Overview of Ice Hockey Shafts:

Ice Hockey Sticks come in 1 piece and 2 piece configurations. The two piece hockey stick configuration means that the hockey stick blade and the hockey stick shaft come as separate components. Aftermarket hockey shafts are not made out of wood so you will only find composite ice hockey shafts. Shafts and blades come in “standard” and “tapered” configurations and the blade and shaft need to match for a proper fit.

The advantages of 2 piece hockey sticks:

• You have a greater range of shafts and blades that you can match together
  • A blade from one manufacture can be match to shaft of another manufacture
  • Hybrid sticks (composite shafts with wood blades)
  • Extra long shafts (ex: Warrior AK27 X-Long)
• If the just blade breaks you can easily replace it with a new one

The disadvantages of 2 piece sticks:

• You have to connect the blade to the shaft
• You can screw up the blade installation and end up with a poor quality connection
• You have to match the correct blade type (standard vs. tapered) to the same type of shaft

Another advantage to going the two piece route is that it usually costs less than 1 piece sticks. Here are a few hockey sticks for a quick price comparison of 1 piece vs. shaft + blade:

• Easton Synergy ST Grip Sr. 1 piece hockey stick = $164.99
  • Easton Synergy ST Grip Sr. hockey shaft = $94.99
  • Easton Synergy ST Sr. Blade = $34.99
  • Save $35 with 2 piece
• Easton Synergy Elite Sr. Grip 1 piece hockey stick = $184.99
  • Easton Synergy Elite Sr. Grip hockey shaft = $124.99
  • Easton Synergy Elite Sr. Blade = $59.99
  • Same price for 1 piece and 2 piece
• Nike Bauer Supreme One95 Sr. 1 piece hockey stick = $189.99
  • Nike Bauer Supreme One95 Sr. hockey shaft = $84.99
  • Nike Bauer Supreme One95 Sr. Blade =  $48.99
  • Save $56 with 2 piece
• Warrior Dolomite Sr. Grip 1 piece hockey stick = $179.99
  • Warrior Dolomite Sr. Grip hockey shaft = $119.99
  • Warrior Dolomite Sr. Blade = $47.99
  • Save $12 with 2 piece

Key performance characteristics to evaluate when buying a Hockey Shaft:

• Flex: Flex refers to the hockey shaft stiffness. The flex ranges available for the shafts listed are:
  • Senior (flex: 75, 85, 100, 110)
  • Intermediate (flex: 70 or 75)
  • Junior (flex: 50)
  • Youth (flex: 45)
• Kick point: low kick point, mid kick point or constant flex curve
• Size of stick for length and girth of shaft (ex: Int vs. Senior)
• Tapered vs. Standard shaft so you can match to the specific blade you want
• Grip vs. Clear shaft coating depending on your preference for how easily you want to slide your lower hand on the shaft

Going through one of the major online hockey stores, I came up with the following 75 different hockey shafts by manufacture and stick configuration (senior / intermediate / junior / youth):

RBK Senior:  3
RBK Intermediate: 1
RBK Junior: 5
CCM Senior: 4
CCM Junior: 5
Easton Senior: 9
Easton Intermediate: 2
Easton Junior: 10
Easton Youth: 1
Nike Bauer Senior: 6
Nike Bauer Intermediate: 3
Nike Bauer Junior: 5
Mission Senior: 2
Mission Junior: 4
Warrior Senior: 6
Warrior Intermediate: 2
Warrior Junior: 3
Louisville TPS Junior: 2
Sher-wood Senior: 2
Note: I didn’t count grip vs. clear sticks as separate. These totals do have both 2008 and 2007 models counted as unique shafts if both are still listed for sale.

There are 2 hockey shafts worth calling out since they unique:

• Warrior AK27 X-Long, 6 inches longer than standard AK27 shaft is the only extra long shaft
• Easton Octane Youth is the only youth size hockey shaft

Hockey Stick Glue: Some blades come with glue already applied to the hosel. You’ll have to buy hot melt glue (around $2 per glue stick) for blades that don’t have any glue.

