I recently moved to Salem, MA (from Montreal, Canada) and, after a few years of rare and occasional skating, I'm getting back on the ice (yay!). Anyone here from the North Shore/Boston area? I'm looking for more information on where to go for sharpening, pro shop stuff and so on...

I live in Natick right now, which is Metro West, but the BEST skate guy to go to is Scott Cooke in Wilmington, MA. He can fit skates, do sharpenings, pretty much everything. And he sells all sorts of figure and hockey equipment too. As for rinks, there's so many you can choose from. I'm more familiar with central Mass rinks, though.

__________________
"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

I agree with Stormy on Scott Cooke.

I got both pairs of boots from him as well as the blades.

I wouldn't trust sharpening to anyone else, especially since one set of blades are patch blades and not many people can sharpen those correctly anymore.

__________________
Keeping School Figures Alive!!

Awesome, thanks, I'll definitely check him out - my skates haven't been sharpened in ages and ages and with my first session next Saturday, I know they'll need some attention.

For now, I'll just be skating once a week at the Viking Club (they're ISI and out of Salem State, which is down the street from me). But I'll want to find some more ice time later on, and definitely somewhere I can get back into ice dance. After I got my Canadian golds, I started working on the USFSA gold dance tests and still have two left (Argentine and Westminster). It would be nice to finish those off... but I need to get back into shape first!

Scott Cooke! Yes, he's the man.

I live in Ohio and sent my skates to him for a partial rebuild a couple years ago. Wonderful work, reasonable price, fast turnaround.

Wish he were closer to me.

__________________
Bill Schneider

Oh yeah everybody in the Boston area knows the Cookes Great place. Accessible by commuter rail as well if you don't have a car.

There's plenty of places to go skating in the Boston area in the winter but I've found it hell hard during the summer (except trying to go to SCOB).

SCOB has a nice proshop packed with stuff; I only got a quick glance around last time I was there this past summer but definitely worth the look. Also it sounds like you are fairly high level, so if you want ice with competitive skaters that's the place to be.

Btw, a new outdoor rink has opened up in East Cambridge near the Galleria Mall. I am dying to check it out next time I come into town.

__________________
Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers