In the world of stiff boots the lack anatomical characteristics can restrict movement. Easton believes in a new sense of freedom, performance and the Art of Speed by creating a skate that optimizes natural movement. The Patent Pending Asymmetrical patterns on the boot allow the skates to fall in line with direction of travel to generate speed and power through cornering. Thermoformable boot and tongue mold to your foot for a custom – snug fit – permitting you to feel every movement through every stride. The Easton Mako Hockey Skates weight is only 815 grams (size 9D US) Being at a slight angle, you can see the heel guard is not that of your average boot. Easton modernized it with the Patent Pending Extendon™ Guard, which promotes a fuller stroke during stride and then a quicker recovery to the original position for a faster stride frequency. As a hockey player, being in the ready position at all times is an absolute must – this is especially true at face-offs, and areas where the initial split-second burst of speed is all the difference between making the play and watching it go by. The CXN holder helps you do just that. The heel of the holder is raised slightly higher than normal holders, keeping your heel raised so that you lean forward on your toes. This puts you in the aggressive forward stance for an explosive stride all game long. Added to the CXN holder is the ES4 stainless steel blade, providing an unmatched range of motion and an aggressive blade pitch which allows your foot to get over the front of the skate more, creating more force into the ice. Combining freedom, performance, and the Art of Speed, the Mako Ice Skates keep you ready, aggressive, quick, and deadly as a shark.
Runner & Holder
The new ES4 stainless is a massive improvement from Easton’s previous blades, one of the problems I’ve always had with blades is having to alter the blade pitch with custom grinds. The new ES4 blade comes with an aggressive pitch standardly. The shape of the blade also allows you to bite and cut the ice more aggressively than before. The CXN hold is also a new addition to the Mako Skates. The heel of the holder is raised slightly higher than normal holders, keeping your heel raised so that you lean forward on your toes. This puts you in the aggressive forward stance for an explosive stride all game long, it also allow you to be much more agile on the ice. This new CXN holder is much more comparable to the Light Speed 2 Tuuk holders have have been domination the market. The bolts on the holder have also been adapted so they now require tightening from both sides to ensure a secure fit. 
Quarter Package
Normally before talking about the Quarter Package I would discuss the outsole, similar to the MLX Ice Hockey Skates the MAKO Skates do not feature a traditional outsole, the whole quarter of the skate is a fully composite quarter which eliminates the need for a traditional outsole. This method of skate manufacturing creates an incredibly rigid and responsive boot with incredible thermoformable properties. The quarter package on the MAKO’s also features abrasion resistant zones with reenforced pads to prevent the body of the skates from scratching on the ice as you take tight turns. 
Extendon Guard
The Extendon Guard promotes a fuller stroke during stride and then a quicker recovery to the original position for a faster stride frequency. This is probably one of the most effective changes Easton have adopted from the MLX hybrid Ice Hockey Skates. The ability to move more freely and naturally on the ice is very difficult with the old style of tendon guard which restricted the skaters movement on the ice. The issue here will be a test of time, Easton have made the tendon guard removable and replaceable, it will be interested to see how much abuse this tendon can take from puck hits and stick slashes. 
Tongue
Seeing more influences from MLX the tongue on the MAKO skates is much thinner than normally expected, this promotes an unrestricted range of motion inside the skate while still combating lace-bite with the lace-bite bar inserted into the front of the tongue. The tongue is also fully thermoformable so it will take to the shape of your foot the more you use the skate. The tongue also extends into the toe box to reduce the amount of unnecessary empty space inside the skate increasing the responsiveness and energy transfer of the skate. 
Comfort edge
As these new Mako skates allow the user to corner much hard and sharper than the previous Easton skates, they’ve added a comfort edge to the neck of the skate. This comfort edge distributes the pressure at one point when taking a tight turn. So inside of on area of your foot digging into the neck of the skate, the comfort edge distributes this focus and keeps your foot more comfortable and cut free. 
How do the Mako Ice Hockey Skates Fit? / Mako Skate Volume
Its difficult to label the Mako skate volume i.e. Toe box – low volume. Forefoot – mid volume. Heel low volume. The concept behind the MLX and Mako is to create a custom fit for each skater, these skates require baking in a skate oven to heat the thermoformable materials up allowing them to form to the foot shape of the user. One point I will mention is that these skates seem to fit wider than the previous Easton skates. I normally use a width EE, with the Mako I’ve been able to comfortably use a width D after baking my Mako’s (same scenario with MLX ). 
Negative points
Some of the parts on the Mako Ice Hockey Skates raise concerns, the tongue seems to mark/scuff very quickly and easily, it would be advised to keep an eye on it. I am still waiting for Easton to release prices on the replacement tongues. The orange Mako Colours also mark easily, puck marks show up quickly and are very hard to remove.
Mako Ice Hockey Skate Stiffness ?
As these are an advanced / top end level of skate, I was surprised to see they were so soft. Normally skates targeted at this level would be MUCH harder and stiffer, this may effect the time scale a top end intermediate to professional level hockey player that is fairly heavy, built or tall could use them for. In some cases skates have been found to be to stiff, even for some of the pros, I’d like to see how long a built, heavy and tall skater would be able to use these skates for. Subscribe to our Ice Hockey and Power Skating Channel
