Safe to say there are the big three and IMHO you can rank them Bauer, RBK-CCM and Easton. There are certainly other suppliers such as Warrior, TPS, Sher-Wood etc. however the mainstream market share is held by these three Companies for players.
Goalie is normally Vaughn, Brians, Sher-Wood, RBK, Bauer and a few others
Bauer is no. 1 in skate sales always have been... after all they were the first company to attach the blade to the boot circa 1927 which changed hockey forever. They also offer lines of sticks, protective & helmet. Story goes that Nike saw Roller Hockey taking off in a big way in N.A. and bought Bauer to better position themselves for the millions of people that were going to take up the game. It didn`t happen. Nike sold them to a group headed by a businessman Graeme Roustan from Montreal a few years back along with the private equity firm Kohlberg & Co out of Mt. Kisco N.Y. The branding has changed from Nike Bauer back to the original brand of Bauer. There headquartered out of Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Easton is a US company that is multi faceted and into baseball in a big way.
IMO Easton is the leader in Composite Sticks by a long shot followed closley by thier composite bat line. Easton offers Skates, Protective, Helmet and of course bats.. The parent company also owns Bell Helmets which helped them introduce a helmet to thier hockey lineup a few years back. They are headquartered out of Van Nuys CA. and Kirkland Quebec
RBK-CCM ( Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd. ) is obviously owned now by RBK and actually carrying two lines in all major hockey categories. You can either buy the RBK brand of stick, skate, protective or helmet or the CCM brand of each which indicates RBK`s strong desire to keep the Canadian Icon CCM brand in the public eye. Good for them.. Thier skates are gaining popularity again since rebranding the CCM line with the U+ which replaced the Tack(aberry) and adding the pump to the RBK line of skates. They are headquartered in Montreal, Quebec.
All Hockey Companies, for advertising purposes are reliant on Professional Hockey Players wearing thier brands and endorsment contracts are not unusual. Some players have say...Mission gloves an Easton stick, RBK protective, Bauer skates and a CCM helmet. Endorsements contracts are normally only on the outer gear and players are free to wear what they want underneath where no logos are typicaly visible. Players like OV & Sidney are dedicated to one brand.. CCM and RBK respectivley and are head to toe in those lines.
Thats what I know...
