what happened to GRAF?

[AintLifeGrand]

Back in my playing days GRAF skates were the shit-expensive and had a sick cadre of guys in the show who wore their shit

Are there any guys in the show that wear their skates?

What happened?

Click to read more...

 

[Albatros]

A small company, nowadays top players and teams have expensive sponsorship contracts with their suppliers.

 

[Troubadour]

The Canadian branch went bankrupt. Vaughn bought them. They fell behind and apart on several fronts. I know that Price and Rask used their skates. Sadly, the NA market is now dominated by Bauer, with leftovers going to CCM. GRAF still functions in Europe though.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Good skates, comfortable, broke down faster than others.

 

[ForsbergForever]

The Canadian branch went bankrupt. Vaughn bought them. They fell behind and apart on several fronts. I know that Price and Rask used their skates. Sadly, the NA market is now dominated by Bauer, with leftovers going to CCM. GRAF still functions in Europe though.

I think it's actually the reverse. All the top NHL stars wear CCM head-to-toe... see: Crosby, Ovechkin, Bergeron, McDavid, McKinnon, Rantanen, Matthews, Hischier, Panarin

 

[Troubadour]

I think it's actually the reverse. All the top NHL stars wear CCM head-to-toe... see: Crosby, Ovechkin, Bergeron, McDavid, McKinnon, Rantanen, Matthews, Hischier, Panarin

"Leftovers" was a stretch that should have been reserved for the likes of Warrior and True, but last time I checked, CCM had only a slight lead in the sticks and helmet department among NHLers while Bauer completely dominated the skate, pant and glove market.

 

[Captain Charisma]

Geargeek has brand totals for NHL players for sticks, skates, gloves, helmets, and pants.

GearGeek: NHL Hockey Equipment Stats Database

Find out what gear is being used by your favorite NHL player, what are the most popular hockey brands and view stat breakdowns by equipment type and model.

www.geargeek.com

As of Nov 15, 2022:

Sticks: 39% Bauer, 37% CCM, 17% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood
Skates: 68% Bauer, 21% CCM, 10% True
Gloves: 38% Bauer, 36% CCM, 20% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood, <1% Easton
Pants: 45% Bauer, 44% CCM, 11% Warrior
Helmets: 49% CCM, 42% Bauer, 9% Warrior, <1% Easton

 

[Filthy Dangles]

You can ask this question with nearly an endless number of defunft brands and get a similar answer.

I think it's actually the reverse. All the top NHL stars wear CCM head-to-toe... see: Crosby, Ovechkin, Bergeron, McDavid, McKinnon, Rantanen, Matthews, Hischier, Panarin

CCM has the large majority of super-duper stars but a lot of the 2nd tier stars and overall NHL wear Bauer. Check the poster above's link.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

You can ask this question with nearly an endless number of defunft brands and get a similar answer.



CCM has the large majority of super-duper stars but a lot of the 2nd tier stars and overall NHL wear Bauer. Check the poster above's link.

I remember when TPS was bought by sherwood and then the name disappeared. I don't even think the 'TPS' technology is even used by them anymore

 

[AintLifeGrand]

Geargeek has brand totals for NHL players for sticks, skates, gloves, helmets, and pants.

GearGeek: NHL Hockey Equipment Stats Database

Find out what gear is being used by your favorite NHL player, what are the most popular hockey brands and view stat breakdowns by equipment type and model.

www.geargeek.com

As of Nov 15, 2022:

Sticks: 39% Bauer, 37% CCM, 17% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood
Skates: 68% Bauer, 21% CCM, 10% True
Gloves: 38% Bauer, 36% CCM, 20% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood, <1% Easton
Pants: 45% Bauer, 44% CCM, 11% Warrior
Helmets: 49% CCM, 42% Bauer, 9% Warrior, <1% Easton

yoooo is Easton still kicking??


Also, no one rocking Tacklas anymore??

You can ask this question with nearly an endless number of defunft brands and get a similar answer.



CCM has the large majority of super-duper stars but a lot of the 2nd tier stars and overall NHL wear Bauer. Check the poster above's link.

Bauer is way cooler than CCM..

 

[ForsbergForever]

I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS

 

[Albatros]

You can add for example Montreal to Warrior (2008).

 

[Captain Charisma]

yoooo is Easton still kicking??

