When I reviewed the CCM Jetspeed FT8 Pro hockey gloves previously I was extremely disappointed by the seemingly cost cutting and weight savings techniques that made their once excellent line of retail gloves considerably worse. So I didn’t have high hopes for these FT8 Pro shoulder pads especially when the FT6 Pro were SO good and brought CCM back to the top of their game for lightweight and low profile shoulder pads.

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There was a glimmer of hope with the FT8 Pro shoulder pads with the addition of the AGI shield, which purpose was to extend the hard molded foam protection into areas that don’t need to flex and be mobile. Did CCM actually listen to feedback and add some protection to an otherwise excellent FT6 Pro shoulder pad?

While CCM has previously sent me the FT6 Pro line in the past, I wanted to see if there were any positive updates in the FT8 Pro so I borrowed these from a local big box store to take a quick look at and do a Snap Shot review!

One of my complaints from my FT6 Pro review was that CCM could double the thickness of the U-Foam and still have a breathable, mobile, and lightweight shoulder pad while also increasing protection significantly.

Watch the full review on YouTube below to see how CCM has improved and listened to feedback on the Jetspeed FT8 Pro shoulder pads!

It is certainly refreshing seeing these FT8 Pro shoulder pads compared to the FT8 Pro gloves (link to previous review), where the FT8 Pro gloves had no updates and got worse, the FT8 Pro shoulder pads fixed basically all of the issues with the previous FT6 Pro version. CCM fixed the folding and bending issue of the front U-Foam padding by adjusting where the AER-TEC suspension pieces were sewn too tightly and pulled the foam inwards.

The added AGI protection does exactly as advertised, it expands the hard molded foam protection areas that was on the breastplate and the spine protection. Now this molded hard foam expands to the front and sides of the stomach as well as covering the kidneys from the back. This molded and harder foam compared to U-Foam doesn’t negatively affect the mobility of these FT8 Pro shoulder pads at all, and these are still one of it not the most mobile and least restrictive shoulder pad on the market today.

CCM also seemingly took an idea directly from the criticisms of my FT6 Pro shoulder pad review where I asked them to double the thickness of the U-Foam on the main protection pieces on the chest and back. The U-Foam now seems to be double the thickness as before and this makes a solid difference in protection testing, double thickness of U-Foam should give a solid increase in protection properties and from the small tests I could do with these shoulder pads proved the increase in protection.

When you had harder foams and double the thickness of the main U-Foam pieces, you are inherently going to have a heavier product… which CCM wasn’t able to defy physics here. These FT8 Pro shoulder pads come in at around 795 grams (minus about 15 grams of sale tags) compared to the 756 grams of the FT6 Pro shoulder pads. This is a perfect example of why I hate talking about weights with specific numbers. This 40 gram difference is never going to make an actual difference on your body, but you can tell the FT8 Pro is heavier when holding them side by side. Chasing weight numbers makes people think the FT8 Pro would be worse from a weight standpoint, but these upgrades are so solid and will make no noticeable difference when on your body. If you are worried about weight savings like this, you better not be wearing base layers or taping your stick since both of those will add just as much weight as the FT8 Pro shoulders do.

I am extremely impressed with CCM with the release of the Jetspeed FT8 Pro shoulder pads. The FT6 Pro was CCM’s return to dominance and felt like the first REAL upgrade over the U+ CL and RBZ shoulder pads that still currently dominate the lightweight and mobile shoulder pad market in the pro scenes and in the NHL. While CCM has increased the price of the FT8 Pro compared to the FT6 Pro, the upgrades are solid and they certainly listened to user feedback. If I had a choice between a clearance priced FT6 Pro or a full price FT8 Pro I would most likely choose the FT8 Pro. With that said, if protection isn’t your priority the FT6 Pro will be an excellent purchase at clearance prices.

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