About Us
The origins of Tydan Blades are emblematic of father-son ownership team Jim and Tyler Usselman themselves: humble, passionate, imaginative, and persistent. Few would expect a revolution in hockey technology to originate from a small building in Dundas, Ontario, but that’s exactly what happened in the mid-1990s.
Jim Usselman has been a skilled steel worker for decades, specializing in making industrial saw blades for cutting fibreglass insulation. He believed in the potential from a marriage between his expertise with steel and his passion for hockey. Jim sought out ways to improve skate blade construction, developing a tungsten-carbide-coated steel skate blade prototype with the promise of dramatically increased durability over existing models. Could he find a player who would want to try this skate blade and its potential to go months without sharpening?
Turns out, NHLer and local resident Todd Harvey was the answer. Harvey played for the New York Rangers at the time and was eager to sample the new skate blade technology.
And that’s how this success story ends, right? Um, not exactly.
What Usselman didn’t consider was how porous the coating on the blades would be. Even modest amounts of ice time caused them to accumulate water and rust rapidly. Even if the blade construction was sound. they were secured to holders using nuts and bolts, making changeouts difficult and time consuming. So much for a new skate blade technology!
Fast forward to 2010, when Jim had been looking into skate sharpening as a side business. He noticed how easily players could change out their blades from the plastic holders, with new quick-release technology. This inspired him to revisit his works on skate blade technology. His son Tyler had just graduated from high school, and was eager to join the business. Together they worked extensively on schematics and technology. They landed on high-quality steel, an extensive heat treating process, and Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coatings for their blade prototypes.
Nashville Predators player Ryan Ellis was an early adopter of the new Tydan Blade tech, quickly becoming an advocate. Word of these new skate blades spread from equipment manager to equipment manager, and soon calls were coming in from New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and Minnesota. Before they knew it, this little Dundas-based initiative was serving a sizeable portion of the NHL.
Tydan Blades were born, so named as a combination of Jim’s son’s and wife’s names (Ty and Danielle, respectively). But what makes them so great? We can probably break it down to 3 factors:
- Durability. The skate blade material is resistant to wear and doesn’t need to be sharpened as often.
- Versatility. The blades arrive profiled to the player’s specifications. They will even provide each player with blades at multiple profiles, saving equipment managers hours of work and optimizing on-ice performance.
- Cool factor: Tydan Blades are etched with each player’s name and whatever details they want on the blade. By offering black-coloured blades, Tydan provides players across all leagues and skill levels the chance to add a little swagger to their game.
What does the future hold for Tydan? Although no longer in the blade manufacturing business, Tydan has partnered with Skatescribe, a state-of-the-art profiling and sharpening machine to lead the charge in the hockey service industry. As you may already know, they’ve expanded beyond the Dundas store, opening locations in Burlington and Mississauga, with plans to add many more retail locations. They’ve partnered with like-minded organizations looking to innovate and elevate the game they all love. Not too bad for a Dundas family with a passion for hockey and the know-how to make it a little more awesome, eh?