Biography

Rick Blackshaw is the Chief Executive Officer of CCM Hockey, a Montreal-based and Canadian-owned company with roots dating back 120 years.  CCM is a leading hockey equipment brand for most professional, as well as amateur hockey players all over the world. 

Since being named “team captain” of the storied brand in January 2018, Rick has been investing in product innovation to build products from the inside out – driven by forward design, advanced material collaboration and biomechanical insight, as well as rigorous testing at the highest professional levels, the equipment becomes an extension of the athletes themselves.

For the man atop one of the world’s largest hockey equipment makers, perhaps his biggest challenge is to grow the sport of hockey. Rick has even characterized this as a “matter of national security”! Under his leadership, CCM has been working with the National Hockey League’s Learn to Play program to make the sport more accessible to youth, giving away 35,000 sets of equipment each year, as well as building grass roots efforts in the Montreal area.

Throughout his 25 years in brand management, Rick has focused on transforming iconic consumer brands, and leading teams to achieve outstanding results in turn-around / brand reinventions, as well as in high-growth scenarios. 
 
Prior to joining CCM, Rick was president of Sperry, the leading boat shoe and duck boot footwear brand. Earlier, as president of Keds, he teamed up with Taylor Swift to transform that brand from maker of “old lady” sneakers to icon of the Brave Girl Movement, defying a two decade negative sales trend, and doubling sales over 2 year.

Before that, he led Converse’s Chuck Taylor All-Star Division for nine years, during which time he increased revenue five-fold, creating what is arguably the largest global fashion footwear statement today. 
 
Rick earned an MBA with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science from Babson College. A native of California, Rick grew up in Boston, where he became a Bruins fan (nobody’s perfect!)
 
Rick enjoys global adventure travel with his wife Lisa and two sets of twins - Brook, Lily, Carson and Wyatt - playing competitive soccer, wakesurfing, mountain biking, and his new passions, playing hockey with great enthusiasm (but poorly) and exploring Montreal’s food scene.