Butt end extensions or end plugs: End plugs come in both wood and composite materials. They are used to extend the length of a hockey stick. They are also used to cap the end of a composite stick to add stability and reduce vibrations. The end plugs can be cut very short after installation to minimize the length that they add to the hockey stick.

Relevant terms that can be found in The Hockey Stick Dictionary:

Hockey stick blade
Hockey stick Blade Hosel
Hockey stick shaft
Tapered hockey sticks
1 piece hockey sticks
2 piece hockey sticks
Composite hockey sticks
End plugs or butt end extensions

Written by Greg at Hockey Stick Expert

Related posts:

1. Hockey Stick Length vs. Flex: How Cutting Your Stick Affects its Flex
2. Hockey Stick Length
3. Ice Hockey Sticks-Most NHL Hockey Sticks are made in Mexico

The 3 minute video covers:

The right hockey stick length is about chin height when standing in skates
The right stick lie is one that keeps the blade flat on the ice
How to tape the handle of a hockey stick with a small knob on the end
How to hold the hockey stick in the middle of your hand to give you more control
How to tape the blade from heel to toe, but not on the heel or toe
Why many players prefer black tape on their blades to hide the puck and to provide a good passing target

Like all Hockey Stick advise you’ll hear, this is just a starting point. As you gain experience you will develop strong personal preferences that can override every piece of advise you have ever heard.

Here are a few other articles well worth reading regarding hockey stick length, lie and flex:

Hockey Stick Length: Determining The Correct Length Of Your Hockey Stick
Hockey Stick Lie: Get Your Angles Right For Better Puck Control
Hockey Stick Length vs. Flex: How Cutting Your Stick Affects its Flex

Related posts:

1. Hockey Stick Lie – Get Your Angles Right For Better Puck Control
2. Hockey Stick Blade
3. Hockey Stick Length

A lie value of 5 corresponds to a 135° angle, and each additional increase lie value corresponds to a 2° smaller angle. Typical lie values range from 4 to 7 with most stock sticks near 5.5.

The Hockey Stick Lie Chart

Players usually seek a lie that will put their blade flat on the ice while they are in their typical skating stance. With the bottom of the blade flat on the ice, a higher lie value causes the shaft to stand up straighter.

Body Position (Hockey Stance) Impacts the Hockey Stick Lie:

Your hockey stance sets the height that you typically hold the stick at and that in turn affects the angle that the stick has in relation to the surface of the ice.

One way to understand how this works is to hold your hockey stick straight out in front of you in your top hand. While standing straight up, note how much of the blade is flat on the ground (mostly toe). Now squat into a deep knee bend and again note how much of the blade is flat on the ice (all heel).

Here are two diagrams that show this when a hockey stick of the same length is held low and held high.

Hockey Stick Length Impacts Lie:

The length of your hockey stick will also have an impact on finding the correct lie.
If you start out with a stick that has the correct lie and then cut 4 inches off of it, it will bring the blade closer to you and your blade will be mostly on the toe. In this case your lie to too.
If you start out with a stick that has the correct lie and then add inches t it with a extension plug, it will push the blade father from you and your blade will be mostly on the heel. In this case your lie to high.

Lower Lie or Higher Lie?

A lower lie is best for skaters who lean forward closer to the ice or use a longer stick. Higher lies keep the puck closer to the body and are preferred by more upright skaters or skaters with shorter sticks.

Is Your Current Hockey Stick Lie Correct?

Look at the tape on the bottom of the blade of one of your well used sticks.
If most of the wear is on the heel, choose a lower lie.
If most of the wear is in the toe of the stick, you should choose a higher lie.
If the tape is evenly worn across the bottom of the blade then you have a good lie for you.

Blade Lie terms in the Hockey Stick Dictionary

• Blade Heel
• Blade Lie
• Blade Toe

Written by Greg at Hockey Stick Expert

Related posts:

1. Hockey Stick Blade
2. Hockey Stick Selection With Coach Tom Martin [video]
3. Hockey Stick Length

Cutting your stick length a significant amount will increase its flex. Use the following Hockey Stick Length vs. Flex Chart to help determine how much your flex will change when cutting your stick.

