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EASTON-BELL SPORTS CREATES EASTON SPEED INSTITUTE Easton Commits to New Level of Skate Innovation

Van Nuys, Calif., November 9, 2011 – Easton-Bell Sports, Inc. – a leading designer, developer and marketer of branded sports equipment and accessories under the Easton, Bell, Giro, Riddell and Blackburn brands – today announced its largest and most aggressive commitment in skate innovation through its recent purchase of MLX Skate’s technology. The newly created Easton Speed Institute will combine MLX’s innovative skate insights with Easton’s design and engineering prowess, leading to a new skate concept expected to be in market for the 2013 hockey season.

“As a brand, Easton is at its best when it reinvents categories with game-changing innovation,” said Chris Zimmerman, president of Easton brands. “We believe there is a unique opportunity to provide a new approach to the art and speed of skating. I am excited that Easton is committing to the skate category in a way that parallels our leadership in hockey and lacrosse sticks, baseball and softball bats, and helmets.”

Dave Cruikshank, four-time Olympian speed skater and founder of MLX, has joined the Easton Speed Institute as Chief of Speed, bringing with him a lifetime of work, skate research and development, and a new approach to making hockey players faster. As an international skater for 16 years, Cruikshank has achieved numerous skating accomplishments including: Junior World Champion 500m; Olympic Trials Gold Medalist; World Cup Medalist; and four-time USA Olympic Team Member.

“The Easton Speed Institute is about innovating a fresh approach to hockey skate designs that speaks to optimizing speed and creating the ultimate skater’s skate. The Easton Speed Institute will reinvent how a hockey skate performs, and I am thrilled to be a part of this new team that will create game-changing products,” said Cruikshank.

“Bringing Dave and MLX’s technology into the Easton family gives us the ability to reinvent skates in a way no one has before. Dave’s remarkable insights into the world of power skating are an exceptional compliment to Easton’s expertise in performance engineering and design,” said Zimmerman.

“Cruikshank founded MLX to optimize the potential of both National Hockey League players and grassroots athletes by designing superior equipment with the key elements of comfort, protection and performance. The company’s roots are based in using a powerful new approach to skate performance that has been known to speed skaters for the past two decades. With the development of Easton’s new skate, the MLX skate brand will no longer be marketed.

Cruikshank will be joined by Easton veteran Dmitry Rusakov, who will lead a team of designers, engineers, developers and biomechanical experts to drive innovation. The Easton Speed Institute will be located at Easton’s headquarters in Van Nuys, California and in West Allis, Wisconsin.

About Easton Sports

Easton Sports is a developer, manufacturer, marketer and distributor of baseball, softball, hockey, and lacrosse equipment for both sports professionals and enthusiasts. Easton Sports focuses on its ability to innovate and create products of unmatched quality and performance including the #1 bat in the College World Series®, Women’s College World Series®, Little League World Series®, and Slow-Pitch Softball, as well as the #1 stick and #1 glove in the National Hockey League. Headquartered in Van Nuys, Calif., Easton Sports employs over 1,200 people worldwide and maintains facilities in Utah, California, Mexico, Canada and Sweden. For further information, please visit the company online at www.eastonsports.com.

About Easton-Bell Sports, Inc.

Easton-Bell Sports, Inc. is a leading designer, developer and marketer of innovative sports equipment, protective products and related accessories. The company markets and licenses

products under such well-known brands as Easton, Bell, Riddell, Giro and Blackburn. Its products incorporate leading technology and designs and are used by professional athletes and enthusiasts alike. Headquartered in Van Nuys, California, Easton-Bell Sports has 31 facilities worldwide. More information is available at www.eastonbellsports.com.