Funny enough, I'm rocking Easton Mako II skates right now. I used to be in the 2016 CCM Super Tacks, but they were just way too stiff for me and luckily found a pair of the Makos on Sidelineswap.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS

Wow, quite a bit of nostalgia in that list. Never really realized how many brands have disappeared.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS

It's probably nearly an infinite list of defunct brands you can list.....Christian, Franklin, Eagle, Daoust, Micron...etc. as well off the top of my head.

 

[ForsbergForever]

It's probably nearly an infinite list of defunct brands you can list.....Christian, Franklin, Eagle, Daoust, Micron...etc. as well off the top of my head.

Never heard of Daoust but thanks for jogging my memory on the other ones. Man, it does seem incredible that there were ever that many companies churning out hockey equipment all in competition with each other.

I'm sure there are other exclusively European brands like Torspo, that could be added to the list.

When you think about it, every major economic sector has seen a dramatic reduction in competition over the last few decades- banking, aerospace, automotive, tech companies...

 

[swoopster]

In the day I wore Lange and Mircon plastic, and Micron Mega's which Ray Borque wore

 

[canary]

I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS

This list makes it seem like Warrior was a start-up, but they indeed begun out of the ashes of Innovative. IIRC it was a buy and rebrand.

It's probably nearly an infinite list of defunct brands you can list.....Christian, Franklin, Eagle, Daoust, Micron...etc. as well off the top of my head.

Eagle was acquired by Vaughn. They are still making equipment, but it seems they operate on a direct-to-consumer model now. Glad that's the case, because they make (or used to make) some of the best gloves around. Still made in Canada.

 

[ChuckLefley]

It's probably nearly an infinite list of defunct brands you can list.....Christian, Franklin, Eagle, Daoust, Micron...etc. as well off the top of my head.

Christian is still making hockey sticks.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Christian is still making hockey sticks.

Mostly (if not exclusively?) wood, though. I'm honestly not sure who uses wood anymore except for Timbit level or maybe purely recreational street hockey/ODR type stuff.

After using exclusively wood for my entire life I finally bought my first cheap $50 CCM composite at Walmart a few years ago and I could not believe the difference... saucer passes, hitting corners, all that stuff I dreamed of suddenly became possible. I mean my shot still sucks, but at least it looks cool when the puck goes high and wide now haha

 

[Yukon Joe]

Mostly (if not exclusively?) wood, though. I'm honestly not sure who uses wood anymore except for Timbit level or maybe purely recreational street hockey/ODR type stuff.

I think that's about it. In coaching minor hockey I saw some timbit kids using wooden sticks - and I would recommend to parents just starting out to get a wooden stick with no curve for brand new hockey players.

But even in Timbits most kids have some kind of composite stick, and certainly U9/Novice and up I've never seen a single wooden stick. And for adult rec hockey, no matter the level, I've never seen a wooden stick. I used to bring a wooden stick as a back-up in case my regular twig broke, but I don't even bother doing that any more.

They are great for street hockey though - asphalt can tear up a composite blade in no time,

 

[jetsmooseice]

I think that's about it. In coaching minor hockey I saw some timbit kids using wooden sticks - and I would recommend to parents just starting out to get a wooden stick with no curve for brand new hockey players.

But even in Timbits most kids have some kind of composite stick, and certainly U9/Novice and up I've never seen a single wooden stick. And for adult rec hockey, no matter the level, I've never seen a wooden stick. I used to bring a wooden stick as a back-up in case my regular twig broke, but I don't even bother doing that any more.

They are great for street hockey though - asphalt can tear up a composite blade in no time,

I suppose the cost difference is not that vast, you can get a composite for starting around $50.

My kid used a wood stick in Timbits... I did not see a single kid who benefitted from having a composite at that level, even at U9 it was pretty questionable although I finally gave in once he reached that stage, haha.

Getting back to GRAF, I did notice huge piles of identical looking lightly used GRAF skates at my local Play it Again Sports. They didn't look that old, not sure where they came from but they are out there.

 

[ChuckLefley]

Mostly (if not exclusively?) wood, though. I'm honestly not sure who uses wood anymore except for Timbit level or maybe purely recreational street hockey/ODR type stuff.

After using exclusively wood for my entire life I finally bought my first cheap $50 CCM composite at Walmart a few years ago and I could not believe the difference... saucer passes, hitting corners, all that stuff I dreamed of suddenly became possible. I mean my shot still sucks, but at least it looks cool when the puck goes high and wide now haha

They have composite and wood sticks.