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It's very interesting how Warrior got into a position to do this. A few years back, there were a lot of people in the industry who wondered how they were still around. But they've put out a lot of good product, have good relationships with the major dealers (until a couple of years ago, one of them would barely touch them), strong at pro, and have the best social media in the industry.

2 things that get me excited about getting new sticks: Finding classic / old-school / obscure sticks on the market Trying new, unusual, or rare patterns But yeah, the appeal of collecting sticks for its own sake has worn off, I will admit.

I got annoyed by all the dubious marketing hype and improvements that are essentially “but this one goes to 11.” But, even if I’m disenchanted by the marketplace, I still like staying on top of things and being aware of what’s available. I enjoy the minutia of this site and knowing what’s new and sexy, even if I personally don’t want to buy it Also, I’m at a point in life and hockey where I’m pretty happy and content in a good way. I think when I’m not in a good place mentally, I tend to “chase” and fetishize material things, which ultimately buying don’t make me all that happy anyway. We’ve all seen guys on here who obsess over a particular thing- “what if I switch from a p88 to a p92 and cut the length by 1/4” and go up 5 in flex, will I be better at taking off camber snapshots from the wing?” Nothing is gonna make that person happy (or better). There’s a certain zen to just giving up and having fun playing with your $100 stick and 5 year old skates, and not needing the latest and greatest.

Life is too short to spend your free time and discretionary income on something that you aren't enjoying. Take time away and if you get the itch then find somewhere else to play other than where it wasn't fun anymore. Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

They've been the official equipment provider for the SPHL as long as I've been a fan and other than the Covert twigs snapping at their kick points constantly, I haven't heard any complaints from anyone but players really only use their sticks, helmets, gloves and pants. I don't know if many players use their protective and obviously they don't make skates so you see everyone with Bauer, CCM, or True. My understanding with the AHL and ECHL is that any player on a two-way contract can use whatever gear they want and only guys directly signed by the minor teams are obligated to use CCM (now Warrior). I was at a couple Calder Cup games last year and most of the top prospects for the Stars & Marlies weren't using CCM gear.

I doubt his personal preference is in the article.

Back when I reffed I would sometimes point at the offending player with my unraised arm until I had a good handle on who the penalty was going to be on. When I blew the whistle I would full stop, definitely point at the offending player and with a loud voice call out player number, jersey color and infraction with appropriate hand signal.

A lot of danglers used to use skinny heel blades (see M. Lemieux, D. Savard, Zhamnov, Kovalev, Viktor Kozlov, even young Datsyuk) which has me wondering if some perceived a difference in puck feel back when sticks or at least blades were wood. The physics of sticks has changed drastically since their time, though. I think when Datsyuk switched from his teardrop blade profile to a goalie blade profile and still managed to dangle the world’s best while reaping the defensive and puck challenge benefits, other players started to try it out with their own patterns. The night and day switch in stick materials and engineering that happened at the same time, or perhaps rather that Datsyuk was the first to prominently exploit, enabled the best of both worlds (good feel and lots of blade face for winning pucks) that max height blades can offer. Having said that, I’ve never had as much success intercepting passes as I have when I’ve played with Kovalev or Leino Pro patterns. They have skinny heels, but the max length seems to catch people off guard. Just my armchair theory on the historical change from skinny to fat heel blades.

Any word on the ultrastop material coming to retail, such as through the MSH Pro Shop? I'd still love to get them on my Makos!