Koho (company)
Koho Logo
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| Industry | Ice hockey equipment, Rollerblades |
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| Products | Hockey Skates, Hockey sticks, Hockey helmets, etc |
| Website | kohogoalie |
Koho is a brand of ice hockey equipment that originated from Finland. Currently, Koho equipment is manufactured by The Hockey Company (parent company of CCM, now owned by Adidas). Koho is especially known for its goaltending equipment. The main endorsees, instrumental to marketing the brand throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, included Arturs Irbe, Patrick Roy, Félix Potvin, Jocelyn Thibault, Tommy Salo, Mathieu Garon, Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Roberto Luongo. Although Koho had the support of high-profile endorsees such as Jaromír Jágr, the player equipment lines were comparatively unsuccessful. The brand name is currently owned by MonkeySports, which operates GoalieMonkey.com and Hockeymonkey.com. They are the exclusive retailer of the brand.
Beginning in the early 1990s, Koho offered a line of goaltending equipment called Evolution. It was designed with former NHL goalie Bob Suave who at the time, worked for Koho. Arturs Irbe of the San Jose Sharks was well known for wearing this line of gear for many years. Later versions of Koho goal equipment were designed by goalie equipment guru Michel Lefebvre, who started with the 530 series, which were based on the pad which was sold previously under the Lefebvre brand. Lefebrve, contracted now to develop pads to be sold exclusively through the Koho brand, designed the 560, 570, 580 and 590 series. Beginning with the 560 series, Koho pads were designed exclusively by Lefebvre, and the equipment line was designed for the butterfly style of play. The 590 was the last pad that Patrick Roy wore during the 2002–03 season.
During the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the original plan was to have Roberto Luongo premiere the Koho 600 pad. However, as a result of the unexpected purchase of The Hockey Company by Reebok, Luongo appeared in the World Cup wearing 590s. When The Hockey Company was purchased by Reebok, the Koho name was momentarily dropped and replaced by Reebok, with the intent of eventually phasing out the Koho name from its main product line. The Hockey Company did so previously with the Heaton brand, and would eventually do the same with the CCM goalie brand. Koho was then delegated to a price-point street hockey goalie equipment set, featuring the graphic of the 570. However, on Reebok's first goalie equipment lines, including the RBK Premier and RBK Premier 2, a small tag with the Koho by Lefebvre logo remained, as the names Koho and Lefebvre still had (and continue to have) residual market value.
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Wikipedia