Note: This chart is a reproduction of a Nike/Bauer chart that I found online at HockeyMonkey

For additional info on Hockey Stick Length, check out Hockey Stick Length: A Lengthy Exploration.
For additional infor on Hockey Stick Flex, check out Hockey Stick Flex: Your Ultimate Guide.

Written by Greg at Hockey Stick Expert

Related posts:

1. Hockey Stick Length
2. Hockey Stick Flex: Produce Better Shots With The Right Flex/Stiffness
3. Hockey Stick Selection With Coach Tom Martin [video]

• If you hold your hockey stick with your left hand on top of the stick and the right hand down the stick, then you are a right handed shooter.
• If you use the hockey stick with your right hand on top and your left hand down the stick then you are in a left handed configuration.
• Just remember that the bottom hand dictates which handed stick you are using (ex: left hand down means left handed stick)

Here are photos of the blade of a left handed stick (on the left, of course) and the second photo is of a right handed stick.

If you are just starting out, should you use a right hand or left hand hockey stick?

There isn’t an automatic answer to this question. Just because you are right hand dominate doesn’t mean you should be using a right handed stick.

Hockey guru Sean Skinner has a short video that talks through deciding to go left handed or right handed. Summarizing his advise:

• The top hand needs to be the strongest, most coordinated hand.
• Playing with your dominate hand on top of the stick gives you more control with stick handling and slap shots.
• The bottom hand is involved with toe control and the wrist shot.

The bottom line is that you should play in the configuration that feels best to you.

Written by Greg at Hockey Stick Expert

Related posts:

1. Hockey the Cause of Most Canadian Baseball Players Batting Left Handed?
2. Hockey Stick Selection With Coach Tom Martin [video]
3. Hockey Stick Blade

Hockey Stick Flex is a measure of how flexible or how stiff a hockey stick is when a force is applied to it. Flex is also referred to as the hockey stick stiffness.

When a player bends his hockey stick when taking a shot, it essentially turns the hockey stick into a spring storing energy. When the spring is released (when the stick unbends and returns to straight), the energy is released and accelerates the puck.

For example, proper slap sot technique is to have the blade strike the ice a few inches before the puck to load the spring of the stick prior the stick striking the puck. As the stick moves forward in its swing, it contacts the puck and snaps forward from being bent to straight again. This same bending and snapping forward also happens with the wrist shot and snaps shots.

Generally you want the stiffest flex stick that you can flex completely to take full advantage of the stick recoil as it snaps the puck forward. If the hockey stick is too stiff then the player won’t be able to bend it and get the extra accelerating effects.  If the flex isn’t stiff enough the hockey stick will bend too much and the accuracy of the shot deteriorates.

Mid flex – Mid kick point, or mid/constant flex, sticks have a more traditional flex that allows the stick to be loaded from the bottom hand. This gives you a larger loading and potentially a higher velocity release. Wooden sticks have a constant flex profile that behaves in this manner.

Low kick points - The kick point is where the shaft flexes when enough pressure is applied to bend it. Composite sticks are often engineered to have low kick points on the shaft for a quicker release. The loading of the stick happens sooner since there is less distance for the stick to bend before it recoils back and whips the puck forward. This lower kick point is often created with shafts that have tapered ends near the blade.

The most common measurements for stick flex are:

Youth = 40 flex
Junior = 50 flex
Mid or Intermediate flex = 60-75 flex
Regular flex = 85 flex
Stiff flex = 100 flex
Extra stiff = 110 flex

Composite hockey stick flex versus wood hockey stick flex: Does a composite stick flex more than a wood stick? It all depends on how the hockey stick is engineered but the short answers is that a stick flex rating of 100 is the same flex no matter what type of material the hockey stick is made from. The most significant differences between wood and composite stick flex is the flex points which were covered above.

Flex Tester – How Stick Flex Is Measured
Check out the How its Made: Composite Hockey Sticks video to learn a little more about flex testers and to see one in action. The short flex tester segment starts at about 37 seconds into the video.

