Hockey Canada Registrations & The High Costs of Hockey

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
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Talk to me about sticks.

When I went out to get my little Novice player a stick they showed me some sticks that were costing $50--$70 bucks. I asked 'at this age, is there any difference between these and a good ole' wooden stick'? The staff said no, so we walked out of there with a $15 Sher-wood.

But then I looked and all the other kids had more expensive sticks.

You pointed out that the $300 stick is only useful when the player is strong enough to flex the stick. Is that true of a $50 stick?



This is why I'd love to find a hockey parent discussion board, but google has failed me so far...

Joe?....... :) ........ This is hf BOH..... not THE RINK which is where you'd wanna be asking such questions & having a discussion about that.... :laugh: ... too much.... but I will say sure, ya, you can get a decent stick for like $50-$70 no problem..... if I had my way I'd outlaw Composites totally, at every level. Nothin but Woodies from Mite/Squirt/Tyke/PeeWee on up to the Pro's.
 

Canadiens1958

Registered User
Nov 30, 2007
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Sponsorship


Good advice.
.... and ya Ive seen skates in-store & on-line for more than $999.... try $1295... $1395. Particularly high in a lot of US markets. Arizona, Metro Phoenix & Texas, Southern California. And not just skates, everything, limited stocks. You could buy a Show Pony for your kid, stable & board it, top end tack, a trailer & lessons for less. Join a private ski club, outfit the entire family with top of the line ski's, boots & bindings etc etc etc. Insane.

And of course, for sure if your playing elite amateur, and never mind "keeping up with the Joneses" type dealeo in order to perform at optimum you need to have the best equipment available. I dont know if they still do it but in my day (late 50's & 60's, early 70's) the elite amateur clubs & Junior teams would in most cases actually supply the skaters with then top of the line CCM Tacks or Bauer Supremes along with at minimum gloves & helmets. Junior, shin, elbow & shoulder pads as well though many players had their own that they liked & felt comfortable using so didnt bother with it. Goalies; skates, pads, gloves & everything else if you wanted it or needed it, sticks for both skaters & goalies either totally free or at a discount. Such goodies often used as incentives to get kids to sign.

Funny story about Gordie Howe.... from a poor background, recipient of the equipment incentives & other perks.... after his first year with Detroit Jolly Jack Adams at the beginning of his next season shoves a contract in front of him but Howe wont sign it.... Adams asks him "why, whats the problem"?.... Howe tells him "you promised me a Red Wings Team Jacket last year before I signed and I never got it"..... catch my drift here?.... Gordie was still thinkin like a really good amateur.... "do they supply equipment, skates & so on"?..... Adams of course rushed out of his office, had his secretary IMMEDIATELY go out & find a Red Wings Team Jacket. Gave it it to Gordie, happily signing.... for peanuts and a Team Jacket that mightve been worth retail back then about 20 bucks if that.

Still the case, usually part of a sponsorship deal with the league. Also "blems" are available and manufacturers us teams for testing purposes.

In-line stores. Key is eyeballing the actual shelf space devoted to high end vs mid range and entry level equipment. High end is a very limited and narrow client base. Also be careful with the free elements of any sale price. Free sharpening, fitting etc is the most expensive part of any offer. Calculated in the price at 100% usage but rarely used at the 25% range.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
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Still the case, usually part of a sponsorship deal with the league. Also "blems" are available and manufacturers use teams for testing purposes.

I rather figured it must still be at the elite AAA Midget & Junior levels, with some of that filtering down to Minor-Midget, Bantam & even Pee Wee in some cases. Depends on the depth & intelligence of the league itself & the organizations. The Quebec Major Midget AAA League in particular I've noted doing a bang-up job with sponsorships from the equipment sector (and others for that matter be it food or financial services or whatever). Brand names prominently featured on the website, rink board advertising, awards & trophies named after etc. Clearly that league extremely proactive & creative in securing sponsorships, cash & or contra deals, discounts & so on all defraying the high costs. Mutually beneficial arrangements between the league, its teams & the sponsors.
 

Bjorn Le

Hobocop
May 17, 2010
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You can decry the situation all you like.

