CCM Premier Chest Review

The NHL loves to make life harder on us.

If they aren’t shrinking our gear, or making the nets bigger, they're giving players more space to try and get around us. Despite the adversity that we face when we look at the rule book, we always find a way to maximise what we can get out of our gear, and push it to the absolute limit within (and sometimes beyond) the rules.

The CCM premier chest is a perfect example of taking a cult classic chest protector, the Reebok P1, to the absolute limit.

Although the CCM Premier chest is based on the Reebok P1, and has a similar fit and shape, it is a completely new chest. Additions such as D30 technology and extensive reshaping allow the CCM Premier take up much more space than its predecessor, while still maintaining the light weight that it was known for.

Due to more squared off floaters and increased width in the shoulder caps the profile of the chest is significantly increased at the shoulders, without adding a noticeable amount of weight. The shoulders have also been redesigned in the way that they adjust, allowing for individual adjustment not only for chest height, but for the floater location as well. Being able to do this independently allows even the smallest goalies to take advantage of the new and improved size.

This D30 material that CCM has started using is an extremely effective way to dampen a lot of force, very quickly and in a very short amount of space. Goalies especially need materials like this when trying to manage rebounds off of the chest. CCM has decided to put this new D30 material in a very large sternum piece on the Premier, so that save selections like the basket catch can take utilize its dampening qualities and keep bad rebounds from popping out unpredictably.

As well as providing a performance advantage, anything that absorbs force very quickly also acts as very good protection, and it is very unlikely that you will be taking any stingers to the chest in the CCM Premier.

CCM is really excited about having the exclusive to bring this technology to hockey. Check out this video to get the scoop on how D30 works.

The arms also made gains in protection, surface area, and adjustability. Utilizing a similar arm floater style to the P1, the Premier chest offers great protection at the elbow joint. This solid design, along with using moulded foams, and very squared off components means you have a very robust, protective arm piece, that takes up more room in every direction.

A protective arm is obviously a huge part of a chest, but its negligible if it doesn’t fit. CCM has added a fix to this problem by getting rid of the tie in arm system, and moving to Velcro adjustments. Being able to quickly move the arm up or down 2 inches makes a very big difference in how the chest feels, and as well opens itself up to a much larger range of goalies.

Combining a familiar traditional feeling, with the size and technology that we expect in modern chests today, CCM has created a great fitting chest protector. Available now online or try it on in person at our retail store today.