Ice Hockey Stick Basics

Ice Hockey Sticks are a critical piece of equipment required to play ice hockey. There are a surprising number of features to get right to find a hockey stick that matches you skills and your size as a player.Goalie hockey sticks are very different from regular hockey sticks and this article is only going to cover the regular ice hockey sticks.

Originally ice hockey sticks were made from the hornbeam tree, though as these types of trees began to be used up other hardwood trees were used. Ash tree soon became the wood of choice and although these were heavier then the current models they were very durable and long lasting.

The ice hockey stick has not been renovated much as the original design completely serves its purpose. Laminated hockey sticks were a big step in the 1940s as the layering of wood allowed for more flexibility. Soon companies were using other material besides wood when layering the material. Synthetic materials and fiberglass were frequently used as coatings. The blade underwent a change in the beginning of the1960s as a curved blade was found to give more control to shooting.

Besides woods, aluminum and composite materials have been used. Aluminum was very popular in the 1980s as baseball bats and cricket bats were being produced in aluminum.

These composite versions use fiberglass, carbon fiber and even Kevlar. Composites are the future and will likely replace all wooden and aluminum versions one day. In order for them to completely take over the price will need to decrease as they currently are quite expensive when compared to other materials.

Ice hockey sticks have a shaft, blade and the toe. The toe is the very end of the blade. They can have a variety of angles between the blade and shaft, called the lie. Very tall hockey players tend to have a very large lie angle so that their blade will still rest on the ice when they are skating. Players that crouch more when skating or are shorter like a smaller lie angle.

As with the golf club the flexibility of the shaft is very important to the ice hockey stick. It is possible to find ice hockey sticks that have a range of flexibility and your chosen position does have an influence on the type of flexibility you want. Defensemen that use slap shots and poke checking frequently tend to prefer less flexibility and forwards tend to choose more flexibility.

The blade pattern is referring to the curve of the blade. The curve, face angle and toe are the most important parts of the blade pattern. The curve refers to the amount of curve on the blade as well as were the curve is. A toe curve is referring to a curve that occurs near the tow of the blade. The face angle is the angle between the surface of the blade and the ice and the to shape can be either rounded or square and described the shape of the end of the blade.

Some folks might feel like the wooden hockey stick has seen its time and that it will soon be retired. I tend to agree, but it won't happen terribly soon. The quality of play using a wood hokcey stick isn't THAT different from a composite ice hockey stick for all but the most advanced players. The otehr factor that works to its advantage is that the wooden ice hockey sticks are SIGNIFICANTLY lees expensive than composite hockey sticks. When composite hockey sticks start to match the price of wood hockey sticks, then you will have a potential collectors item on your hands with a wooden hockey stick.