But guys like Orr, Hull, Lafleur, came up in an era where there was no summer hockey, speed and strength conditioning, you name it. Their parents didn't have to pay for power skating lessons in the off-season because nobody did power skating in the off-season.

But now we do. We can't put the genie back in the bottle.

These days to become an elite top-level athlete requires a hell of a lot of specialized training and conditioning. And that is really, really expensive. Either we want the government to dedicate hundred of millions of dollars to have summer hockey academies set up for every kid who wants to go, or we live with the fact that elite athletics are going to be a domain of the very rich.

Hey I get it. I'm no spring chicken myself. I'm in my 40s, grew up watching 80s hockey. I get the pull of nostalgia too. But that's what it is - nostalgia for days gone by that aren't coming back.

True, it's never going back to what it once was. But that doesn't mean there is nothing to be done. The fix isn't easy, it won't be fast, it won't be free, but USA Hockey and Hockey Canada have done an especially horrible job at managing the escalating costs. I don't like personal anecdotes, but as a child I saw it myself. My brother was born in 1976 and played hockey from kindergarten till he finished university. My family was above the median household income in Canada until the late-1980s, but below it by the mid-1990s. I was born in 1989, and of course my parents never thought to keep his gear. I never got a chance to play organized hockey because we didn't have the money, and programs for underprivileged children were not as extensive in the mid to late-1990s. Its a circumstance true if a lot of kids in Canada, as well as the hockey belt in the US.

I'm not sure any player in the most recent draft came from a family under the poverty line. I'll agree we will never make it common. However, hockey is so inaccessible to anyone who is not upper middle class. The goal shouldn't be making the playing field even to produce professional athletes, it should be about reducing the financial and structural barriers impeding low income families from playing hockey. As much as subsidized programs and equipment is important, it doesn't address social impediments to playing the game.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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if I had my way I'd outlaw Composites totally, at every level. Nothin but Woodies from Mite/Squirt/Tyke/PeeWee on up to the Pro's.

When the question "Yeah, but what can the NHL do about this?" comes up, this is a good place to start the conversation.

The NHL could get rid of composite sticks with the wave of a pen. Look at MLB's bat rule. It's as simple as saying "no more". And then the natural next step is to reach out to the national development programs to do the same. Want to play in the NHL, you better learn to play with a wooden stick. The trickle-down might not be universal, but it would be the end of composite sticks as a "must have" for development. That's hundreds of dollars per family per season.

Of course, that would mean screwing over the equipment companies... who are major sponsors... and that's why it won't happen.
 

BadgerBruce

Registered User
Aug 8, 2013
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Let's take a fairly smallish town in Ontario -- roughly 20K in population -- that offers Travel/Rep hockey at one of the lower levels in the province, "A," (not AA or AAA). Now, let's take a Peewee rep team (12 year olds) and figure out how much a season will cost.

Thankfully, the volunteers with the Dundas, Ontario "A" peewee rep team have been kind enough to post their team budget for the upcoming 2017-18 season. Btw, I don't live anywhere near this town and wish the little peewee team nothing but the best -- I'm using their team budget only because it was available online and is probably fairly representative of most youth teams in semi-rural Ontario, Canada.

You can find it at this link (you'll need to open the document)

https://dmha.ca/Teams/1482/Articles/5868/2017_2018_Season_Plan/

The budget starts on page 4 of the document. Read it carefully, since it's itemized. I could not possibly be the only person who raises an eyebrow at some of the required expenditures. Is there a good reason why every player needs matching helmets/gloves/pants for Peewee "A" Hockey? Is there a good reason why every player needs a turtleneck and hat? Matching practice jerseys? No mention of team jackets (other than for the coaches) but you just know every kid will want one and mom/dad/guardian will shell out.

Take a look at the "tournament options" presented to the families. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania? Really? For a Peewee team playing at the "A" level in small town Ontario? For what possible reason?

Now, in all likelihood this team will practice and play from Labour Day until the end of February, approximately 6 months. Do the math, factor in the cost of travel and accommodation for tournaments, basic equipment needs (sticks, skates, tape, sharpening, etc.) and there is no way a family escapes for less than $500 per month for one child and I'm pretty sure that's low. Got 2 kids who want to play small town Ontario peewee hockey? That's a cool $1K per month on a shoestring. Payment plan? No mention.

