A sticky situation

This sounds like a great idea. Didn't they used to give the broken sticks to a guy that made them into different types of furniture?

Cool article. I've had people who sit around me ask where they go from time to time and never knew. Carbon fiber is tough as nails, the only problem with it is if it takes a hit or stress from an angle other than what it's designed for, it snaps pretty easily. Are the sticks solid carbon fiber, or a hybrid with something else?

That was Dan Ronan when he played here, Hoss. RK i think they are solid carbon fiber, but someone else may know better.

Were the wooden sticks made of mulberry? As much as the guys hit each other's sticks on the ice, it's amazing more aren't broken. Interesting stuff. Again, good article on something that a lot of fans probably overlook or take for granted while the players, as you have written, often have a love affair with certain sticks. Are the goalies' sticks also carbon fiber or still wooden?

Sticks today are hollow until the fuse point where the blade and shaft come together. The blade is usually filled with foam or other materials to soften the impact of the puck. The walls of the shaft and blade are made with multiple layers of composite and carbon fiber.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ueMOMW6mw

Has anyone ever seen a flat stick blade with no curve ?

Cool, thanks for the info, Phil

RK..I believe the amount of carbon fibre vs the amount of composite is what creates price points. The lighter the stick the higher the cost. Pro version sticks cost regularly around 200 to 230. Medium end 100-175.most warranties are 30 days. Yikes! My high school player has gone thru 3 already this season..3 wooden sticks would have run about 100. My how things have changed

Mightbite.. Flat.. No curve.. Your really showing your age! Lmol

As far as I know Eddie Long is probably the only guy left playing with flat blades. I remember soaking flat blades and wedging them in doors and stuff to put a curve in them before they started making them that way.

When's the last time someone has been called for an illegal stick? With carbon fiber is it even possible to have one/

yes some goalie sticks are carbon fiber , after they brake them in a game the refs take them first then they go back to the team once they look at them.

Brian, speak about showing your age. Did you ever play with a straight blade? Right up until Bantam (14) we weren't allowed to use a curved stick. Then only a slight bend. Crosby until last year used probably the straightest stick I have seen in the pros.
Take a look at the Komet's hockey sticks. It is cool to see how each guy likes their blade. You can tell by the stick what the player is looking to do. Colin for example has a curve but it is not tipped out at the toe. This makes it easier to pass. The puck won't flip up off the toe of the stick.
This feature would help shoot the puck higher, especially from in close. Roof Daddy.
Oh and don't forget the flex in the shaft. Very important to marry the flex and the curve. Another great topic Blake.
Something neat for me, I found a composite stick made by Sherwood that is the same pattern as the wooden stick I used in Junior. They even have it painted to look like wood.

Mightbite & Mike=about the same age :)

Mike, wouldn't the straighter blade also help in backhanded face offs, even backhanded shots?

56 Mighter. Are you still playing? Steve, you would think that would be the case. I personally don't have as much problem with the back hand shot. Can even put it where I am aiming sometimes. LOL.
I do think passing both giving and taking can be more difficult. If you think about the puck rotating off the blade as you roll the wrists, the curve can cause some problems.

Oh, the faceoffs. Watch Colin. I have seen him turn the stick the other way to be a right hand shot when the face off was in to the right of his goaltender. So in that case Steve the curve actually favours him. He told me Sean Venedam put him on to it while he was in FW.

I found another video that shows the Easton S19 stick making process from Easton Sports. The video shows the processes that Easton goes through to make the sticks the Komets, CHL, and most of the NHL uses. the Easton S19 this is the stick that most of the team uses along with the Easton EQ50.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OBlHuDyiyI

Mike.. Couple guys at one of the skates has that sherwood patterened like the pmp 5030 . It really does look like wood. Pretty cool. Was just givin mightbite hard time :)

Thanks Mike.

Mightbite, when I was a kid they were all without curve. I've been told that curve, goalie masks and butterfly all go together. With curve came more elevation and the need to block up and down. Masks gave goalies a greater willingness to put the whole body in front of a puck. Together the goalies had a reason and ability to go from stand-up to some version of a butterfly. They're all interrelated. We take the game for granted and assume it has always been the way it is now, but subtle changes (like the introduction of the forward pass and the allowed curve of the blade) have changed the game a lot over the past 50 years.

Pretty interesting stuff....my son got 2 sticks for Christmas last year, and won't touch the one that is more of a flat blade....I never understood why, but he used it one single time in a practice, threw it back into the garage without a single look. I asked him why and he said I can't lift a shot off the ice with it. The one he got that has a decent curve to it (not a lot, just some curve), he can fire shots into the corners of the net over the goalies shoulders from the blueline. He tried the flat stick again using a rubber puck in the driveway, and said it was worthless. Makes a huge difference to him, and it has really improved his game, that's for sure, over the old stick he used.

Guy's blade has a VERY slight curve...I had a friend of mine from another IHL/CHL city over and he saw the stick leaning against the wall and started checking it out (not knowing whose stick it was) and when he noticed how flat the blade was he said "This is Guy's isn't?"

Would be an interesting story about the curve players use and why they selected it but I'm not sure if the casual fan would really care that much haha

I'd be interested....that would be a cool story to do. I know most of the kid's sticks on both my teams. That is a hard job....equipment manager on a team. Players are so particular about their sticks and their helmets and gloves, too...I only have to worry about one player (2 teams for him, but only one set of equipment, at least). I can't imagine being the person behind the bench tightening screws and straps on 22 helmets, getting the players "their" stick when one breaks, and finding a left glove to replace a ripped or lost one. All in a moment's time, while dodging flying pucks. Bones is a magician.