Hockey skates in the 21st Century

So I bought a complete set of hockey equipment on the weekend. Most of the items are the same as they were when I last bought stuff in 1992. Skates however....
"Can I try on a pair of those cheap Bauer skates," I said, pointing at the $200 pair.
"Sure, but do you want to try out a better pair first? See if you like them more?" Mikey the sales kid said, handing me a pair of rigid, inflexible boots. I gripped them, tried to flex the material to see how it would be to skate in them, and was shocked that they were like iron.
To humour him, I said, "Yeah, whatever, I'll try em but nothing ever fits as well as Bauer skates."
"Dude, yer gonna love these blades!" he commented as he passed me the first boot to try on. As I feared, it was hard as a rock and I could barely get the laces tied. The fabric of the sides didn't flex at all, nor did the tongue or the heel.
"Man, these suck, look how rigid they are!" I exclaimed, disgusted that he'd try to sell me crappy skates.
"Oh, but that's cause we haven't baked em yet," he replied nonchalantly.
"We haven't what?"I asked, wondering howbaking related in any way to skate purchasing.
"Well," he began with a tone like a teacher lecturing a stupid pupil, "We put them in that oven over there for five minutes and all the polymers and fabrics in the skate heat up and become, like, super flexible and pliable. Then you put them back on hot and lace em up tight and they conform to your feet. Dude, they're rad skates, I promise you." I must have been looking at him like he was from Mars, so he handed me the brochure that was in the skate box. I read the blurb and sure enough, you actually did heat them, and the "space age polymers" became loose, pliable and formable. Once they cooled to the shape of your foot they again became the immovable nightmares I had first put on. I looked from the hard, solid skates to the kid, to the 'oven', to the skates, to the kid, to the 'oven', to the $400 price tag and sat quiet for a moment. I HAD to try that. Part of me didn't want to pay the price for them, but part of me couldn't resist getting something cool....
"Let's cook em up!" I declared, taking the boot off and passing it to him. He grinned, loaded them in the oven and set the timer.
"Seriously, dude, you're gonna love these skates!" he said again. I was beginning to believe him. Five minutes passed as we discussed the recent playoff run of the Oilers, and then the bell dinged and he pulled the skates out and passed them to me. They were so supple, like the softest leather imaginable and they bent and flexed under the slightest pressure. I laced up the left boot as tightly as I could, he laced up the right one. They molded to my feet, conforming to my every bump and irregularity. I was astounded. They felt as though I had been wearing them for years. When I finally glanced up at Mikey he was grinning like an idiot at me. "So, dude, was I right or what?!"
"Amazing," was all I could say. It WAS amazing. I sat for fifteen minutes as they cooled, pondering the wonders of the modern age and how they had transformed the humble ice skate. I finished the shopping, got the skates sharpened and ready to go, and left. I can hardly wait to try them on the ice tomorrow night.....