Testing a Stick’s Flex at the Pro Shop
Use your normal hand position on the stick and hold the stick with the blade on the floor. Now flex the shaft of the stick by holding your top hand stationary and pushing down and forward with your lower hand. You should be able to flex the stick about an inch or so without using full effort. If you can’t flex the stick this much then the flex of the stick is too high.

How Cutting a Stick’s Length Affects its Flex
If you cut too much of the length off of a stick is will significantly increase the flex of the stick. Imagine bending a full length broom stick. Now if you cut that broom stick in half home much force is required to get it to bend the same as the full length stick? A whole lot more that is for sure. This is also what happens when a hockey stick is cut down a significant amount. How much is flex affected by cutting off 2 or 4 inches? Here is a chart that provides ROUGH guideline for how cutting your stick affects its flex.

NOTE: These are just rough values for illustration purpose.
Check here for a more complete Hockey Stick Flex Chart

Another thing to note is that hockey sticks flex in more than one direction. In addition to the shaft flex that we talked about above, there is also a flex that happens with the blade. The blade impact with the puck causes a rotational flex that can also accelerate your shots.

How To Take Advantage Of Stick Flex When Shooting
Here is an excellent video of Alexi Kovalev demonstrating how stick flex works when shooting.

Flex Terms in the Hockey Stick Dictionary

• Flex
• Kick Point

Find the dictionary here Hockey Stick Dictionary

Related posts:

1. Hockey Stick Length vs. Flex: How Cutting Your Stick Affects its Flex
2. Hockey Stick Length
3. Hockey Stick Selection With Coach Tom Martin [video]

Heel
The heel of a hockey stick refers to the bottom of the stick at the back of the blade below where the blade and the shaft meet.

Toe
The toe of a hockey stick refers to the end of the blade away from the shaft. Toes generally come in two shapes: round and square.

Lie
The Lie of a blade describes the angle of the blade in reference to the shaft. A lie value of 5 corresponds to a 135° angle, and each additional lie value corresponds to a 2° smaller angle. With the bottom of the blade flat on the ice, a higher lie value causes the shaft to stand up straighter. Typical values range from 5 to 7; most sticks now are near 5.5. Players usually seek a lie that will put the blade flat on the ice while they are in their normal skating stance. A lower lie is best for skaters who lean forward closer to the ice or use a longer stick. Higher lies keep the puck closer to the body and are preferred by more upright skaters.

Here is how to tell if your lie is correct…Check the tape on the blade of one of your used sticks. If most of the wear is on the heel, choose a lower lie. If most of the wear is in the toe of the stick, you should choose a higher lie. If the tape is evenly worn across the bottom of the blade then you have a good lie for you.

Pattern and Curve
Blade Patterns consist of the dimensions of right/left hand, curve type, curve depth, toe shape and face angle. Patterns are often named after NHL players for marketing purposes.

Blade Curve Type describes where the main part of the curve is located on the blade. Curve types are Heel, Mid and Toe curves.

Blade Curve Depth is the amount of curve in the blade. A simple way to measure the curve depth is to place the stick on a flat surface with the inside of the curve of the blade laying flat on the surface. You can then measure from the surface to the highest point inside the curve profile. Flat blades have a depth of zero. The most common depths range from 3/8″ to 1/2″ (9.5 to 13 mm).

Blade Face Angle describes how much of the face (or front) of the blade you can see when looking down at the ice. Face angles are referred to as Open or Closed. The more open the blade is, (you can see more of the front of the blade when looking down) the easier it is to lift the puck. Slightly open or closed angles are better for stick handling, catching passes and using your backhand.

These terms have also been added to the Hockey Stick Dictionary

Written by Greg at Hockey Stick Expert

Related posts:

1. Hockey Stick Lie – Get Your Angles Right For Better Puck Control
2. Hockey Stick Selection With Coach Tom Martin [video]
3. Hockey Stick Length

Length of Hockey Sticks:

Ice Hockey Sticks come in different sizes and configurations to match to every hockey player. Standard hockey stick configuration names and their range of lengths are:

Junior = 46-53 inches
Intermediate = around 54 inches
Senior = 56-63 inches

Extra long shafts are also available. For example, the Warrior Ak27 X-Long shaft comes 6 inches longer than the regular Warrior AK27 shaft.

