Ice Hockey Sticks

Welcome to the Hockey Stick Expert site!

Hockey sticks are a critical piece of your equipment and having the right tool for the job can make all the difference in the world. Hockey Stick Expert is here to help find the best ice hockey sticks or roller hockey sticks for you and take your game to the next level. Topics we hope to cover include terms (like hockey stick flex, hockey stick length, hockey stick lie) and how-tos (Right vs. Left handed Hockey Sticks, taping a hockey stick, cutting a hockey stick to length) and more.

Hockey Stick topics and stick models we cover include:

  • Ice Hockey Sticks
  • Roller Hockey Sticks
  • Street Hockey Sticks
  • Wood Hockey Sticks
  • Composite Hockey Sticks
  • Easton Hockey Sticks
  • Sherwood
  • CCM and Mission
  • TPS
Hockey Stick topics that we are not currently covering include
  • Goalie Hockey Sticks (would love find somebody to share their expertise here)
  • Field Hockey Sticks

If you would like to see new information or have other suggestions (like a new term for our Hockey Stick Dictionary), please send us an email at “tips AT hockeystickexpert.com” or use the form on the Contact page.

Here’s to your continued hockey success!
- the Hockey Stick Expert team

Welcome!

World’s Largest Hockey Stick and Puck In Need of Repair

The World’s Largest Hockey Stick and Puck (as recognized by the Guinness Book of World’s Records) are in dire need of repair.

World's Largest Hockeys Stick

Snippet from the article…

Built in 1985, the 205-foot hockey stick is built from Douglas fir beams reinforced with steel, and weighs in at a staggering 61,000 pounds (28,118 kgs).

The puck, well, it’s made out of plywood and tar.

Now, nearly 25 years after The Stick was first commissioned by the Government of Canada as part of the Expo ‘86 World’s Fair Exposition in Vancouver, the huge hockey homage is showing its age.

The full story can be found here.

Filed Under Hockey Stick Fun, Hockey Stick News

Fast Company Names NHL.Com As One Of Their Top 10 Most Innovative Sports Companies

NHL.com: The challenger brand of sports leagues is becoming quite the creative digital-media company. Free from other leagues’ restrictions on video, NHL.com shows exclusive off-the-ice footage as well as every goal scored.

The Top 10 In Sport Category page can be found here.

Filed Under General Hockey Stick Info

Green changes his mind and donates his lucky stick to NHL Hall of Fame

Mike Green has changed his mind. The Hockey Hall of Fame can have his record-breaking stick.

The Washington Capitals’ budding star said Wednesday he will donate to the Hall of Fame the stick that served him so well during his eight-game goal-scoring streak, the longest by a defenceman in NHL history. Green had been reluctant to part with the stick, calling the blue and black Easton Stealth the best one he’s ever used.

Here is a the complete story.

Filed Under Hockey Stick News

Mike Green’s Record Setting Hockey Stick Is A Hot Commodity

The International Herald Tribune (the global edition ofthe New York Times) ran a nice story today on the Capital’s Mike Green and the Hockey Hall Of Fame seeking his record setting hockey stick. Mike Green recently set the all time record for the longest goal scoring streak by a defenseman at 8 games.

Quotes from the article…

Green scored every goal during the streak with the same stick. It has lasted about 10 games, a good run considering he usually makes it only five of six games with a stick before it breaks.

“That one felt the best I’ve ever used,” Green said. “It just comes off the blade good. You don’t have to look down. It’s a good feel.”

and…

Green scored 10 times over the eight games, including five goals on power plays. The record-breaker came on a power play at 5:33 of the second period in Saturday night’s 5-1 win over Tampa Bay. The entire team went on the ice to congratulate him, having received special permission from the NHL to empty the bench.

You can read the whole story at Caps’ Green says no to Hall of Fame, keeps stick.

Filed Under General Hockey Stick Info

NHL Hockey Stick Budget

Some nice Ice Hockey Stick $$$ info from a recent article…

Reaching a breaking point on stick budgets?

The odds that the hockey world would ever go back to wood sticks are probably on a par with goalies everywhere going back to pads stuffed with horsehair.

But it sure gets frustrating, night after night, to see NHL ice surfaces littered with shattered pricy carbon shafts, which seem to have a way of vaporizing just as a point man puts the hammer down on a 40-foot slapper. Imagine the pain felt by parents who shell out $100, $200, or more for a stick, only to take home two halves to stake tomato plants in summer gardens.

“It’s a big point of contention among GMs throughout the league, I’ll tell you that,” said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. “The stick budget for every team keeps going up.”

According to Chiarelli, the Bruins spend some $400,000 per annum on the lightweight sticks.

“They all want them to be light, and I understand that,” said Chiarelli. “But the trick is to find a balance between what the player wants and a stick that will stay intact.”

The complete article can be found here. Boston Globe Article from February 15, 2009.

