Thread: Wood is what's good for hockey

Originally Posted by Rocket

... On the heated skate thing. I HATE plastic heat-molded skates. I use graf but really wish the skate makers would return to the mostly leather made skates. Trust me - you'll skate better even if your skates weigh more.

If you're refering to my comment, I was referencing the recent announcement of heated-blade technology (microprocessor + battery in the plastic blade holder, doing a controlled-charge of a heater in the blade to reduce skating friction).

It was not a comment about therma-form boot technology -- to reduce break-in time of new skates -- that came out in the early-to-mid 90's. I never imagined anyone could find fault with that, but hey, live and learn.

Originally Posted by FootKnight

?! In my experience a composite stick will be shattered all over the ice and replaced before a wood stick ever losses anything.

It's all wood sticks for me. I tried a composite and just didn't like how it left in my hands. I don't know exactly what it was, maybe weight, flex, how solid it felt, whatever, but it just didn't feel right, so I stick with wood. Currently using a CCM 492 Tacks with Recchi blade.

if you don't take off the tape and make sure the wood stick is properly maintained, the wood stick will fall apart before the composite will. with a wood, you'll need to take care of it after every game. the wood will be more affected by the wetness and the abuse before the composite will. i love the wood sticks, but for overall consistency i have to give it up to the composites. i just love the composites just because my experience over the years, but i'm sure for the regular rec player would be fine with the wood but a composite wouldn't be a bad decision at all.

edit: sorry i had a few to drink so i will re-read this tomorrow and edit the parts that don't make sense haha :P

As mentioned above, Aluminum bats are not used because it is dangerous to the pitcher. It is also dangerous to fielders and to fans.

I am considering going back to a wood stick just to see if I can feel a difference.

I used wood for a loooonnnng time (favorite was the Bauer 3000 with the Linden pattern) even though I had a bunch of different shafts laying around. I could never find a blade pattern I liked, so I never used the shafts. For ice with the heavier puck, wood seemed to flex better and I had a better shot with wood. I had snagged a pro model Victoriaville when I worked for the Ice Dogs (back in LA a llllloooonnnnnggg time ago) that was perfect, but I was scared to use it because it might break. Backhand, wrister, snap, slap shots were perfect.

Then I started playing roller again a few months ago, and with the lighter puck, wood sucks! I stumbled upon the Bauer Naslund pattern, and it is awesome as well. I am now using this whippy as hell Louisville lockjaw shaft with that blade and it is perfect for roller. I tried using a one-piece stick with the same pattern, and it felt like a toy. They way it flexed was way too weird and it felt like there was no blade on the stick. With a wood or shaft/blade, you could feel that there was something down there. But it is a moot point now because I am sacrificing the Victoriaville stick to the Ballistik gods and having custom wood blade made.

And another thing that the article did not bring up: Composite sticks are fragile as all hell. You get a little nick on the shaft of a wood stick, you will be fine for a while. You get a little nick on a composite stick, goodbye stick. There are a lot more broken sticks nowadays, and it is very noticeable when a guy winds up for a one timer and the puck doesn't go anywhere because his stick shatters.

fragile for an nhl player maybe...

i play in 2-3 leagues at a time plus pickups and haven't had any sticks break on me...*knock on wood*

but i have had blades break. but that's easy to replace on a 2 piece.

I recently went back to wood sticks because I just can't justify spending 5-10x the price on a composite stick. Also I have a hard time finding a pattern and flex I'm happy with. I LOVED the Louisville TPS Tkachuk pattern but I prefer a whip flex or a medium flex. Seems the only thing you can find in the stores these days is super stiff and has some insane curve to it. That's great if you weigh 225lbs but it just puts too much load into my wrists, hands and arms and I just can't load the stick for a quick, accurate wrist shot. I do think my slapshot was much more accurate with a composite but I just prefer the wood for feel and flex. I did find a Louisville wood shaft/carbon blade stick that was sweet but fragile. I never liked aluminum and two piece sticks. But to get back to the article, I think the writer is full of it. The only drawback to the new one-piece sticks in the pro game is how often they seem to break. Goalies have been given the advantage for too long with their massive pads, shooters needed something new.