Hockey stick length of composite sticks can be extended by adding a butt end. Butt ends come in junior and senior sizes and come up to 8 inches long. Once they are installed, you can easily mark and cut your stick to the desired length.

What is the maximum hockey sticks length in the NHL?

NHL Rule 19 – Sticks
b. No stick shall exceed sixty-three inches (63″) in length from the heel to the end of the shaft nor more than twelve and one-half inches (12 1/2″) from the heel to the end of the blade.

Cutting your hockey stick to length

It is very important that a hockey stick be cut to a length that matches the individual player. Like most attributes of a hockey stick, the right stick length for each player really comes down to personal preference. Here are two methods to get your stick length in the right ball park:

Standing in skates - Place the stick with the shaft vertical in front of you (so the shaft is parallel with your body) and the toe of the stick resting on the floor or ice.
• The stick should reach somewhere near your chin

Standing in street shoes - Place the stick with the shaft vertical in front of you (so the shaft is parallel with your body) and the toe of the stick resting on the floor.

• For forwards – Mark the stick at your upper lip and cut there
• For defensemen – Mark the stick at the bottom of your nose and cut there

Start a little on the long side and you can always cut the stick again. Also note that cutting a composite hockey stick more than a couple of inches will increase the stiffness of the stick’s flex. You can also check out the hockey stick length chart for more info on flex versus length.

The process of cutting your hockey stick shaft is very straight forward. The first thing I do is to wrap the shaft where I am going to cut with tape to help keep the fraying from the cut to a minimum. Then use a fine tooth saw (power miter saw or a hack saw will work) and cut away. A little sanding might be in order on a wood hockey stick to round over and smooth the edges of the cut. Replace the end cap on composite sticks. Now proceed to taping your stick handle.

Flex Tester – How Stick Flex Is Measured
Check out the How its Made: Composite Hockey Sticks video to learn a little more about flex testers and to see one in action. The short flex tester segment starts at about 37 seconds into the video.

Testing a Stick’s Flex at the Pro Shop
Use your normal hand position on the stick and hold the stick with the blade on the floor. Now flex the shaft of the stick by holding your top hand stationary and pushing down and forward with your lower hand. You should be able to flex the stick about an inch or so without using full effort. If you can’t flex the stick this much then the flex of the stick is too high.

How Cutting a Stick’s Length Affects its Flex

If you cut too much of the length off of a stick is will significantly increase the flex of the stick. Imagine bending a full length broom stick. Now if you cut that broom stick in half home much force is required to get it to bend the same as the full length stick? A whole lot more that is for sure. This is also what happens when a hockey stick is cut down a significant amount. How much is flex affected by cutting off 2 or 4 inches? Here is a chart that provides ROUGH guideline for how cutting your stick affects its flex.

NOTE: These are just rough values for illustration purpose.

Please see the Hockey Stick Flex: Product Better Shots with the Right Flex article for an in depth look at Hockey Stick Flex.

Hockey Stick Dictionary

Additional Hockey Stick Length terms in the Hockey Stick Dictionary:

• End Plugs
• Flex
• Length of Hockey Sticks
• Shaft

Related posts:

1. Hockey Stick Length vs. Flex: How Cutting Your Stick Affects its Flex
2. Hockey Stick Flex: Produce Better Shots With The Right Flex/Stiffness
3. Ice Hockey Shafts

1 piece hockey stick
2 piece hockey stick
Butt end
End plugs
Flex
Grip vs Clear shaft
Kick point
Left hand vs right hand
Length of hockey sticks
Shaft
Stick wax
Tapered shafts

As always, if you have any additions for the Hockey Stick Dictionary, please send us an email at “tips AT hockeystickexpert.com” or use the form on the Contact page.

Related posts:

1. Welcome to the Hockey Stick Expert site!
2. Ice Hockey Shafts
3. Hockey Stick Flex: Produce Better Shots With The Right Flex/Stiffness