Imagine if you were a single parent with a 12 year old who just wants to play peewee rep hockey on the little small town team. Could you afford it?
 

pbgoalie

Registered User
Aug 8, 2010
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I can do the old man "in my day thing"

In the area I live, there are numerous baseball and soccer fields for the huge number of kids in the area. It's an area with some money, and we have some pretty good development in baseball, football, track, golf etc.
In all these fields, I honestly can't remember the last time I saw kids just playing a pick up or draw sides game. The only time you see kids on the field outside organized practice or games, is with a parent or coach, working on something.

The. Business of youth sports in my area has become about a child playing on a travel team, largely in order to help a college resume, or in some cases, the holy grail of scholarship money.

Growing up in New Jersey, we didn't have consistent freezes of ponds or lakes, but when we had ice, I can't tell you how many times we would meet to play pond hockey. There would be kids from a number of teams and we'd skate till the ice was useless, and then screw around skating til we just couldn't anymore.

The cost of youth sports is absurd, largely because we see it as a future for education or career, and not for simply playing with friends, learning to play together, and trying to Improve....and it's not just hockey
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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^ This is at least in part because culturally, nobody lets their kids play alone anymore. People are so scared of abduction that there's no such thing as kids just walking down to the neighborhood park.

Also, physically, cities are laid out so that there is no such thing as a walkable neighborhood park for most people. I live in a town that has a *fantastic* park system, and still the nearest athletic fields are located miles from most people. Typically within a sea of parking spaces at the middle of a sprawling complex beyond walking trails, playgrounds, etc. The nearest residence being close to a mile away... never mind that the bulk of the population lives much farther than that.

So there is simply no physical opportunity for kids to go play ball without their parents being involved. And if the parents are involved... well, they treat it like adults treat any situation. Unstructured free play morphs into a managed practice. And if those adults have the resources to outsource the work to a coach, that's exactly what they will do.

On a basic level, our society is no longer structured so that unsupervised play could be a common experience.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
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Now, in all likelihood this team will practice and play from Labour Day until the end of February, approximately 6 months. Do the math, factor in the cost of travel and accommodation for tournaments, basic equipment needs (sticks, skates, tape, sharpening, etc.) and there is no way a family escapes for less than $500 per month for one child and I'm pretty sure that's low. Got 2 kids who want to play small town Ontario peewee hockey? That's a cool $1K per month on a shoestring. Payment plan? No mention.

Imagine if you were a single parent with a 12 year old who just wants to play peewee rep hockey on the little small town team. Could you afford it?

Based on those numbers, fee's etc, yes I'd say thats low. Some serious driving around for Regular Season games including to & from Owen Sound. Consider what kind of time commitment & additional costs if your a resident of Owen Sound having to brave Hwy 10 winter driving into Dundas, Milton, Ancaster etc? Thats a serious hike. No idea why they'd be competing in that league. Maybe I misread it? Doesnt make sense for Single A, possibly for AA but then most of these smaller centers/towns are Single A. I dunno. I dont get it. A lot of people living in places like Milton & Dundas etc, commuters to jobs in Hamilton, Oakville, Mississauga. They live out there in a lot of cases because they can afford to buy a decent house, not wealthy. Hamilton's even becoming expensive. Where do they find an extra four grand at minimum and for what is basically one notch above House League?. Thats just crazy.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
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^ This is at least in part because culturally, nobody lets their kids play alone anymore. People are so scared of abduction that there's no such thing as kids just walking down to the neighborhood park.

So there is simply no physical opportunity for kids to go play ball without their parents being involved. And if the parents are involved... well, they treat it like adults treat any situation. Unstructured free play morphs into a managed practice. And if those adults have the resources to outsource the work to a coach, that's exactly what they will do.

On a basic level, our society is no longer structured so that unsupervised play could be a common experience.

