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The Man-Cave, taking a Prozac the size of a VW Beetle • United States • 42 Years Old • Male
BluesFan44 BF_44
Anyone watch the Ottawa/Pittsburgh game today? Pittsburgh scored a goal (not an important one -- just the game-winner) off the transition -- that was created when Daniel Alfredsson missed a glorious scoring chance. Why?

His piece-of-you-know-what stick broke.

I don't know how many scoring chances for are missed, and how many scoring chances against are created by seeing one of these glorified pieces of dried spaghetti fail at the most inopportune moments. And who is to blame? Then manufacturers? Hardly....

The Players.

Shame on these guys for going into battle with a piece of equipment that can fail them at a moment's notice. And please -- don't give me that "extra 2mph on my shot" stuff. It doesn't do you any good when you have to toss it to the corner and play the rest of your shift empty-handed. You're doing your team a disservice.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't brush my teeth with one of those things...
Filed Under:   equipment   NHL  
April 14, 2007 9:07 PM ET | Delete
Blues I totally agree. So does Sheldon Souray. Guess what kind of stick he was using last year? Yup. This year he changed back to a wood stick and has a career year. Scratch that. He broke a friggin record for goals by a defenseman!
April 14, 2007 9:12 PM ET | Delete
I think wooden sticks should be mandatory in the exact same way MLB requires wooden bats....
April 14, 2007 9:29 PM ET | Delete
The only reason the MLB requires wooden bats is because they're afraid Jose Conseco will find a way to use an aluminum bat to inject steroids.
April 14, 2007 10:49 PM ET | Delete
What about all the trees we kill with wood sticks?I like the composite sticks. Mine, of course I am not an NHL player, has lasted me a whole year. Hopefully it will continue to hold up. For me the lightness of the composite stick is what made the most difference in my game. Especially when I am tired in a long shift that stick is not as heavy as the wood one I use when I play D.
April 15, 2007 12:31 AM ET | Delete
I have seen many a composite stick break in key situations, and boy is it ever frustrating to watch! I can only imagine being a player with a fabulous scoring chance, only to have my expensive stick break at the most inopportune time. They need to either go back to wooden sticks or find someone who will actually make a decent composite stick than can withstand the rigors of an NHL game...'cause you know, accepting a weak pass sure is hard on a stick!
April 15, 2007 12:41 AM ET | Delete
Wooden sticks break too...did everybody forget that? Guys would use wooden sticks if they were more reliable and lasted longer, wouldn't they? Is someone FORCING Alfreddsson to use a composite stick? You know, the chances are that his stick was broken BEFORE he tried to take that shot. Just like a wooden stick, you can have a crack (that you are not aware of) that causes the stick to break when you try to shoot. It was just abad break...but it could have happened with ANY kind of stick.
April 15, 2007 12:44 AM ET | Delete
BTW...MLB requires wooden bats so that players don't die from line drives...
April 15, 2007 1:45 AM ET | Delete
While it is true that wooden sticks do break, it seems that ever since composite sticks started becoming the norm, a LOT more sticks have been breaking in games. I don't remember anywhere near the amount of sticks breaking back in the day as they do now. Maybe they should just make hockey sticks out of bamboo :P
April 15, 2007 10:08 AM ET | Delete
icedog, I agree to a point -- I've seen wooden sticks break. Usually taking a big slapper. But I've seen composites break sending passes, receiving passes, taking wrist shots, being sneezed at, being looked at improperly and being taunted....(Any SNL fans remember the "Happy Fun Ball" skit? Same thing...)
April 15, 2007 12:23 PM ET | Delete
Markus Naslund scored record goals for the Canucks with a wooden stick and still uses one.I have both, and obviously my shot is not hard enough to ever break one, but I do prefer my composite right now because of the weight.However, I don't think wooden sticks will ever be back in vogue, especially as the composite manufacturers continue to work on making them more durable.
April 15, 2007 5:17 PM ET | Delete
ruutu -- if the manufacturers can make them more reliable, I'm all for it.
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