Does hockey stick shatter matter?

Since the second round of the playoffs has just started, I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about one of my pet peeves in the game today.

I thought that the best way to start this article would be with the question. How many scoring chances have you seen either caused or negated due to a hockey stick breaking. This must drive coach’s nuts especially in the playoffs, when the games are so close. One missed scoring chance could be the difference between moving on and playing golf. I just don’t get it, I know the new sticks let the players shoot the puck a little harder but in the bigger scheme of things, what’s the difference between a 100 mile per hour slap shot and a 97 mile per hour one. The puck would arrive at pretty close to the same time.

One of the problems with the new sticks is there is no indication that it is fatigued and ready to explode. The old wooden sticks would sound differently when they were cracked or chipped. With the new ones everything seems fine until you’re shooting the puck or making a defensive play , all of a sudden you have a piece of stick in each hand and the chance is missed.

Back in the early 90’2 I was involved with testing the Sherwood prototype composite stick. They were doing so to get NHL approval. Well the ones we tested would not break at all and therefore would be considered a weapon in some hands and approval did not go through. Now they have gone to far the other way and it seems that if you look at them the wrong way they will break. Hair line cracks develop just through regular use, that can’t be seen and the next thing you know they break, usually at the most in opportunistic of times.

Why not take a page out of Major League Baseballs rule book. In the MLB wooden bats have to be used, no aluminum or anything else is legal just wood plain and simple. Do you not think major league batters could hit the ball further with an aluminum bat, of course they could, the sweet spot is twice as big as the one on a wooden bat.

So in closing I would recommend that the best hockey league in the world, the NHL, make a rule dictating that only wooden sticks be used in the league. There will be so bitching to begin with but the playing field will be level and coaches around the league will be keeping more hair. That’s the way I see it and I know there is lots of money involved but what price do you pay for the integrity of the game.

Sincerely Walt Webb
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