Yeah, Bingo. Was about to post exactly this. Even the thought of road hockey within a hundred feet of your front door without adult supervision, well..... sad commentary on todays society really. Even just letting your kids walk to a local school alone.... nowhere's safe. The game moved indoors decades ago & thus safe, supervised & controlled environment.... I dont have any kids but yes, its mind blowing that that would absolutely be a major concern and an obstacle to free-play outdoors for children. You just cant let them run off to the local schoolyard or playing fields in the once safe, relatively peaceful & tranquil suburbs.

Even just a few generations ago and in one of the worst urban environments in North America, the area known as Hells Kitchen in NY, Joe & Brian Mullen began playing street & roller hockey in a vacant lot that was populated from dusk til dawn by junkies & drug dealers, situated between two tenement houses. Their father was employed by MSG on the ice making side of operations. Their mother even during the day keeping an eye on them, clear view from their apartment window of the lot where they played. Both boys making it to the NHL, noted for their toughness, rugged play (Nick Fotiu another NY boy, similar background & experiences) & willingness to just drop em'. Read a comment from their Mom that as they got older & bigger she didnt worry so much, didnt watch them quite so closely as anyone messing with them was making a big mistake. :laugh:
 

Canadiens1958

Registered User
Nov 30, 2007
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Career

^ This is at least in part because culturally, nobody lets their kids play alone anymore. People are so scared of abduction that there's no such thing as kids just walking down to the neighborhood park.

Also, physically, cities are laid out so that there is no such thing as a walkable neighborhood park for most people. I live in a town that has a *fantastic* park system, and still the nearest athletic fields are located miles from most people. Typically within a sea of parking spaces at the middle of a sprawling complex beyond walking trails, playgrounds, etc. The nearest residence being close to a mile away... never mind that the bulk of the population lives much farther than that.

So there is simply no physical opportunity for kids to go play ball without their parents being involved. And if the parents are involved... well, they treat it like adults treat any situation. Unstructured free play morphs into a managed practice. And if those adults have the resources to outsource the work to a coach, that's exactly what they will do.

On a basic level, our society is no longer structured so that unsupervised play could be a common experience.

Forget about hockey for a minute. It is no longer about play at anything, it is about building towards a career.
 

Canadiens1958

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Doubtful

FT1.png
Plus tax. Then $150 for balancing.

Every elite player in AAA at the midget level does some offseason training. Ours goes to the gym in the summer and is trained by hockey specific trainers. It makes a difference. And nothing we do is a have to. We decide as a family that this is what we are going to do. And we are fortunate enough to be able to afford it.

This is true. He will most likely play in either the WHL or AJHL. We don't talk about the NHL. We talk about following the process of doing his best and wherever he ends up, that is fine. We decided as parents that we would provide all reasonable access to the best available equipment and training and allow for the process to run it's course. We also say that he can announce his retirement whenever he wants. ;)

Believe it or not, the equipment at the highest level provides an edge that all the elite players feel they need to compete. The $300 sticks can provide up to a 10-15 MPH difference in wrist shot speed. BUT ONLY IF THE PLAYER IS STRONG ENOUGH TO FLEX THE STICK.

Hold off until your kid is elite. I told my son I wasn't buying the expensive stuff until his level of play required it. His first senior top line stick was in Bantam AA. Same with his skates. So I recommend people lay off the expensive stuff unless the player is in a rep program.

This is very doubtful and dubious, definitely not supported by independent studies and not a reason to spend the combined cost of a stick and spend specifc strength training.

You are bypassing key elements in linking stick quality and additional strength with wrist shot speed.

First let's go back to your stick length suggestion. It overlooks the "lie" of a stick and the relationship of "lie", length of a stick to how a player skates. The distance between the blades. Upright, hunched or normal. Vast majority of coaches overlook these details.

Another factor is the blade of the stick, from the shape of the outer edges, extreme edge, straight, rounded, angled, the bottom of the blad, flat or the type of arc. curved or striaght, if curved the type of curve, the top of the stick.

Put it all together, find the ideal stick for a player and the wrist shot will improve dramatically, perhaps by more than your claim.

Until this is done correctly, your claim is just encouraging the waste of hard earned money.

Also a comment about composite sticks. They break. Watch enough NHL games and count the number of scoring chances that are wasted because the composite just explodes.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
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First let's go back to your stick length suggestion. It overlooks the "lie" of a stick and the relationship of "lie", length of a stick to how a player skates. The distance between the blades. Upright, hunched or normal. Vast majority of coaches overlook these details.

