6 Best Ice Hockey Pucks (Review) In 2020

Hockey pucks seem fairly simple, and while they’re not the most difficult thing to make an informed decision on, it’s important that you know all the basics to come to a deliberation. This brief buying guide will go over what to look for in hockey pucks while answering some of the most asked questions surrounding them.

How We Chose Our Selection Of The Best Ice Hockey Pucks

Price – When doesn’t price dictate a purchase? Thankfully, rubber (even durable vulcanized rubber) is cheap as can be to produce. You’re mostly paying for the means to package and get it to you, as well as the weight and dimensions to meet NHL regulations. Many brands come with similar pricing models, so regardless of which brand you choose, buying in bulk is the most cost-effective option.

Brand – It’s all just rubber, right? Well, yes and no. The brand is going to determine how close to NHL regulations they actually make their pucks. There’s a short range of error, so you’ll see some pucks that are 5.85 oz each, and some that are 6 oz on the nose. Anything outside of these ranges means the brand doesn’t really know what they’re doing. Learn the NHL regulation firsthand, and then shop for your pucks. Brand names also dictate return windows and customer service, as well as order fulfillment.

Reviews – We’ve used a ton of reviews to accumulate our list of the best hockey pucks before buying and testing them ourselves. When it comes to any sport, people are hypercritical of their gear, as they should be. The voice of the people gives us a helping hand on determining which products we’re going to move forward with reviewing.

Features To Look For In Ice Hockey Pucks

Use – How often are you going to actually get out there and use them? Could you find other uses for the extra pucks in your bundle? Rubber pucks are multifunctional and can be used often in woodworking projects, to raise furniture, and even list your car to work underneath it safely. Vulcanized rubber is tough as nails, so find another use for it around the house, and you won’t be disappointed.

Accuracy – This comes down to weight, height, and the texture on the sidewalls. Since you’ll be freezing your pucks, that texture isn’t always going to shine through, but the accuracy will remain. Accuracy will depend on the weight and dimensions of the puck, as well as the smoothness and flatness. If they’re made as symmetrical and perfect as possible, they’ll glide excellently, leaving it up to your skill to make the shot.

Color – Basic black is what they use in the NHL, though you’ll see other colored pucks that are usually associated with the junior league. This comes down to preference more than anything else. You have to think that an indoor ice hockey ring is well lit, so you can spot the streak of black on the ice perfectly well. If you’re playing on a pond, you might want a stark red puck to see where it goes if it slides off into bushes near the shore.

Ice Hockey Puck FAQ

Q: What is the puck made of in ice hockey?

A: Vulcanized rubber is the best material for hockey pucks. You can also find standard, non-vulcanized rubber, but those generally aren’t NHL regulated. Vulcanized rubber is strong enough to be placed underneath car tires so you can work on your car, be used at feet on benches and woodworking tables, and more. They’re ridiculously durable, making them ideal to withstand warping and damage from repeated use on the rink.

It’s all rubber, but the smooth, flat top and bottom use a different process. There’s something called silk screening, where a mesh is used to hold onto a special type of ink. Simply having raw rubber alone would cause damages and dings from traveling over the rigid ice, and ruin the playability of the puck.

Q: Do I need to freeze my ice hockey puck?

A: Yes, you absolutely do need to freeze your puck if you want to get the full experience of professional hockey. Before every single game, pucks are frozen to prevent bouncing. Since hockey pucks are made of vulcanized rubber, they can have a tennis ball-like effect when they’re hit or they bounce against the inside of the rink.

If that has you asking a few questions, good: we pointed out that ample bounce was an attribute you should look for in hockey pucks, and we stand by that. When the puck is frozen, the bounce is reduced to account for better accuracy, but when it starts bouncing even a tiny bit, you know that it’s thawed too much and needs to be swapped out.

In professional hockey, you’re likely to use a dozen or more pucks throughout a single game. Rubber takes a long time to freeze but unfortunately doesn’t take nearly as long to thaw out. When it’s frozen solid, it’s highly dangerous, which is why the right protective gear is necessary.

A frozen hockey puck (of NHL standards) can travel up to 105 MPH, whereas an unfrozen one travels around a maximum of 92 MPH. That’s an extra 13 MPH of power to get it past the goalie, which comes in handy when you’re on the rink. It’s about accuracy more than anything else.

Q: Why are most hockey pucks black?

A: Pucks used to be brighter, specifically so that cameras could spot the puck easier while broadcasting a game on live television. However, the reflection of these brighter pucks were increasingly distracting to players, and at their request, they switched to black.

When you’re standing right over the puck, a slab of black rubber is much easier to track with your eyes than something that’s giving off a reflection. It doesn’t matter how bright the rink is, a black hockey puck might have a sheen to it, but it’s not going to reflect light directly into your line of vision and impair your judgment.

Colored pucks are usually used in junior leagues and for recreational pond hockey. They’re easier to spot if you end up losing them, and are a bit more exciting for children to use while playing ice hockey.

Q: Why do some hockey pucks have a side grip?

A: These provide a good deal of traction against your hockey stick. While it’s not as effective when they’re frozen, it promotes better handling and dexterity when using the stick. Since most hockey sticks are made of a myriad of different materials (carbon fiber, aluminum, wood), you need something that’s going to conform to all of those.

In the NHL, the ref is the one to drop the puck down in between two players. When it’s a frozen mass of rubber without anything to grip onto, it makes that task just a little bit harder. This also makes it easier to retrieve the puck after it’s done being used, and ensures it won’t just slide off the stick for no reason while moving around the rink.