Heating up a stick

[JAG 20]

I was watching the NHL Road to the Cup that is on Showtime, and in one of the shots it shows Brent Burns taking a blow-torch to the TOP of the shaft... just under where he tapes  the stick for where his hand goes.  I have never seen anyone do that before.  I've seen players heat the blade, but never the top of the shaft.  What is the reason for this? What is changing on the stick when he heats it up? Stickiness? Making it more tacky maybe?

[OzziesDad 89]

Inserting a plug?

[JAG 20]

17 minutes ago, OzziesDad said:

Inserting a plug?

Nah, it was too far down for that.  The top of the stick was taped, and he was heating the area just below where he taped it.  

[puckpilot 312]

2 hours ago, JAG said:

Nah, it was too far down for that.  The top of the stick was taped, and he was heating the area just below where he taped it.  

If it was Joe Thornton doing this, I'd say he was creating a stroke point. :p  But if I were to take an uninformed guess, maybe it weakens the shaft a little making it easier to flex the way he likes. 

[HarpGuy 12]

Is that the secret to his ridiculous shots? It must be nice to get 100-200 of the best free sticks a year.