I am not from buffalo and am visiting from out of town, I stopped at pure hockey first and got the pure hockey experience. Young inexperienced workers who don't care and only push you to high end products. Then I checked out great skate right down the street. As soon as you walk in the door it feels like a local hockey shop and not the 'Walmart' of hockey shops. Employees of all ages with difference experience and knowledge who are there to push you towards the right gear for you and not the most expensive to just make profit. They are the upmost professional hockey shop I have ever been to and I am looking forward to my next visit to buffalo and more importantly, Great Skate. read more

Great Skate Hockey - Hockey Equipment Near Me - Buffalo, New York

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My favorite hockey shop of all time. Small family owned business with the best prices in town. I refuse to go anywhere else. They always have the best and newest equipment, and the owners+employees are kind and knowledgeable! Don't listen to the bad reviews fr. People don't realize that hockey equipment isn't cheap. It's just part of the game!! read more

Just terrible customer service. Came in looking for help getting a new holder for a skate. I was told they don't stock that and to order online and come in to get it put on. I did exactly that, came in with the part and was turned away rudely. "NOPE not gonna happen, We don't work on parts we don't sell." Too bad, used to love coming here as a kid. read more

The best place for all of your hockey-related needs. I stopped here to purchase a hockey stick to play pickup hockey with a few friends. They have high-end equipment for people who play hockey competitively, and stuff for those who play occasionally. They even have hockey games playing on tv that you can watch while shopping. There's a bubble hockey game you can play against a friend if you'd like as well. Very friendly and personable. You won't be disappointed. read more

Staff could not be more helpful and friendly. Went to get skates and was not pushed to buy the top of the line skate. They spent time looking at our needs not trying to make a big sale. Staff asked a lot of questions to help pick the right model of skates and pricing was on par with other stores. read more

If you order online beware! I'm a Large & they sent me a Small Twice in the past year.. why? To get rid of there inventory. Well the customer buys online So there gonna be to lazy to send back. Also never sent me the link for a return. He didnt like my comment of having chimps working in the warehouse? read more

Terrible business practices. They keep items online to get you to order then call you to tell you it's out of stock and they don't have anything in the same price range. I called back this morning to tell them to cancel my order and they told me it already shipped. read more

They do have a great selection. It ends there. Customer service is as others have said, terrible. Rude, lazy...just brutal. Have gone in recently with both an issue with a skate (purchased there) and an issue with my son's helmet (purchased there) and in both cases they said nothing could be done and attempted to sell me a replacement. Both times I have gone somewhere else and the issue was fixed in less than 15 minutes and both of the other places refused to even LET me pay them for their work. I don't go into worst skate anymore. read more

My 5 year old son needed a curved stick for his new hockey league. Being a hockey Mom who does not play the sport , I had no idea if he shot left or right. The young man insisted I purchase the left handed stick. My husband as soon as I got home told me it was wrong but, we let his coaches decide. His coached agreed he shot right. I called the store and he would not even let me finish my sentence. He insisted none of his staff who ever "insist" and just would "guide" you. I trusted this employee , and I should not have. He would not exchange it for a right and if he was the manager / store owner shame on YOU. Extremely poor customer service. We have been loyal customers and have spent a great deal of money in your store. If I have any advice do your research and go else where. read more

Worst online Hockey store EVER. Avoid GreatSkate and Keith at all costs. Their database shows tons of sticks that aren't in inventory (and haven't been for weeks). Like other reviews, I ordered a large stick, but they shipped me a smaller sized sticks (Flex). When I tried to show Keith that their website was incorrectly showing 40 flex sticks even thought it was filtered for 85+ flex. He said was not GreatSkate's issue, but my user error that I didn't order the correct flex stick. Totally rude. I had to pay extra to ship it back. And extra to ship the correct stick. He refused to credit my purchase, and refused to take any responsibility, or offer any discount for the shipping error. So I've paid shipping (3) times. He said on the phone during the first call that they had great shipping rates of $9.95, but when I had to order the 2nd stick, he charged $16.95. Total immoral and shady business. Do not buy from this company. read more