]]> http://eastonhockey.com/easton-speed-institute.html/feed 0 http://eastonhockey.com/frolunda-hockey-club-won-two-out-of-three-swedish-championships.html http://eastonhockey.com/frolunda-hockey-club-won-two-out-of-three-swedish-championships.html#comments Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:53:19 +0000 rmelamed http://eastonhockey.com/frolunda-hockey-club-won-two-out-of-three-swedish-championships.html
The Easton Sports Sweden sponsored club Frölunda won two of this season’s three Swedish elite level championships. Both junior teams won their gold medals after the weekend finals in the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, in the beginning of April. The eldest juniors, J20, beat Skellefteå by 6-3, after trailing behind by 0-3 after the [...]]]>

The Easton Sports Sweden sponsored club Frölunda won two of this season’s three Swedish elite level championships. Both junior teams won their gold medals after the weekend finals in the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, in the beginning of April. The eldest juniors, J20, beat Skellefteå by 6-3, after trailing behind by 0-3 after the first period. It’s the eighth time during the past 12 years that Frölunda wins the J20 Championship. Several of the influential players of the J20 team, like Johan Sundström, Peter Andersson and Victor Backman belong to the Frölunda A-squad and will play senior hockey in the Elite League next season. Many others, for instance Robin Dahse and Sebastian Collberg, have already had some experience from A-squad play, although they don’t formally belong to the A-squad. The youngest juniors, J18, beat their Stockholm rival Djurgården 2-1, in their final game. This victory was a bit extra special since the same team, last season’s U16, then won the first Swedish youth championship ever in the club’s history.

Company to Sponsor 2011 National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan Tour

April 12, 2011; (Van Nuys, CA) – Easton-Bell Sports today announced it will serve as an official sponsor of the “2011 National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (PABI) Plan Tour,” an initiative of The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation (SJBF). PABI is the leading cause of death and disability for children and young adults in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 765,000 American youth enter an Emergency Department every year with a new traumatic brain injury, while more than 80,000 are hospitalized and over 11,000 die annually. The nationwide public awareness tour will visit more than 40 states along its journey, ending in the middle of June.

“Easton-Bell Sports and its associated brands – Riddell, Easton, Bell and Giro – are committed to providing the best head protection for athletes who play sports at all levels,” said Easton-Bell Sports President and CEO Paul Harrington. “We are very pleased to support the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, which shares a vision complementary to ours. We look forward to jointly working with the Foundation to help protect children and drive greater awareness of head injury issues.”

The tour will promote awareness of youth brain injuries to high schools across the country, as well as introduce the National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan (PABI Plan). The PABI Plan is the Sarah Jane Brain Project’s mission – to develop a seamless, standardized, evidence-based system of care universally accessible for all children/young adults and their families dealing with PABI, regardless of where they live. The tour will visit town hall meetings at local universities and hospitals, as well as professional, collegiate and youth sporting events to highlight the risks and symptoms associated with brain injuries. A complete list of tour visits can be found online here: www.Sports-CNN.com or on Facebook at SportsCNN.

“One of the causes of Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury is from Traumatic Brain Injury, which can be caused by any trauma to the head, including sports concussions,” said Sarah Jane Brain Foundation Founder Patrick Donohue. “We are grateful to Easton-Bell Sports for its contribution to helping the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation fight Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury, as well as its ongoing commitment to developing protective head equipment that helps save lives.”

About Easton-Bell Sports, Inc.
Easton-Bell Sports, Inc. is a leading designer, developer and marketer of innovative sports equipment, protective products and related accessories. The Company markets and licenses products under such well-known brands as Easton, Bell, Riddell and Giro. Its products incorporate leading technology and designs and are used by professional athletes and enthusiasts alike. Headquartered in Van Nuys, California, Easton-Bell Sports has 29 facilities worldwide. More information is available at www.eastonbellsports.com.

About The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation
The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation is one of the largest organizations in the country dealing with the #1 leading cause of death and disability for American youth: pediatric acquired brain injury. Its International Advisory Board is comprised of over 200 leading experts from just about every major medical institution and research university across the country and they created the National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan (PABI Plan) which develops a seamless, standardized, evidence-based system of care that is universally accessible for the millions of PABI families across the country. For more information about the foundation please visit their website www.TheBrainProject.org

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