From the days of wooden sticks, to two piece composites, to now one piece composites, a hockey stick has many different parts that come together to make it work the way you need it to in order to perform at the peak of your game. I'm going to run you through the different parts of a stick, as well as explain the role that each part plays in the overall function of a twig.
The Shaft
The shaft is defined as the entire body of the stick leading towards the bottom where the shaft meets the blade. Hockey stick shafts have evolved immensely over the years and have gone from being made of wood, to being made of aluminum for a brief period during the 90s (thanks to Easton for that one), to now being made of carbon fiber. There have even been stick shaft technology advancements made from Bauer, with some of their recent releases like the Bauer AG5NT and the Bauer Proto-R being made from a mix of Boron carbide and Carbon fiber to create an extremely lightweight and durable material, similar to the material used in aerospace. Traditionally, hockey stick shafts are 4 sided, and in recent years the majority of shafts have been tapered near the bottom in order to create a lower kickpoint on the shaft. The flex of a stick is how much the stick bends under pressure, and generally the kickpoint refers to where the stick will flex in order to transfer energy to your shot.
The Blade
The blade of a hockey stick is the flat, wide part at the bottom of the shaft that serves as the point of contact between the stick and the ice, as well as your stick and the puck. The blade is the release point for shots and passes, and has 3 distinct features: the heel, the toe, and the curve. The heel of the blade is where the blade meets the shaft, the toe is the front end of the blade, and the curve is the design of the blade which is generally suited to a players personal preference. All of these features come together to make up the core of how a player handles and releases the puck, and is considered the most important part of a stick for many players. A players curve is the most customizable part of a stick, as every player has a different need for their curve. Some choose to opt for the more common P92 or P28 curves, but some players require every aspect of the curve to be customized to their liking. Another important aspect of the blade is the lie. The lie dictates the angle of how the blade sits against the ice in relation to the position of the shaft. The higher the number, the more flat the blade will be against the ice. Lower the number, the higher the angle of the blade is.
The Handle/Grip
In the vast majority of modern hockey sticks, the shaft is textured to provide the player with a layer of grip for easier control and to prevent them from losing control of the stick. This usually extends all the way up to the handle of the shaft, where players utilize a number of different taping methods to customize their grip to their liking. The CCM Vizion is the first stick to experiment with having a different handle shape compared to the rest of the stick, with a 6 sided asymmetrical shape at the top of the shaft compared to the normal 4 sided shaft for the rest of the stick.
All of these factors come together to make up the build of a hockey stick, and for you to determine the most important factors for yourself to dominate on the ice, there is no better place to go than HockeyStickMan, with countless different stick options at unbeatable prices available here!
