Reflection on pro player's patterns.

[Hidious 0]

I've always been very interested by professional player's curve and this site has provided me with some very interesting pictures. Interesting but surprising too. Surprising because the majority of those curves where very "weird" to me (Not sure weird is the word i'm looking for here). You have to admit pro players use patterns that are usually pretty far from what the amateur hockey player is used to.

I'm asking myself: at what point in a player's career does he try and discover those unique patterns? Elite Midget? Junior? After a couple of NHL seasons? And how does it happen? A player asks a company to make a specific pattern? I assume you already have to be pretty good to request your own curve.

By "those" curve, i mean curves like Shaffer, Prospal, Leclair, Spezza, etc. i guess you know which curves i mean.

I know Crosby, for example, grew up with an almost straight blade and kept it for the rest of his career but growing up with those kind of curves sounds impossible to me.

[Rustpot 1]

Pros all grew up using wood, a very customizable medium. Those older sticks didn't have a lot of fiberglass and wrap, so tweaking the curve was only a blowtorch away. My dad's sticks have a really weird pattern from when he played in college.

He'd get Canadian or Northlands, saw the toe down a bit, open the face, round the bottom of the toe and give it a really gentle curve that I haven't seen anything similar to in today's sticks. Not sure how lie was done back then, but he had a "master" stick that he got perfect then never touched to have a template. He recently threw out all of his old sticks though, they were all ratty from being in the damp basement and tossed around with the spare lumber for 30 years.

I used a few when I was a kid, despite him shooting lefty and me righty, they were still pretty straight and I had a hell of a backhand. Talk about a boxy shaft though, I doubt they had anything but a light sand and paint stamp after seeing the saws at the mill.

Edit 2- I really wish I could get straight sticks. I wish I was to be able to do work from scratch on the rocker, lie, shape and curve of my stick before settling on something. That's why younger pros use stock curves, they only had SherWood 9950 and similar jazz, all covered in fiberglass that won't take a bend very easily, or won't be up to game spec if you do change a lot.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

It's all about experimentation and trying to match the pattern to your strengths. For instance, I naturally shoot high, so my pattern is closed (and I still tweak it by closing it even further.

[Chadd 916]

Now that guys are growing up using composite blades, you're going to see fewer oddball curves.

[Rustyhole 1]

That's one thing that's mystified me about curves...

Everyone says that using a straight blade is how to learn and better for many situations (backhands etc,) and yet...

not one stick manufacturer makes an adult straight blade available (either OPS or blade)? :(

Yes there are close ones, but even a PM9/P4 has a decent curve to them.

Yes, experimentation is all good but a base line or staring point would be nice. How hard can making a straight blade be? Surely some would buy them...

[jimmy 194]

You can get straight blades from Sherwood, no problem. Just ask your LHS to order them.

[Ti-girl 0]

Pros all grew up using wood, a very customizable medium. Those older sticks didn't have a lot of fiberglass and wrap, so tweaking the curve was only a blowtorch away. My dad's sticks have a really weird pattern from when he played in college.

He'd get Canadian or Northlands, saw the toe down a bit, open the face, round the bottom of the toe and give it a really gentle curve that I haven't seen anything similar to in today's sticks. Not sure how lie was done back then, but he had a "master" stick that he got perfect then never touched to have a template. He recently threw out all of his old sticks though, they were all ratty from being in the damp basement and tossed around with the spare lumber for 30 years.

I used a few when I was a kid, despite him shooting lefty and me righty, they were still pretty straight and I had a hell of a backhand. Talk about a boxy shaft though, I doubt they had anything but a light sand and paint stamp after seeing the saws at the mill.

Edit 2- I really wish I could get straight sticks. I wish I was to be able to do work from scratch on the rocker, lie, shape and curve of my stick before settling on something. That's why younger pros use stock curves, they only had SherWood 9950 and similar jazz, all covered in fiberglass that won't take a bend very easily, or won't be up to game spec if you do change a lot.

MY dad did the same thing when he played CIS. I'm considering going to a two piece with a wood blade so I can mess around a bit with the curve.

Dad was a heavy shooting too small for Jrs defenseman. Great curve on his stick, I might copy it and see how it works.

