Worst Hockey Equipment Ever

[westcoastsniper 0]

"The machinery used to produce Northland

sticks was sold to Dale Kicker of Bending Branches Hockey Sticks formerly located at

1001 Stenson Blvd., Minneapolis, MN until their relocation to Osceola, WI in the

summer of 1994."

And those were the guys that made branches sticks, holy crap!

[Law Goalie 147]

Man, I used to love my Branches goalie sticks. I had a ton in a lovely clear-finish with revolting teal letters that made me look like a total clown with our Bruins colours, but my god, those were the lightest wood sticks I've ever held. They lasted about six hours total, but those were the best six hours possible. I just used my indestructible Christian full-sock Belfour in practise, and saved the Branches for games. I swear those things were made of balsa-wood. Great curves too.

[DarkStar50 679]

Yes, made by Northland, not under the Christian banner.

Dennis Potvin?

Denis Potvin was a Koho and Titan guy. The last NHLer to use a Northland stick was Jim Craig with his Northland goalie stick.

[DarkStar50 679]

Yes, made by Northland, not under the Christian banner.

Dennis Potvin?

Denis Potvin was a Koho and Titan guy.

The last NHLer to use Northland sticks was Jim Craig.

[xstartxtodayx 343]

I had a handful of Branches sticks back in high school, they sure were light and felt great, but as lawgolaie said, they didn't last all that long. I loved the way they looked though, I think even today it would look great and sell great.

[xstartxtodayx 343]

sorry for triple post... bad connection at work. please delete if possible, I can't find how to delete my post.

[xstartxtodayx 343]

sorry for triple post... bad connection at work. please delete if possible, I can't find how to delete my post.

[Law Goalie 147]

Yes, made by Northland, not under the Christian banner.

Dennis Potvin?

Denis Potvin was a Koho and Titan guy.

The last NHLer to use Northland sticks was Jim Craig.

Now there's a beauty!

[bobjr 0]

Didn't have one of the Northland lids, but did have an XL7 for a year. It was pretty awful. I remember buying it as a young kid and not being sure, but the salesman said it was the best (the Flyer players were using it)... did look a little "spacey" at the time. I had the matching cage which clipped in to the helmet without straps if IIRC. Thank god it didn't fit the next year.

Had cooperalls for a while too. There was another brand of girdle out there that was a competitor (made by CCM I think) that a few guys used to have. It had some catchy name, but cannot recall it.

Jr.

[Vishi05 0]

Can you imagine getting face washed by a guy wearing rainbow gloves? You almost have to fight him at that point to maintain your rep.

There is a guy playing in Corona in a low intermediate league that rocks pink gloves.

If you're wearing pink gloves you better be one hell of a player or people are going to taunt the shit out of you constantly.

[team50 20]

Yes, made by Northland, not under the Christian banner.

Dennis Potvin?

Denis Potvin was a Koho and Titan guy.

The last NHLer to use Northland sticks was Jim Craig.

Darkstar: I seem to recall that many of the Islanders from the late 70's and early 80's used Titan sticks. Am I misremembering?

My favourite all time road hockey sticks: Northland, Cooper, and a Mike Bossy Titan.

[The Chise 0]

Just an update on the helmet with the inflatable bladder- I believe it was the Nestor Johnson helmet- it was awful looking -Madt the Northland Mikita look good.

[westcoastsniper 0]

Man, I used to love my Branches goalie sticks. I had a ton in a lovely clear-finish with revolting teal letters that made me look like a total clown with our Bruins colours, but my god, those were the lightest wood sticks I've ever held. They lasted about six hours total, but those were the best six hours possible. I just used my indestructible Christian full-sock Belfour in practise, and saved the Branches for games. I swear those things were made of balsa-wood. Great curves too.

i too was bit by the branches bug, and yes balsa wood or paper mache would be its compositional material, but damn it flexed when you wanted it too, was stiff when you needed and blew in to a million pieces on breakaways at the end of the game, using that stick was like sucking all the NO2 (nitrous/laughing gas) out of whipped cream containers, you were bubbly and giggling for about five minutes then reduced to a soundless whelp by the end of it.

[DarkStar50 679]

Yes, made by Northland, not under the Christian banner.

Dennis Potvin?

Denis Potvin was a Koho and Titan guy.

The last NHLer to use Northland sticks was Jim Craig.

Darkstar: I seem to recall that many of the Islanders from the late 70's and early 80's used Titan sticks. Am I misremembering?

My favourite all time road hockey sticks: Northland, Cooper, and a Mike Bossy Titan.

Two stick brands were very prominent with the Islanders then. They were Koho and Titan. The USA Koho distribution center was on Long Island in the late 70s/80s. It was run by the Amendola family. Rennie A had a direct pipeline into the locker room with his Koho sticks, gloves, and even Billy Smith using Koho goalie gear. Koho was making a ton of custom pattern 221 sticks that were available to dealers. Potvin and Trottier were big users of Koho 221 sticks. Titan was Mike Bossy's stick of choice. He was always using the white Titan TPM 2020. Potvin eventually switched over to Titan. The Amendolas later lost Koho and picked up Vic. When you see other 80s pictures of Brian Trottier with Vic sticks and gloves this was due to his relationship with the Amendolas. Pro team access for brands was much different then.