Also a comment about composite sticks. They break. Watch enough NHL games and count the number of scoring chances that are wasted because the composite just explodes.

Yes indeed they do. Reliability has always been an issue with Composites & their failure to perform as they should at the most inopportune moments.... Just why it is that Coaches are not more proactive in dealing with kids one on one when it comes to proper stick selection & "fit" (if you will) I have no idea however its not new, something thats been going on since the introduction of the curved & Banana Blades, the entry into the market mid-to-late 60's early 70's & the proliferation of foreign & domestic brands. Much wider variety. Inconsistent lies from one brand to another which isnt good, though what was/is good variations in flex, blades, weight's etc.

Before the introduction of aluminum, fiberglass & composites, if you made a mistake it wasnt terribly costly, annoying, but at least you werent out $75~$300 or more on a single stick. Before the explosion of Big Box retailers, usually the retailer, mainly independents with a small staff, owner-operated, a kid comes in looking for a stick they'd take the time to help him get "fitted out" properly with the right stick. Ask questions; what position do you play, whats your skating posture & then recommend Lie & blade, models in each brand they carry best suited. Thereafter, the player knows what he should be using & can tweak that to his hearts content as he matures as a skater, player.

But if shopping Big Box, unlikely they get that advice, opt for the sexiest model, the one their favorite player uses if available, no attention to lie, length or flex, blade, just BAM $300 & thats that. Kids got the wrong tool. Ill fitting. Slows down the pilgrims progress, learning curve & because its ill suited, leans into it in ways he shouldnt & it breaks, and there goes another 70, 90, 175 or 300 bucks. Insane. Reminds me of the time Lange ski boots had a major recall on their top of the line boots, $800+ per pair because they were "exploding" on people while in use... tearing up a slope at a buck eighty & the boots integrity, the plastic & fiberglass used became compromised in slightly colder temperatures than the norm, any pressure to the bottom plate, front cuff, they'd implode. Using defective materials, not deliberate but an interesting, intriguing parallel. Comparison.

Of course, back in the day we had comparable to Big Box, namely shopping for a stick at a Department Store like the old Simpsons & Eatons chain's here in Canada that like todays Big Boxes carried copies of for eg Bobby Hull's Northland, with the Banana Blade, same Lie, same everything and ya, they flew off the racks and at a premium price. Kids 8-10-12yrs old buying them including Defencemen. A really useless stick for Defenceman or Centers to be using to put it mildly. Totally useless for any 8-14yr old unless he was already shaving & like 5'10, 165ibs and a Winger. Not too many 14yr olds around like that. Eatons/Simpsons had it all figured out. No "stick pro" on staff. No one to tell little Bobby who played Defence that "look kid, you cant control the puck properly on your backhand etc etc etc using this stick". Its a "novelty item" for Wingers & only a small % thereof.

Manufacturers have just gotta love this, todays situation. Instead of making a $10 or $20 "mistake" in suiting up little Johnny, people making $75~$300 "mistakes" for something that costs them a fraction of that to manufacture & distribute. Improper sizing = built-in guaranteed premature breakage. Kids buying it blind at P.O.S., neither Coach nor Parent correcting the mistake. Not in every case of course but I do believe in the majority & that its the rule rather than the exception. Commercialization, consumerism, brand identification & status (off-ice, it was during this period as well that Adidas & Puma rose to prominence, brand status not exclusive to just the ice but everywhere & rising fast), in hockey, amp'd up big time mid to late 60's on. Today, we see the results of all of that with $300 sticks, $1300 skates.
 
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tacogeoff

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Jul 18, 2011
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Killarney, MB
Small town rural Manitoba isn't too bad.

My kid is at a young level as he is only 12. We have a kick ass local sports store here which everyone and anyone puts up their old equipment on consignment sales. So I can usually get one or two year old used stuff for him at a 1/4 the price of new. Sticks I usually fit him for one at a big box store and then order them from Hockey Monkey.com at a lower cost....as we live very close to the border it is free shipping to a depot.