I drove her and they tried putting me in skates that were way to small. I finally got the skates that fit and left with them. When I got home (60 miles away), I opened the box and there were two left skates. They wouldn't help me on the phone and I sent back the box by mail which they wouldn't acknowledge. I had to take it up with my credit card company and dispute the charge (successfully). I then got my skates elsewhere. read more

This was my go to hockey store growing up . Sad thing is it's taken a nose dive. A few of the sales people are very helpful and know what they are selling. Some others not so much . I was in there to check out the new Bauer sticks and liked a few of them. I have played hockey my whole life , and played in college. I asked if they had any 100 flex sticks as 85 flex offers more in terms of flex but I break them often and don't want to drop $200+ on a stick only to break it the second time I use it. One of the older salesmen told me ovechkin uses 85 flex so it's more than I need , and if I was worried about it breaking just buy 2 or 3 of the cheaper $75-125 sticks. Not sure if the guy was drunk , uniformed or just having a bad day. However when people walk in there for actual advice for themselves or kids they would have been steered in the wrong direction by this guy. I can no longer recommend people go there as odd examples like the one above have become a common occurrence. read more

The only "We have it all" hockey supply store in WNY. An over abundance of variety in styles and brands. Knowledge filled sales people that play the game so they know the equipment. Either follow the suggestions of standard wear, or use the sales guys preference, you choose they tell you both. Good hours of operation, or order online. read more

THE place to get skates sharpened. Good prices on equipment. A little pricey on some things but you get what you pay for.

This store has a great selection. However, the staff is brutal. They are rude, lazy, and will try to get the most money possible out of you. After many terrible experiences I have had with the staff, I now go to Pure Hockey, which I reccomend, and it is no more than 2 minutes from Great Skate. read more

The staff was incredibly patient, helpful, and caring. When it turned out the store did not have the item I was looking for, they gave me great suggestions of other places to find what I needed. read more

After a terrible experience at Pure Hockey & ComLax we came here to get my son some equipment. Everyone was super nice and helpful. They helped with all of our needs for our son who is 4 and just starting off with Hockey. We were in and out and there prices were very reasonable. I will be back! read more

If you are not a hockey expert, don't go to this store for help. Guy at the cash (possibly the manager) was demeaning and did not like it when you inquired about pricing. Customer service through email was extremely unhelpful and did not seem concerned that customers leave the store feeling deceived. Hard to support local business when you're treated this way. I will not return. read more

Stay away from these people. I ordered a deeply discounted set of skates online and received shipping confirmations. They did not arrive, I called their "pride ourselves on customer service" line, was passed to a man who was incredibly rude and hung up on me when I asked him for the company president's name. My 10 yr old son was very excited about the skates. My intent was to inform the president of the poor service and deceptive practices by advertising liquidation then re-advertising the same item at regular retail, and seek a resolution. The other guy was telling me that I owed them the full retail price, and that the product was not in stock, yet it was on the new listing at full retail, even though I received email shipping and cc charge confirmations on my original orders! I made a formal complaint to the BBB. read more

Husband got daughter's skates newly sharpened at Great Skate. Paid double rate ($16) per their policy because it was the first sharpening on the blade. Then drove to rink to skate on them. They were so dull that the skates slid out sideways on the ice - dangerous, much less not skate-able. Sharpening personnel at the rink checked the blade with a leveling device and told me the blades were not sharpened level. Paid $8 at rink to re-sharpen -voila! The skates now work beautifully! Returned to Great Skate after the skating event and they refused to return our money for a poor sharpening job. They contended that we should have come right back to ask for a re-sharpen, even though I told them that we were in the middle of a skating event. They further told me that because we had a re-sharpen over their work, they could not do anything for us. Also argued that they could likewise say that the other sharpening job was "not good", as the person "balanced" the skate on its blade on the counter (not the way to ck for a level sharpening). Would it not have been easier to consider the customer right? (what would it really have cost them?) I have skated and had skates professionally sharpened for over 30 years - I know what a sharp blade feels like. They offered a coupon for a free re-sharpen, then 2 free re-sharpens, but by that time, they'd lost my future business. I'll go elsewhere. read more