[burrn 0]

i might be mistaken, but i thought i heard that bauer can make "made-to-order" curves if you ask them (you have to order more than two dozen though)

...something like that.

[Rustpot 1]

i might be mistaken, but i thought i heard that bauer can make "made-to-order" curves if you ask them (you have to order more than two dozen though)

...something like that.

Sure, you buy the first 23 and I'll get one. Sherwood and Christian make custom wood blades, but there's a minimum order of 6 and a pattern setup fee.

I was in contact with Christian about this before. I wanted some blades that would be unfinished and taken off before a lot of work was done to them. The guy I talked to was willing, but told me that a blank blade is more like a chunk of wood, and all the lie, shape and curve is done together so there'd need to be a straight pattern programmed. He also told me the fiberglass they use can take a curve to the wood a lot easier than most others. He didn't seem too receptive to not adding the fiberglass at all.

In 15 years, every stick in the NHL will be the Sakic, Lidstrom, Forsberg, etc etc.

[BigDipper 0]

Actually the technology in making composite sticks is far better than several years ago. Making a mold for a blade is easy and not overly time consuming. Problem is player's cant exactly tweak a one piece in fear of breaking the damn thing. I'm a firm believe in wood blades. Always have and always will. Kids that I have coached..I've torched thier one piece blades before and never had a problem. It's a touchy gentle process but I've had nothing but success with it.

[Hidious 0]

Well i see the answer was pretty simple, i never even thought about wood beeing customizable. Still, i can't understand how some of these players could, at one point, consider using those weird patterns. I mean, the LeClair, Schaefer and even Prospal are just unbelievable.

[Law Goalie 147]

Heh, I still remember seeing pictures of the Hull brothers and Stan Mikita warping their blades under door jams.

That's another oddity - those guys loved whippy shafts and blades, and now the trend is for rigid blades even with a whippy shaft.

I can't remember who said it, but Shaefer's looks like a demented gardening tool.

[alexei_8 0]

That's one thing that's mystified me about curves...

Everyone says that using a straight blade is how to learn and better for many situations (backhands etc,) and yet...

not one stick manufacturer makes an adult straight blade available (either OPS or blade)? :(

Yes there are close ones, but even a PM9/P4 has a decent curve to them.

Yes, experimentation is all good but a base line or staring point would be nice. How hard can making a straight blade be? Surely some would buy them...

I would! I love straight-ish curves. There are sticks out there that I would love to try, but it always the curves that stop me. If you like composite, you're just SOL. I hate that manufacturers stay with the Easton type curves. It may make sense from a business standpoint, but it still sucks. It's because of this that I may go back to wood.

[thejackal 46]

Even though they are unbelievable, the most successful was Brett Hull.

Well i see the answer was pretty simple, i never even thought about wood beeing customizable. Still, i can't understand how some of these players could, at one point, consider using those weird patterns. I mean, the LeClair, Schaefer and even Prospal are just unbelievable.

brett hull's curve would probably look like a fairly normal illegal big curve if not for the shaved toe, not unlike what his dad used.

[TBLfan 25]

Hull's pro curve is sweet... if it wasn't for the toe. *sigh*

Same goes for speeza.

[flyerman 0]

I play hockey with a lot of guys who work in the aerospace industry and hence deal with different types of composite resins and other synthetic materials. I am no engineer, but I am telling you -- the person who develops a heat-moldable composite/metal compound for hockey blades (one that retains it's strength and resiliency after being heated and curved to the player's desire) is going to make millions! Then maybe everybody will be experimenting again like they did back in the day with the woodies.

[bekster 0]

Yeah that would be so great! A few straight blades with different lies and toe shapes that you can heat up in your LHS "blade-oven" then curve it to your liking and let it cool down. Try it out the next practice - not enough shovel - back to your LHSs "blade-oven"! Or you can try it with your own convection oven cause Epuck has a step-by-step guide how to do it :D

the person who develops a heat-moldable composite/metal compound for hockey blades (one that retains it's strength and resiliency after being heated and curved to the player's desire) is going to make millions! Then maybe everybody will be experimenting again like they did back in the day with the woodies.

[Slapsht25 0]

Hull's pro curve is sweet... if it wasn't for the toe. *sigh*

Same goes for speeza.

curve is sweet but the shaft on the true 1 I have is just a little too whippy fopr my likes