EDGE Performance was founded by two former hockey players turned hockey dads who saw a major gap in youth development and equipment.
Mike Mersch played AAA hockey in Chicago before earning a spot on the U.S. National Team Development Program. It was there, for the first time, that he had access to a dedicated equipment manager responsible for maintaining his skates and blades.
As his game evolved, so did his equipment. Every adjustment to his hollow, profile, and steel was intentional and directly tied to performance.
He went on to become an All-American at the University of Wisconsin, was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings, and spent over a decade playing professionally in the NHL and AHL, winning a Calder Cup and serving as captain of the Rochester Americans.
After retiring, Mike transitioned into coaching and training youth players, including working with the Chicago Steel. That's where a clear gap became impossible to ignore.
At the USHL level, players benefit from consistent, professionally managed equipment. Their blades are dialed in, maintained, and consistent. At the AAA and youth levels, that same consistency simply doesn't exist.
Instead, most players rely on:
- Inconsistent pro shop visits
- At-home machines
- Guesswork around hollow and profiling
- Little to no education on blade performance
The result is inconsistency that shows up in both training and games.
- Equipment manager
- Consistent sharpening
- Dialed-in preferences
- Random pro shop visits
- At-home machines
- Guesswork
- Structured system
- Consistent results
- Performance tracking
EDGE Performance was built to solve that problem.
