What's With All the Broken Sticks?

[Clark Kimble]

Full disclosure: I've never played hockey with this generation of ultralight graphite sticks, though I have helped a friend shop for one, so I'm familiar with the feel and flex.

But, geez...I've never seen so many sticks break in NHL play; they're all over the ice. I seriously doubt my old, overweight 1970 SuperBlade would help.

Just wondering: Since a broken stick must immediately be dropped, have you ever seen a goal scored that went in off a broken stick, or a pass that led to a goal hitting a broken stick first?

Would it even count?

[TAFKAP]

I know, if it hits an official and goes DIRECTLY in, it's disallowed. If it hits an official but touched by a player and goes in, it's good. I'd assume a stick is the same.

[danno]

I could swear that I remember someone scoring against the Blues with a broken stick a few years back but for the life of me I can't remember who or what team

[BobbyOrr]

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

[Old_Goat]

They are similar to fiberglass, but utilizing carbon fiber reinforced epoxy rather than glass reinforced epoxy. Same as "graphite" golf shafts. The term graphite is a misnomer, because graphite is actually crystalline in form, whereas carbon fibers are amorphous.
Anyway, the issue is that carbon fiber is very weak (horrible) in compression, but has fantastic strength to weight. Therefore it's much lighter and fantastic for aerospace applications. But it's not good for impact and it weakens when hitting a puck as the portion of the shaft being bent back curving in is now being compressed. (Not good for bird strikes on an airplane, not good at stopping bullets either!)
A good wood stick is much more durable, but the wood blade wears out with moisture, and obviously heavier. The old Easton aluminum shafts were great for relatively lightweight, and the blade insert was a good idea to provide a safe breaking point, so a player wouldn't become seriously impaled into the corner of the boards accidentally.
Guy LaFleur's Canadien brand of wood sticks had layers of fiber glass reinforced epoxy strips along the sides to actually further stiffen the wood to transmit more force for a harder shot. But the reality is a whip action can really increase the club head, or stick blade speed at impact, so the advantage of the lightweight carbon fiber and tensile strength to really get that blade moving -- wrist shots in particular as well as quick release. And it doesn't tire the player out lugging a heavy stick.
But all of that sounds great until the darn thing breaks at the most critical time. These guys can afford those sticks; a lot of young families ought to go back to aluminum shafts!
Final note, the refs and trailing linesman need to try to moreso pick up those broken sticks and drop them into a bench. I know they already do a little.

[Frank Underwood]

I agree, seems like there are way more, but I think part of the reason it seems that way is because Ed Olczyk gets so insanely excited when someone breaks a stick. I know a broken stick can be a big deal, especially when you are killing a penalty, but he gets abnormally worked up about it.

[larueskee]

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

Wondering where you played Bobby. Now for my street hockey days I remember thinking that the famous Super Blade would resolve my stick breaking issue. It did not as the joint where the shaft was inserted would weaken and the blade would fly off after a hard day of games. I do believe it was more lasting than these new sticks though. I had some friends buy graphites and they broke and were costly to replace. I have to believe that there is a better idea out there.

[larueskee]

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

Wondering where you played Bobby. Now for my street hockey days I remember thinking that the famous Super Blade would resolve my stick breaking issue. It did not as the joint where the shaft was inserted would weaken and the blade would fly off after a hard day of games. I do believe it was more lasting than these new sticks though. I had some friends buy graphites and they broke and were costly to replace. I have to believe that there is a better idea out there. Another issue with the Super Blade was that if it lasted the blade would get very thin and become like a dagger and had to be a eye injury in waiting.

[Pink Freud]

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

Yep; bought my first at Famous-Barr in Northland Shopping Center, a (ironic) Northland Pro for $3.50...and Famous-Barr was definitely not a discount store.

[Pink Freud]

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

Yep; bought my first at Famous-Barr in Northland Shopping Center, a (ironic) Northland Pro for $3.50...and Famous-Barr was definitely not a discount store.

SuperBlades were perfect for street hockey, which tended to shred wood blades, though the SB was much heavier. One of the tricks in street hockey was, in blocking a shot, to avoid all the gravel and loose asphalt that flew with the puck.

That almost got my younger brother and me killed by an angry neighbor at the Norlakes Apartments in Ferguson, whose car we dented with a shot. Her husband was Paul Pelker, an (ahem) enforcer with the Mob-laden Steamfitters Union. Our wise apartment manager --- Muny Opera regular Buzz Barton --- strongly suggested we apologize...profusely. And we did.

And we never played hockey anywhere near their apartment again.

[Pink Freud]

I agree, seems like there are way more, but I think part of the reason it seems that way is because Ed Olczyk gets so insanely excited when someone breaks a stick. I know a broken stick can be a big deal, especially when you are killing a penalty, but he gets abnormally worked up about it.

