n
Banaian added that the specific mention of hockey sticks by the White House may be a negotiating tactic, and those who are shopping for hockey gear in the near future shouldn\u2019t start panic buying just yet.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Negotiators) could say, \u2018Hey, if you\u2019ll do this for me, I\u2019ll take hockey sticks off the list,\u2019 or something like that. That wouldn\u2019t surprise me,\u201d Banaian said. \u201cIt will be probably not a great impact for the parents of kids in youth hockey. But for people skating at the pro level or the near-pro level, it will have some impact because the high-end stuff\u2026 that is coming out of Canada and will get hit by the 50% tariff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prices already prohibitive<\/p>\n
In the spring of this year, Cottage Grove hockey mom Beverly Schmitz checked with her 11-year-old son, who said his skates fit fine. By the middle of the summer, he said his feet were falling asleep while he was on the ice and he was in some pain when skating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought we were all good and three months later, we have to get him new skates because he went up two sizes,\u201d Schmitz said.<\/p>\n
There are some equipment swap events that help parents find used gear at discount prices, and some youth hockey associations \u2014 including Cottage Grove \u2014 offer some rental equipment. Still, Schmitz readied for the worst upon hearing hockey sticks were specifically mentioned by the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie. When I read that I was like, \u2018Ugh, great. Just what I need,\u2019 \u201d Schmitz said, sarcastically. \u201cJust add it to the list, I guess. Should I be surprised? No. I thought it was a little cheap, and of all the things to go after in this world. Why is that it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Summer and early fall is traditionally the time parents buy their kids\u2019 gear for the coming season, and the overall price of hockey \u2014 which also includes travel to tournaments and ice time rental \u2014 forces most to be budget-conscious.<\/p>\n
Josh Arnold of Moorhead, who had two sons on the Spuds\u2019 2026 state high school championship squad, bought their gear early in the summer. \u201cWe got the end of last year\u2019s stock for discounted prices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To outfit his son Will, who backstopped the Spuds\u2019 title last season and will likely be the starting goalie in 2027, Arnold paid $3,000 for leg pads and gloves, $650 for a chest protector, $1,000 for a helmet, and $235 for a goalie stick on sale, down from $339.<\/p>\n
Goalie skates can run from $300 to $900 depending on the brand and materials.<\/p>\n
Nolan Nygaard, the primary goaltender as a senior at Duluth East last season, will play juniors for the Minnesota Blue Ox in Coon Rapids this winter. His father, Bob, said they may have dodged a bullet by purchasing Nolan a new glove, blocker and leg pads this summer before the tariffs were a factor.<\/p>\n
The change in gear was partially necessary to match his new team\u2019s colors, as East primarily wears black and red.<\/p>\n
Fully outfitting a goalie at the youth level can cost up to $2,000, while gear for high school, junior and college level puck-stoppers can run well over $5,000. If the tariffs are enforced, many fear that those prices could skyrocket in the coming months.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs goalie parents, we pay more than enough already,\u201d Bob Nygaard said. \u201cWe certainly don\u2019t need tariffs to make it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Minnesota kids heading back to school, the Minnesota Wild schedule announced and new coaches getting their final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[525,17,162,8432,61731,3614,271,10816,49,61732],"class_list":["post-197165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-business","tag-canada","tag-donald-trump","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-politics","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nhl","tag-personal-finance","tag-sports","tag-youth-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Ice](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/STP-L-HOCKEYSTICKS-0904_03.jpg\")
Ice skates and hockey sticks for sale at Strauss Skates and Bicycles in Maplewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (John Autey \/ Pioneer Press)<\/p>\n