sanding the blade?

[raygunpk 0]

Saw this video that shows Letang and what he does to his sticks.

One question is why does he need to sand the top and bottom of the blade? I can't think of what that does..

Also, why do NHL players need to cut their sticks? Don't they come custom length for them? And wouldn't that screw up the flex/lie?

[interpathway 9]

He said it was a personalized touch (referring to the sanding), my only guess is that it might help his tape adhere to the stick better? Considering of course that they don't really worry about getting their blades water logged (sanding off the varnish likely makes it more susceptible to this). And I think most NHLers like to cut their own sticks. They surely have already factored in how much flex they are going to be cutting off when they order them, and heck, working on sticks is just plain fun.

[McDougalfaschnitzer 32]

Personal preference mostly. He does it because he likes to, and he probably has done it for a while. He only had to cut off a little bit, but some guys cut off a lot to put in a wooden plug.