Filed Under General Hockey Stick Info, Hockey Stick News

Brooklynite Hockey

I have been fortunate in recently meeting up online with Joseph Cartigiano, the CEO and founder of Brooklynite Hockey. Haven’t heard much about Brooklynite yet? Well, sit back and enjoy this exclusive interview with Brooklynite Hockey’s CEO from HockeyStickExpert.com

Brooklynite

Brooklynite Hockey – An Introduction

Brooklynite Hockey is a new player in the hockey stick market. Their first round of production hockey sticks went on sale in the fall of 2008 after a year of research and development went into their hockey sticks. Brooklynite Hockey is based out of New York and the major players include

  • Joseph Cartigiano (Founder/CEO, Marketing and Sales, Product Development)
  • Marco Taffo (Vice President, Product testing, Finance)
  • Michael VanTassell (Co founder, Vice President , Graphic Design)
  • Charles Monfasani (Vice President, Day to day operations, Customer Service)

Although they are new to the market, they have already enjoyed early success. They quickly sold out their first production run of hockey sticks and initial reviews have been positive. Additionally, very low stick breakage numbers have been reported so far.

As far as their future goes, they have new models of hockey sticks and gloves ready to hit store soon and they have ambitions to enter the NHL next season.

Now to the interview questions and answers…

What products does Brooklynite have in production today?

3 High End Hockey Sticks

    Almighty

    • Senior size weighs under 425g
    • Junior weighs under 295g
    		 Brooklynite Almighty
    Redeemer

    • Senior weighs under 440g
    • Junior under 395g
    		 Brooklynite Redeemer
    Underground

    • Senior weighs under 460g
    • Junior under 395g
    		 Brooklynite Underground

1 Price Point hockey Stick

  • D-Force this senior stick weighs from 570g (440g Junior). It can break windows and get hit by a truck. It should have been called “Indestructible”.

Hockey Gloves

    Genesis - Traditional 4 roll glove Brooklynite Genesis
    Exodus - Sleek design Brooklynite Exodus

What are the main differences between your high-end hockey sticks?

Common features of all three of the high end sticks:

  • Are true one piece sticks
  • The shafts are using HAMEI for reinforcing the corners
  • The blades have dual bridging and AFS reinforcing wire for added strength, durability and feel

The Almighty (weight: Senior 425g)

  • a 2.58cm hozel for improved flex
  • Imperial shaft design and full 12k shaft wrap in blade and shaft

The Redeemer (Weight: Senior 440g)

  • Power hozel and full 12k shaft and blade wrap

The Underground (Weight: Senior 460g)

  • Power hozel, a 3k wrap blade and the shaft is not wrapped in 12k.

The price point of the Brooklynite Almighty stick puts it in direct competition with the elite hockey sticks on the market today. What differentiates your sticks from the rest of the high end market?

Our Almighty is one of a kind; it is a pure performance stick. What sets it apart is the weight, number one. The weight on the Almighty stick is the truth. Personally I think it may be the lightest stick on the market and if it’s not its very close. I have weighed a lot of sticks and have not found one to be as light.

Also our stick is a true one piece with a 2.58 cm hozel that acts almost like a sling shot. Most other sticks have a fatter tapper which takes away from performance. I am extremely confident in the performance of this product and I will put up against any stick on the market performance wise.

The entire Almighty stick has a 12k sock wrap. Most other sticks only have the sock wrap on the blade. When you wrap the entire stick it ends up with a unique checkered pattern and gives the stick slight durability improvements.

I gave the stick to a couple NHL players and they loved the performance. I was told the same thing by all of them. Please make this a little thicker. They love it but they want it to be a tad thicker as it gets lost in a bigger players glove. So if there is one fault of the stick it’s that if you are 6”4 210 lbs, unless you like a thin feel, this stick is not for you. For the average size player and youth player the stick is unreal.

Shafts

What is an Imperial Shaft Design and what are its advantages?

Ok the imperial shaft is a slightly thinner shaft with a deep concave. This design makes the shaft slightly thinner improving weight and it also allows the hozel to be 2.58cm which improves the whip when you’re shooting.

Your stick descriptions mention HAMEI as a performance advantage. What is HAMEI?

This is a glue type material that we used to enforce the shaft corners.

Why do all of your hockey sticks come with light grip coating and none in clear?

Well they do come in clear coating also. Our first shipment was small, only 500 sticks, so we went with all grip. The second shipment we have Grip and non grip in every model but the Almighty.

The Almighty stick is meant for grip, pure performance. I had a few people who use non grip sticks buy the Almighty and now wont use a non grip stick….Its a very light grip. You can still slide your hand down the shaft without a problem. It’s a nice level of grip. No complaints on the grip, yet…

Blades

Brooklynite Almighty Blade

What is AFS Wiring? Isn’t this just Kevlar?

I was waiting for this question, and it shows that you’re good at your job for noticing this. I want to be totally honest with my customers and this situation did bother me. When I was developing my product we started with the bottom of the blade as Kevlar. That was my plan…..its lighter and more durable. Right? Wrong! During our testing phase we found that when the Kevlar got wet it caused the bottom of the blades to crack. When we discovered this we switched over to AFS wiring.

AFS Wiring is a carbon fiber wire that is twisted a certain way to improve the durability of the bottom of the blade. We tested it over and over and we had only one blade crack in our first shipment and it was amazing because the top of the blade cracked not the bottom.

