The wide acceptance of the clapskate in national competition this year has caused a big stir in long track speedskating. But in short track, another, quieter evolution is happening - one that few people outside of the sport are even aware of. But while it may not be well known yet, this evolution has many short track national team members struggling to get new equipment in the same way long trackers have been struggling to get clap skates.

This latest evolution started three years ago during an informal dinner conversation in Tacoma Washington between Canadian National Team coach Marcel Lacroix and Dutch Mogema inline skate frame designer Johan Bennink. After sharing several beers with Bennink, Lacroix had boasted that he could design a better short track blade, but did not know anything about the industry of blade manufacturing. Bennink, a manufacturer and innovator himself, pushed Lacroix for the details.

It was no idle boast. Lacroix is a unique individual - an accomplished short track skater from Quebec who in his skating days was in the habit of checking the sharpness of his blade with a portable microscope. He was also renowned for introducing hundreds of skaters all over Canada to "the bend" with his famous rubber mallet - the bending of one's blades is a technique used to make the blade conform to the tight arc of the short track oval.

Nowadays it's done with a precision bender. In those days, when the benefits of bending were newly discovered, it was done by talented individuals with a steady hand, a good eye, and a heavy mallet.

Lacroix is a techie at heart, equally at home spending hours gently knocking a bent fender into shape for one of the cars he restores in his spare time - what there is of it. As coach of the Canadian National Team, his dedication has brought the Canadians to a point where only the Italians and Koreans are able to keep pace.

Lacroix sketched his design for Bennink on a cocktail napkin. His ideas centered around changing the mounting points and cup design (the part that connects the boot to the mounting points). His design would not interfere with the bending of the blade. Additionally, it would allow the power to be transferred from the cups directly to the blade without interference from the mounting bolts, as is the case with contemporary designs. His design would also prevent the cups from coming out of true after heavy use.

He also had specific goals for the materials - how the tube and the blade would interact with each other when stressed during cornering. And also of primary concern was finding materials that would not lose their bend - a big problem for his athletes who were constantly tinkering with their blades.

"My guys were always messing with their bend." says Lacroix. "They would do a few starts, and check it with the gauge, and it would be wrong. They could not have confidence in their equipment that way."

Bennink was intrigued enough to fund the project and create the production tools necessary to produce a blade from scratch. Lacroix and Bennink then teamed up with American bio-mechanical and materials expert Todd Allinger from the University of Calgary. Through exhaustive testing they found a combination of dimensions and materials that would satisfy their requirements. Many months and many Holland-to-Canada commutes later, they had the first prototypes ready.

The results were dramatic. Lacroix introduced his top skaters to the new blade, dubbed the "Maple" one week before the Canadian National Team Trials. Though extremely picky and careful about their equipment, his athletes took to them immediately. Three-time world champion Marc Gangon remarked that he never felt so comfortable skating on a pair of blades. Derrick Campbell, 500M world champion, proved Gangon's point by setting a personal best in the 666M pursuit (the standard Canadian time trial distance) the first time he wore them.

Their durability also became quickly apparent. "Derrick had one fall where the blades dug into the ice so hard it was like we had a wagon track on the ice. But we checked them with the gauge and they were still perfect. We were very happy to see that." said Lacroix.

After using them successfully at the Canadian team trials, the Canadians and a few top athletes on other national teams used them at worlds three weeks later, with impressive results. Campbell in particular, after winning the 500M gold medal, was lavish in his praise of the new blades. Overall, the Canadians took two of the top three places, and won the relay event.

Lacroix insists that it was just good athletes coming together with good equipment, but their success did not go unnoticed. All the Canadians are presently training on Maples. As are certain national team members from Holland, France, England, Norway, Sweden, Japan, America, and other countries - those lucky enough to get a shipment, anyway. American national team member Andy Gabel is still waiting.

Assuming they can solve the production problems, expect the Maple to be the blade of choice when the Olympics come around next year - that is, if Bennink's company Ducento can handle the demand.

"We've had some trouble keeping up with demand because the word got out a little early" said Lacroix. "We could have put them on the market two months ago, but we were not 100% pleased with some of the details... not the sort of details anyone would have noticed, but we knew about them and decided to deal with them before we sold any. But they should be easy to get soon," he said, followed by a long pause. "Just make sure you don't tell the Italians that."

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