The Hockey Sock Defined

As I was picking up my son’s equipment rental for his learn to skate / learn to play program, the league contact told me not to worry about purchasing a hockey sock, instead he could wear a pair of sweats over his shin guards.  I’m thinking to myself, what the heck is he talking about, but since I didn’t want to sound dense I just said fine.  Later as I was signing him in for his first day of practice, the coach made the comment to everyone that she had extra socks if anyone needed them.  Again, nobody took her up on the offer, and I didn’t say anything since I had no idea what these were needed for.  While it was easy enough to figure this out by running home and doing a quick internet search, I thought it would be valuable to describe the ice hockey sock term in a little more detail to help those new hockey parents understand this piece of equipment.

Boston Bruins Color Sock

A hockey sock is nothing more then a garment, typically made of cotton or another type of material, that are worn from the ankle to the thigh.  These socks cover the protective gear a player wears, the shin guard, and have an opening on both ends that allow you to slide the sock over your leg.  The socks comes in a variety of colors (solid and/or stripped) and is considered part of the hockey uniform by complimenting the jersey of a team.

Now that we’ve described what a hockey sock is, how do you wear one of these things?  As we mentioned above, one of the main purposes of the sock is to cover the protective gear that is worn on the legs.  Given that, logic would dictate that you must first put on your shin pads and ensure those are secured properly.  You also must have a jock short, with velcro tabs, that will be used to secure the socks up on the leg.  You can substitute a hockey garter belt for the jock short if you prefer, which provides the same type of functionality.  Once the above equipment is on, and before you put your skates on, you slide the hockey sock over the foot and bring the top of the sock up to the thigh region.  Using the velcro tabs on your jock short, press the sock onto the velcro to secure them to the short.  This will ensure that the sock stays up and covers the entire leg during the course of a practice or game.

These socks can be purchased from the hockey store at your local rink or from any number of on-line merchants that you can find by doing a quick internet search.  If your son is playing on a league that provides jersey’s, they will typically include at least one set of hockey socks to match that color of the jersey.  One or two pairs of socks is all you will need for a full season of hockey.