He is an average hockey player, plays for fun and the social aspect of the game. Until he takes it more seriously and wants to commit to actual off ice training etc. I wouldn't fork out full cost on superior equipment and fancy 200$ - 300$ sticks.

I would guestimate that our year total for registration and equipment would only be around 700$ Plus the travel costs for games and hotels for tournaments.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
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Small town rural Manitoba isn't too bad..... I would guestimate that our year total for registration and equipment would only be around 700$ Plus the travel costs for games and hotels for tournaments.

Ideal situation. About 10-12 miles from the Border, North Dakota. Small town, hockey equipment exchange. Probably before that shop opened, Killarney Shamrocks in conjunction with a Church, Legion or Community Hall held equipment exchanges. Your fortunate in many ways situated as you are, at one time the norm even in Toronto, various neighborhoods. Unfortunately no longer the norm. But sure, if you shop smart as you obviously do..... can be done on a sensible budget.
 

Kimota

ROY DU NORD!!!
Nov 4, 2005
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Small town rural Manitoba isn't too bad.

My kid is at a young level as he is only 12. We have a kick ass local sports store here which everyone and anyone puts up their old equipment on consignment sales. So I can usually get one or two year old used stuff for him at a 1/4 the price of new. Sticks I usually fit him for one at a big box store and then order them from Hockey Monkey.com at a lower cost....as we live very close to the border it is free shipping to a depot.

He is an average hockey player, plays for fun and the social aspect of the game. Until he takes it more seriously and wants to commit to actual off ice training etc. I wouldn't fork out full cost on superior equipment and fancy 200$ - 300$ sticks.

I would guestimate that our year total for registration and equipment would only be around 700$ Plus the travel costs for games and hotels for tournaments.

My nephew has played elite hockey since he was a toddler. The cost his parents have had to put up with has been unreal, including the travels have been unrelenting but they have not seem to mind and that kid is really passionate about it. It's a case of a perfect storm where the dad is passionate, the son is, the parents believe in sport and kids playing up their passion, they are not poor and the kid is elite. But all the travels and time spent on it, I frankly am sure that if I had a kid, he wouldn't play it. That schedule is just nuts. One of his friends had to stop completely cause it was affecting his school.
 

SCBlueLiner

Registered User
Dec 27, 2013
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I will talk to you all day about hockey because I love the game.

Flex on a hockey stick and quality of materials determine cost. If your kid is under 100 lbs spending $300 on a stick is ridiculous. I would go composite because they are lighter and easier for the kids to use. The rule is flex is half body weight.

Expensive hockey sticks flex and spring back faster and flex at different parts of the stick. So height and weight are all that matters. Make sure the length (To nose off skates and just under chin on skates.) is correct.

Most of the stick stigma is peer driven. I would go composite though. They won't break one for a couple years.

:)

Yep, go ahead and go composite for Squirt age and below, just be sure to buy an entry level composite, under $50. The reason being is the stick won't break, it won't get all splintery and soggy at the heel of the blade like a wood stick does, and as your kid grows you can add wood plugs to the end to extend the link getting more use out of the stick. Personally, my oldest used wood sticks through Squirts and I got tired of buying him two sticks a season.

Now, about spending money on equipment, it just isn't necessary, even at the highest levels of youth hockey. My oldest plays Tier 1 Midgets, he doesn't have top of the line skates, sticks, etc, and neither do his teammates. His skates are CCM Ribcore Platinums, go ahead and look them up, $399. Sure, that is still a lot of money, but it isn't $1,000. And getting them balanced? I assume you are talking about rockering the blades. Yeah, no. Free bake and sharpening when you buy them at the local hockey shop. 1/2" ROH.

I'm sure you can spend tons of money on equipment and get everything all spec'ed and teched out. There are NHLers like that. There are also NHLers who will take equipment right off the rack, simple sharpening of the skates, and just go out and play. Too many young players these days have this mental crutch that they need their equipment perfect or they can't perform. Kid, just go out there and compete and play. I'm not interested if you don't like the flex or curve on this particular stick, I'm not interested in your excuses, I'm not interested in you prima donna attitude. Just go put the puck in the net.