[team50 20]

Yes, made by Northland, not under the Christian banner.

Dennis Potvin?

Denis Potvin was a Koho and Titan guy.

The last NHLer to use Northland sticks was Jim Craig.

Darkstar: I seem to recall that many of the Islanders from the late 70's and early 80's used Titan sticks. Am I misremembering?

My favourite all time road hockey sticks: Northland, Cooper, and a Mike Bossy Titan.

Two stick brands were very prominent with the Islanders then. They were Koho and Titan. The USA Koho distribution center was on Long Island in the late 70s/80s. It was run by the Amendola family. Rennie A had a direct pipeline into the locker room with his Koho sticks, gloves, and even Billy Smith using Koho goalie gear. Koho was making a ton of custom pattern 221 sticks that were available to dealers. Potvin and Trottier were big users of Koho 221 sticks. Titan was Mike Bossy's stick of choice. He was always using the white Titan TPM 2020. Potvin eventually switched over to Titan. The Amendolas later lost Koho and picked up Vic. When you see other 80s pictures of Brian Trottier with Vic sticks and gloves this was due to his relationship with the Amendolas. Pro team access for brands was much different then.

Thanks DS50. That's awesome information. The Islanders were one of my favourite teams growing up, but I never paid attention to their equipment choices. Now, later in life it's really interesting hearing stories like this.

Speaking of the worst equipment, how about Butch Goring's helmet?

[xstartxtodayx 343]

Two stick brands were very prominent with the Islanders then. They were Koho and Titan. The USA Koho distribution center was on Long Island in the late 70s/80s. It was run by the Amendola family. Rennie A had a direct pipeline into the locker room with his Koho sticks, gloves, and even Billy Smith using Koho goalie gear. Koho was making a ton of custom pattern 221 sticks that were available to dealers. Potvin and Trottier were big users of Koho 221 sticks. Titan was Mike Bossy's stick of choice. He was always using the white Titan TPM 2020. Potvin eventually switched over to Titan. The Amendolas later lost Koho and picked up Vic. When you see other 80s pictures of Brian Trottier with Vic sticks and gloves this was due to his relationship with the Amendolas. Pro team access for brands was much different then.

Hmm I'm going to guess that's the same Amendola family that now runs a very large fence comany with the same name. Interesting points and all make sense... Vic was still very prominent into the 90's with the Islanders, I still remember Turgeon and his 4050, I loved that stick... also Syosset Sports had a good amount of Vic pro stock gloves and what-not that I'd never seen anywhere else.

[DarkStar50 679]

Speaking of the worst equipment, how about Butch Goring's helmet?

This is what Butch Goring's helmet looked like before it was painted a thousand times.

That foam liner must have been real comfortable. Safer than EPP according to some.

It is amazing what you can find on ebay.

[team50 20]

You should work for the HHOF. Thanks for the memories.

[SirJW 207]

http://media.photobucket.com/image/butch%2...oringhelmet.jpg

[DarkStar50 679]

No problem, thanks for the correction! Butch must have the next generation of that Winnwell helmet I have, Winnwell 2.0.

[doogie24 0]

^holy shit... the Guy Germaine helmet!

edit: not quite, but close.

http://hfboards.com/image.php?u=26116&...line=1228769688

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Hmm I'm going to guess that's the same Amendola family that now runs a very large fence comany with the same name. Interesting points and all make sense... Vic was still very prominent into the 90's with the Islanders, I still remember Turgeon and his 4050, I loved that stick... also Syosset Sports had a good amount of Vic pro stock gloves and what-not that I'd never seen anywhere else.

If it is the same Amendola's as the fence company I went to HS with their son. He had a mid 90s fastball back then!!!

[psh 25]

Yes, made by Northland, not under the Christian banner.

Dennis Potvin?

Denis Potvin was a Koho and Titan guy.

The last NHLer to use Northland sticks was Jim Craig.

Darkstar: I seem to recall that many of the Islanders from the late 70's and early 80's used Titan sticks. Am I misremembering?

My favourite all time road hockey sticks: Northland, Cooper, and a Mike Bossy Titan.

I believe Gretzky also used that white and red Titan for a few years.

As far as horrible gear. How about the Graf sticks from the late 80s/early 90s. I think it was called the Europa. What a brittle piece of junk.

[camhockey16 5]

here's an old one

cooper sk10

[dw91 0]

Ugliest ever!!!

Got beaten to it a few hrs before LOL

While we're digging up OLD helmets, what about the bucket that Stan Makita wore?

Ive got my dads mikita helmet right next to my bag, i break it out for open hockey on special occasions :)