We really did a lot of work on these sticks. We tweaked and tuned a lot for 2 years, before we released the product.

What is the “dual bridge” in your blades?

This you can see in our pictures is how the blade is constructed. Most blades are hollow and filled with foam and most companies only have one Bridge. We enforced our blades with two 2 bridges of solid carbon fiber. Most companies have the bridge located at the bottom end of the blade, where the stick has the most contact with the ice or ground. The way these kids are doing tricks and using their sticks these days, I thought (and testing proved) that it would help cut down on blade breakage. In my testing process it showed very good results.

What are the available blade patterns and lie for your current production sticks?

  • Avenue M is lie 5 (similar to Modano blade pattern)
  • Avenue S is 5.5 (similar to Sakic)
  • Avenue D is 5.5 (similar to Drury)

Production #s and Breakage

How many Sticks have you produced so far?

Well we went through a ton in our testing phases but I won’t count those. 1933 sticks have been produced as of early December 2008.

Brooklynite hockey stick breakage numbers so far (as of January 2009).

  • Redeemer under 1% this stick has been amazing, extremely durable for a high end stick.
  • Underground 1%
  • Almighty 4% it’s still a durable product but our Redeemer has been superb.
  • D-Force No breaks yet. It may have to be hit with a truck before it breaks. It is a heavier stick but it can take a beating.

Brooklynite’s Future

What is next for Brooklynite Hockey?

We are about to release two new hockey sticks. The first is our new high end model in our Dark series! The Brooklynite Marksman

  • 425g Senior size
  • Fish scale grip
  • Available in sticky or clear
  • Shaft shape is standard
  • 12k blade
  • Curves for the Brooklynite Marksman
    • Black Coffee (similar to Coffey)
    • Avenue M (Modano)
    • Avenue S (Sakic)
    • Avenue D (Drury)
    • Avenue L (Lidstrom, available in square toe)

The other soon to be released stick will be our first goalie stick… The Brooklynite King Mojo. The King Mojo is a composite goalie stick weighting in at 750g.

We are also working on our new model of high end hockey gloves, the Brooklynite Brass Knuckles. The Brass Knuckles are going to be a high end gloves that will be made in Canada and we will be able to provide customization options on our website. We have been working on this model for over 10 months now to make sure it will be perfect.

Thanks a ton for taking the time to share Brooklynite Hockey with Hockey Stick Expert!

Filed Under Hockey Stick Models, Hockey Stick News

Bobby Rouillard’s “World’s Oldest Hockey Stick”

Update February 20th, 2009: Bobby Rouillard’s Hockey Stick received no bids on eBay for the 10 day auction. He is not surprised and not disappointed. He also said that he was contacted by 2 organizations that are interested in the stick but they didn’t want to go through eBay.

Update February 9th, 2009: Bobby Rouillard’s Hockey Stick is now available on eBay for purchase. It is a 10 day auction that requires pre-approval and a $10,000 deposit before you can bid upon it. The auction has quite a few nice photos of the hockey stick. Just search for “hockey stick” on eBay and you will find the auction. Key data from the auction…

The Oldest Hockey Stick in the World (Dated between 1633 and 1666)

Origin MI’KMAQ Indian, Nova Scotia, Canada

The age of the hockey stick has been authenticated by CARBONE 14 testing (Laval University, Quebec, Canada and University of California, Irvine, USA)

The hockey stick has been handmade by MI’KMAQ Indians out of a single, solid piece of YELLOW BIRCH wood

GUM-LAQUE residues can be found on the hockey stick

Size = 43 inches long X 1 inch wide X 0.5 inches thick

The Hockey Stick has been on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame during The World Hockey Championship at QUEBEC CITY 2008.

Bobby Rouillard's "World's Oldest Hockey Stick"
Bobby Rouilard claims to have to “World’s Oldest Hockey Stick” and he is going to place it for sale on eBay. Check out this other article at HockeyStickExpert.com for more on “The World’s Oldest Hockey Sticks“.

There have been some recent article written about Rouillard’s hockey stick as he prepares to put it up for sale. Here is a short snippet from CBCSports.com

A Quebec City man with a love of hockey and history claims to have a hockey stick that dates back to the mid-17th century.

However, historians suspect the one-metre long stick was simply crafted out of a very old piece of birch wood. They doubt it was used to play a hockey-style game in the age of Galileo.

Bobby Rouillard, who lives in the suburb of Boischatel, will be showing off the stick at a pond hockey tournament this weekend. Then, he says, he will put it on eBay at a starting price of $1 million.

..and more from Canada.com…

According to a carbon-dating laboratory in California, where samples of the stick were sent for analysis, the artifact is made of yellow birch or cherry wood dated between 1633 and 1666. The analysis showed the stick was carved in one piece.

But hockey experts say Rouillard should curb his enthusiasm, saying the oldest existing hockey sticks were carved in the 1850s

According to the Society of North American Hockey Historians and Researchers, Nova Scotia Mi’kmaqs played a form of ancient hockey that mirrored the Scottish shinny as early as the 1700s, citing accounts from British soldiers.

Filed Under Hockey Stick News

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