It's amazing that Lanny McDonald could rip clappers the way he did with a wood twig. Didn't need the high tech equipment, did he?
 

Slats432

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Jun 2, 2002
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This is very doubtful and dubious, definitely not supported by independent studies and not a reason to spend the combined cost of a stick and spend specifc strength training.

You are bypassing key elements in linking stick quality and additional strength with wrist shot speed.

First let's go back to your stick length suggestion. It overlooks the "lie" of a stick and the relationship of "lie", length of a stick to how a player skates. The distance between the blades. Upright, hunched or normal. Vast majority of coaches overlook these details.

Another factor is the blade of the stick, from the shape of the outer edges, extreme edge, straight, rounded, angled, the bottom of the blad, flat or the type of arc. curved or striaght, if curved the type of curve, the top of the stick.

Put it all together, find the ideal stick for a player and the wrist shot will improve dramatically, perhaps by more than your claim.

Until this is done correctly, your claim is just encouraging the waste of hard earned money.

Also a comment about composite sticks. They break. Watch enough NHL games and count the number of scoring chances that are wasted because the composite just explodes.

First hand experience. My son walks into a store with a shooting lane with radar
Easily ranges 5-10 mph between various Warrior Bauer and CCM sticks with wrist shot. But that is a 6'3 215lb 15 year old. Personal results may vary. You don't need to tell me about breaking sticks. My son went through 6 last year.
 

Canadiens1958

Registered User
Nov 30, 2007
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So...

First hand experience. My son walks into a store with a shooting lane with radar
Easily ranges 5-10 mph between various Warrior Bauer and CCM sticks with wrist shot. But that is a 6'3 215lb 15 year old. Personal results may vary. �� You don't need to tell me about breaking sticks. My son went through 6 last year.

Okay. Not exactly talkng games conditions here. To score high on the radar gun skating is optional. Non-skaters can easily replicate the results.
 

Slats432

Registered User
Jun 2, 2002
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Okay. Not exactly talkng games conditions here. To score high on the radar gun skating is optional. Non-skaters can easily replicate the results.

He has not been on ice with multiple sticks with a gun. Usually at a hockey academy they will do player testing and there won't be a variety.

I would suggest though that it is not unreasonable to have a 5-10 MPH difference based on the stick. Lie and flex and style of shooter being factors as well.
 

Canadiens1958

Registered User
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Lake Memphremagog, QC.
Perhaps

He has not been on ice with multiple sticks with a gun. Usually at a hockey academy they will do player testing and there won't be a variety.

I would suggest though that it is not unreasonable to have a 5-10 MPH difference based on the stick. Lie and flex and style of shooter being factors as well.

Perhaps all those factor and other considerations factor in but played thru midget in the sixties and have followed MIDGET AAA in Quebec and eastern Canada since the seventies and ther are two trusisms.

1.) Shooting speed and hardness of the shot improves with age as a youngster approaches and enters adulthood. Just repetition and experience without trainig will produce similar results.

2.) Testing of any kind produces results that reflect the subject's ability to perform during the test not his ability to perform the skill. Players that are taught how to execute under test conditions will execute under test conditions. Test conditions never reflect game conditions, which is what matters.
 

Slats432

Registered User
Jun 2, 2002
14,757
2,778
hockeypedia.com
Although true, your point 1. isn't applicable since the results are with different sticks with 1 minute intervals. Repetition and training aren't relevant to the results. For point 2, I would agree that because someone standing in a shooting lane in shoes and shooting with a radar gun in practice is not going to guarantee results on the ice in game, but to prove the difference in sticks, I would suggest that using several in a 30 minute stretch might help you determine which will perform best on ice.
 

danielpalfredsson

youtube dot com /watch?v=CdqMZ_s7Y6k
Aug 14, 2013
16,575
9,269
The NHL should be cultivating roller hockey as a pro sport beside the NHL.

-More accessible, less barriers based on socioeconomic status
-Can be played outdoors for most of the year at decently paved parks, or abandoned tennis courts. Much cheaper to maintain indoor surfaces which keeps costs down.
-Translates better worldwide (re; climates)
-Can survive the concussion madness due to a lack of hitting (although ice hockey can become non-contact)
 

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