Where Do I find the weight of sticks in the previous years

[sp6ix]

Is there any sort of graph or just plain information that lists the average weight of NHL player sticks over the past few years?

People have been saying that sticks have gotten lighter, but it would be nice to see some quantitative data.

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[Brodeur]

Might be tough to get exact numbers since players will have varying stick lengths. Typically the manufacturer will release a ballpark weight based on one particular curve.

In particular, Ice Warehouse lists out the approximate weight for each stick. For example, here's their page for Bauer Vapor APX2: http://www.icewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=AX2S

Offhand, I don't think sticks have gotten that much lighter in the past 10 years or so. The Easton Stealth circa 2005 was listed at 395 grams. Most of the high end offerings now will be between 400-440 grams.

 

[sp6ix]

If not the past decade, is there anywhere that lists the weight of hockey sticks changing over any time period at all?

 

[Brodeur]

The Sherwood 5030 used to be the standard for wood sticks. It has enough of a following that it's still produced today: http://www.icewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=SW534

It's listed at 663 grams.

If you can find it, it might be interesting to see how much an aluminum shaft weighs (late 80s/early 90s?). At least when I was young, all the cool kids wanted an aluminum shaft because Gretzky was using it. A few of my friends still have them and they are heavy.

Easton then went to a graphite shaft in the mid-90s. My cousin (amongst others) still religiously use the Easton Ultra-Lite shaft which clocked in at 290-300 grams depending on the model. I'm not 100% sure how heavy blades were back then. High end blades nowadays are somewhere around 150 grams? So I'd guess that the mid-90s blades would be a little bit heavier. In total, a guy like Kariya might have been using a shaft+blade that was in the neighborhood of 500 grams?

The Easton Synergy came around 2001? While it was a one piece stick, early models were really a tapered shaft+blade combo that was cosmetically altered to look like a one piece stick. I want to say the early models were 450-460 grams.

 

[sfan]

A fancy stat I'd be curious to know is broken stick corsi.

 

[sp6ix]

The Sherwood 5030 used to be the standard for wood sticks. It has enough of a following that it's still produced today: http://www.icewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=SW534

It's listed at 663 grams.

If you can find it, it might be interesting to see how much an aluminum shaft weighs (late 80s/early 90s?). At least when I was young, all the cool kids wanted an aluminum shaft because Gretzky was using it. A few of my friends still have them and they are heavy.

Easton then went to a graphite shaft in the mid-90s. My cousin (amongst others) still religiously use the Easton Ultra-Lite shaft which clocked in at 290-300 grams depending on the model. I'm not 100% sure how heavy blades were back then. High end blades nowadays are somewhere around 150 grams? So I'd guess that the mid-90s blades would be a little bit heavier. In total, a guy like Kariya might have been using a shaft+blade that was in the neighborhood of 500 grams?

The Easton Synergy came around 2001? While it was a one piece stick, early models were really a tapered shaft+blade combo that was cosmetically altered to look like a one piece stick. I want to say the early models were 450-460 grams.

Thanks to everyone for the solid advice.

So in the 80s, aluminum sticks were primarily used.
What stick was primarily used in the 90s?
Was the Sherwood 5030 stick the main one in the 2000s?

If not, can anyone give me alist of the most famous types of sticks for each decade from the 70s onwards?

Thanks

 

[Brodeur]

Gretzky switched to aluminum around 1990, but it wasn't really common yet. Here's an article: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900722&slug=1083459

Gretzky's decision will have a major effect on the hockey-stick industry. He is by far hockey's most recognizable and most emulated player. His switch to an aluminum stick will give the sticks a credibility they have always lacked, even though they have been used for years by quality players, including Gary Suter of the Calgary Flames, Brad McCrimmon of the Detroit Red Wings and Mark Howe of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Last season, when Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues led the National Hockey League in goals with 72, few people noticed that he was using an aluminum stick.

Here's a pic of Paul Kariya circa 1995 using an Easton Ultra Lite graphite shaft. Kariya didn't convert to using a one piece until very late in his career. Easton would make him custom Ultra Lite shafts for a few years after they stopped making retail versions. Aluminum shafts started to get phased out for the lighter graphite/kevlar/carbon fiber ones.

I'd have to guess that the Easton Synergy came in around 2001-02? After that each of the brands started focusing on one piece sticks rather than shaft/blade combos.

I could be wrong, but I'd approximate it as:

1990-95: majority wood, some aluminum
96-00: slight majority composite shafts over wood
01-04: majority one piece over shaft/blade, very few using wood
05-present: almost everybody using one piece

The Sherwood 5030 was just an approximation for the weight of a wood stick since so few are in production nowadays.

 

[sp6ix]

So Aluminum shafts came in around the late 80s, early 90s. Can anyone tell me the weight of Gretzky's HXP 5100 ?

I can't seem to find it online. Im talking about the weight of the actual stick

 

[cptjeff]

The Sherwood 5030 was just an approximation for the weight of a wood stick since so few are in production nowadays.

The 5030 was also about the lightest wood stick on the market IIRC, part of what made it so popular.

OP, you may want to ask the folks over at Modsquad Hockey. If anyone has an answer for you, they would.