Eddie is OK as an analyst, but I wish he'd get away from saying an overtime scorer had an "OTGWG". Just call it an overtime game-winning goal. It's only one more syllable; he can handle it. It's like Noo Yawka hipsters calling pizza "za". Seriously....saying "pizza" is too wearying?

[Blues Dave]

I could swear that I remember someone scoring against the Blues with a broken stick a few years back but for the life of me I can't remember who or what team

danno you are correct. But I can't remember the details either. One of our true Blue history guys will get it though I bet.

[somni]

I could swear that I remember someone scoring against the Blues with a broken stick a few years back but for the life of me I can't remember who or what team

danno you are correct. But I can't remember the details either. One of our true Blue history guys will get it though I bet.

Was it this one by none other than Backes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaO-jXdYynE

[Blues Dave]

I could swear that I remember someone scoring against the Blues with a broken stick a few years back but for the life of me I can't remember who or what team

danno you are correct. But I can't remember the details either. One of our true Blue history guys will get it though I bet.

Was it this one by none other than Backes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaO-jXdYynE

I believe you got it. There was more replay in slow motion etc. at that time and it was pretty clear in my thinking.

[STL fan in MN]

They are similar to fiberglass, but utilizing carbon fiber reinforced epoxy rather than glass reinforced epoxy. Same as "graphite" golf shafts. The term graphite is a misnomer, because graphite is actually crystalline in form, whereas carbon fibers are amorphous.
Anyway, the issue is that carbon fiber is very weak (horrible) in compression, but has fantastic strength to weight. Therefore it's much lighter and fantastic for aerospace applications. But it's not good for impact and it weakens when hitting a puck as the portion of the shaft being bent back curving in is now being compressed. (Not good for bird strikes on an airplane, not good at stopping bullets either!)
A good wood stick is much more durable, but the wood blade wears out with moisture, and obviously heavier. The old Easton aluminum shafts were great for relatively lightweight, and the blade insert was a good idea to provide a safe breaking point, so a player wouldn't become seriously impaled into the corner of the boards accidentally.
Guy LaFleur's Canadien brand of wood sticks had layers of fiber glass reinforced epoxy strips along the sides to actually further stiffen the wood to transmit more force for a harder shot. But the reality is a whip action can really increase the club head, or stick blade speed at impact, so the advantage of the lightweight carbon fiber and tensile strength to really get that blade moving -- wrist shots in particular as well as quick release. And it doesn't tire the player out lugging a heavy stick.
But all of that sounds great until the darn thing breaks at the most critical time. These guys can afford those sticks; a lot of young families ought to go back to aluminum shafts!
Final note, the refs and trailing linesman need to try to moreso pick up those broken sticks and drop them into a bench. I know they already do a little.

This explains it very well. They cost too much to be so brittle these days. And I wish there were more options that were a little more reinforced. Like the old Easton ST. You gave up a little in terms of weight but that stick was a tank compared to most one-piece sticks. My favorite stick was the Easton S19. I’ve yet to find another I’ve liked quite as much and I’ve broken all of mine now. Or at least the ones of the curve I like. I do have one that’s an Iginla curve but I simply need a larger lie these days and it just sits in the basement. I tend to just peruse eBay or a clearance rack for a good stick that might be a model year or two older. I simply can’t justify playing $3-400 for a stick.

[callitwhatyouwant]

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

I played back in the day when a pro quality stick in the 70's Sherwood, Victoriaville, other cost $3.50.
I played up to a high level and never saw sticks breaking like they do today at $400 a pop.
It's ridiculous.

Yep; bought my first at Famous-Barr in Northland Shopping Center, a (ironic) Northland Pro for $3.50...and Famous-Barr was definitely not a discount store.

SuperBlades were perfect for street hockey, which tended to shred wood blades, though the SB was much heavier. One of the tricks in street hockey was, in blocking a shot, to avoid all the gravel and loose asphalt that flew with the puck.

That almost got my younger brother and me killed by an angry neighbor at the Norlakes Apartments in Ferguson, whose car we dented with a shot. Her husband was Paul Pelker, an (ahem) enforcer with the Mob-laden Steamfitters Union. Our wise apartment manager --- Muny Opera regular Buzz Barton --- strongly suggested we apologize...profusely. And we did.

And we never played hockey anywhere near their apartment again.

That was the bummer about playing street hockey back in the day. I played with the guys in my neighborhood who played ice hockey regularly. We played every day. (well everyday I didn't have another sport practice to go to) basically 330 until sundown. You chewed thru hockey sticks like crazy playing on the concrete. Was lucky to have a neighborhood with 1 entrance so traffic was never bad. But I think I spent more money on hockey than any other sport growing up and I didn't even play it competitively. But, you couldn't be running around with a plastic blade with those guys.