TRUE Hockey and Lefevre Inc (aka Lefevre Goalie) officially acknowledged today they are joining forces, with the former acquiring the latter. Rumors of this union started shortly after Lefevre’s design contract with CCM concluded at the end of 2019, and it’s a match that makes strategic sense for both companies. TRUE enters the goalie equipment segment with one of the most famous names in goalie gear and Lefevre gains access to TRUE’s expansive R&D resources, supply chain and capital. As TRUE’s Corey Gregory explained it to use, “we believe we control the 3 biggest segments within hockey equipment: stick, skate and now goalie equipment.” After acquiring VH Hockey in 2016, TRUE already has > 65% of NHL goalies using their skate boots as well as a number using their goal sticks including this year’s Vezina winner, and TRUE ambassador, Connor Hellebuyck. Lefevre has had their own success since going solo, with a number of NHL goalies using their unbranded gear this past season including Corey Crawford, Carter Hart and Semyon Varlamov among others. Goalie gear design legend Michel Lefebvre said in the announcement "We are thrilled to be starting this endeavor with TRUE Hockey…It was important to us that we continued with a company that's as eager to improve the player experience as we are.”
GGN has confirmed there will be NHL goalies with TRUE branded goalie equipment next season, though the exact timing is unknown. We also expect some type of co-branding with Lefevre (e.g. “Powered by Lefevre”) on the equipment itself. Other operational decisions such as how to scale their products for retail are still being determined. Regardless, this announcement marks TRUE’s arrival as one of the largest goalie equipment brands in all of hockey.