Hockey Skateboards

Hockey Skateboards is an American skateboard brand founded by Jason Dill and Anthony Van Engelen in 2015. Part of the same world as Fucking Awesome, Hockey has built its own identity through raw street skating, distinctive graphics and a team that perfectly fits the attitude of the brand.

The Start of Hockey Skateboards

Hockey arrived in 2015 under FA World Entertainment, following the growth of Fucking Awesome.

The idea came from Dill and AVE wanting another outlet for a different group of skateboarders. John Fitzgerald and Donovan Piscopo were at the centre of Hockey from the beginning, with AVE describing their skating at the time as gnarly, brutal and naturally suited to what Hockey was supposed to represent.

It gave the new brand an identity almost immediately. Hockey wasn't simply Fucking Awesome with a different logo - it had its own team, graphics and increasingly recognisable way of presenting skateboarding.

Raw Street Skateboarding

The skating behind Hockey is a massive part of the appeal.

Hockey videos tend to feel deliberately raw and stripped back, centred around proper street skating rather than anything overly polished. Rough spots, heavy slams, fast skating and unusual trick selection all fit naturally into the world the brand has built.

That approach has carried through a series of Hockey videos and projects, with the brand continuing to put skateboarding at the centre of everything it does.

Hockey Graphics and Artwork

You normally know a Hockey board when you see one.

Photography, distorted faces, strange illustrations, religious imagery, horror influences and deliberately rough layouts regularly appear across Hockey graphics. Some boards are incredibly simple, while others look like they've been pulled from an old photograph, book or piece of forgotten artwork.

There's a darker edge running through a lot of it, without the brand ever feeling like it's following a set graphic formula.

That unpredictability is a big part of what makes Hockey interesting. A new drop can look completely different from the last while still unmistakably feeling like Hockey.

Hockey Skateboards

Hockey produces skateboard decks alongside clothing and accessories, but the boards remain right at the centre of the brand.

Like the skating itself, Hockey decks tend to appeal to people who want something with a bit more character than the standard skate shop wall. Different shapes, sizes and graphics come and go between drops, sitting alongside the more traditional popsicle shapes you'd expect from a street-focused board brand.

Hockey at The Vines

Hockey is one of our favourite examples of what a modern independent skateboard company can be.

There's no need for the brand to over-explain itself. The skating, team, videos and graphics do most of that work already.

For anyone into raw street skating, interesting board shapes and some of the more distinctive graphics in skateboarding, Hockey is well worth keeping an eye on.

Shop the latest Hockey Skateboards decks and clothing online at The Vines.