Owned and operated by Jason and Paula Tansem, Rutland Arena Skate Shop grew from years spent inside the rink — owning and coaching the Kelowna Chiefs, sharpening thousands of pairs of skates and helping players, families and visitors enjoy their time on the ice.
LOCAL. EXPERIENCED. PROUDLY RUTLAND.
What started with hockey grew into something we wanted to keep.
Jason and Paula Tansem owned the Kelowna Chiefs Junior Hockey Club, and just before COVID they took over two businesses inside Rutland Arena — the concession, now the Perogy Hut, and the skate shop, now the Rutland Arena Skate Shop.
The shop quickly became part of everyday life at the rink. Between the Chiefs, Pursuit of Excellence, tournaments, public skating and local families, there was always another pair of skates that needed an edge.
When Jason and Paula sold the Chiefs in 2024, they kept both businesses. By then, they had become more than businesses — they were part of the community and a lifestyle they genuinely enjoyed.
The team changed. The connection to the rink didn't.
Great edges aren't an accident. They're learned one pair at a time.
Jason learned to sharpen skates while owning and coaching the Kelowna Chiefs. It started the way a lot of good skills do — through practice, trial and error, and learning exactly what a properly sharpened skate should feel like on the ice.
In the beginning, the skate shop used the Chiefs' portable Blademaster. As demand grew, it quickly became clear that the little team machine wasn't going to keep up. A professional three-head sharpening machine was installed, and the shop began sharpening skates for the Chiefs, Pursuit of Excellence, tournament teams, public skaters and local families.
Tens of thousands of pairs later, the philosophy is still simple: we don't want your sharpening to be hit and miss. We want to get it right every time.
YOUR EDGES MATTER. SO DOES WHO SHARPENS THEM.
Jason grew up playing for Kelowna Minor Hockey and remembers when Rutland Arena had only the West sheet. Back then, today's skate shop was the concession, and in the lobby sat a computer controlled automatic skate sharpening machine. You fed it $5 in quarters, put your skates in and waited to see what kind of edge came back.
Those machines are long gone. Today there are convenient portable sharpening machines used by families and teams, and they're great when you need an edge in a pinch. But at Rutland Arena Skate Shop, we still believe there is no replacement for an experienced person sharpening your skates by hand on a professional machine.
We've watched the arena change, we've watched generations of players come through the doors, and we're proud to still be here doing things the old-fashioned way, with better equipment and a lot more experience.
Good equipment can be the difference between struggling on the ice and falling in love with skating.
When we took over the skate shop, we wanted rentals to be more than whatever old equipment happened to be available. We invested in more than 200 pairs of new Bauer and CCM skates and approximately 100 quality helmets so families, visitors and first-time skaters could have clean, dependable equipment and a first-class experience on the ice.
Then came the skate bars. With the volume of public skating at Rutland Arena, the inexpensive store-bought versions simply couldn't keep up. So we had 50 heavy-duty metal skate bars custom built locally.
Those bars have since helped thousands of public skaters and local school children find their balance, build confidence and learn how to skate.
On busy weekends, you'll often find us right here in the shop — sharpening skates, fixing equipment, finding a missing piece of gear or simply helping someone get onto the ice.
There are plenty of places in Kelowna to get your skates sharpened. What we hope makes Rutland Arena Skate Shop different is simple: we genuinely care about the people wearing them.
Good edges. Good gear. Great people.
LOCAL. EXPERIENCED. PROUDLY RUTLAND.