Types And Properties Of Ice Hockey Sticks
Ice hockey sticks are the main instruments for playing ice hockey outside of skates. The most common version is the regular ice hockey stick though there is also a goalie specific one. The goalie version tends to be wider and longer as it is primarily used for blocking. A hockey stick is shaped in an L. The shaft is connected to the blade at an angle so that when a hockey player is in stance the blade can rest completely on the ice.
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.
Possible the largest improvement for ice hockey sticks came about with the lamination process. These were built by gluing together layers of wood. It is also possible to use fiberglass and other synthetic materials in the layers or as coatings. The other big improvement was the addition of a curve in the blade. The curve blade made shooting much easier and reliable.
Aluminum versions were developed in the 1980s as many cricket bats and baseball bats were using aluminum. However most wooden and aluminum versions have been replaced by composite at the professional levels.
Composites are the most recent development and when prices decrease on composites they will soon completely replace both aluminum and wooden types. Composites are designed to perform just like wooden but they are much lighter. Unfortunately they do not last as long as wooden and are currently the most expensive ice hockey sticks.
There are certain properties to an ice hockey stick that make them perform in the desired way. The lie is the angle between the shaft and the blade. The lie allows the player to keep the blade on the ice when they are in the typical ice hockey stance. Those players that are shorter or use a deeper crouch will have a low lie while those players that are very tall may have a stick with a very high 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 taking into account the amount of curve on the blade as well as where the curve occurs. A toe curve will have the curve closer to the end of the blade. Many times certain shots will do better with specific blade patterns.