Roustan Capital Acquires Torspo and Christian

[shooter27 116]

Interesting

https://www.pehub.com/canada/2017/5/3451882/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[EBondo 232]

If not confusing at the least. Hmmm. Found myself reading this with one eye raised the entire time.

[AIREAYE 248]

Sounds like a pet project...

[UCMnumber8 32]

It's the weirdest thing, I was sitting at my desk at work today, and the thought crossed my mind: "Does Torspo even still exist or make hockey equipment?" I get on MSH, and see this article about them being sold off. Guess they are still around to some degree after all.

 

I guess it's just weird that I thought about the brand, considering I haven't used their equipment since high school. I had an old pair of Torspo gloves (can't remember the exact model.) They weren't the worst gloves in the world, so I suppose they had that going for them.

[GoalForFun 169]

Not sure if the guy actually watched the guys he says he did growing up or if that was press release fluff.

[clarkiestooth 235]

We used Christian sticks in college back in the early 1980's.  I think the shafts were from a solid piece of wood. Depending on the kind of life the tree lived, you would get anywhere from what felt like a steel beam to a rubber band (probably a 115 flex to a 50flex by today's standard), and some were twice as heavy as the next. I remember going into the stick room, and having to flex every stick to find the good ones (and if you found a really good one, hide it for games). I think some of you young guys on here would laugh if you got your hands on one of these twigs.

[colins 246]

 

Christian were early players in the aluminum shaft game too, right behind Easton. They had white, red and blue aluminum shafts which were popular back in the late 80's. I remember they would flex and bend and wouldn't return back to their original shape, you'd have to then take the blade out and flip it the other way to get the semi-permanent bend back out of the shaft.

 

They looked cool though :-)

 

 

[the_game 452]

I remember some guy named Jagr using Christian sticks and everyone wanting to use those sticks to be just like him....wonder whatever happened to that guy, ha. I guess Bending Branches wasn't for sale or else this guy would've snatched up that brand too.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

50 minutes ago, colins said:

Christian were early players in the aluminum shaft game too, right behind before Easton.

Fixed that for you.

Easton OEMd them for Christian first.

[Cavs019 702]

Just now, JR Boucicaut said:

Fixed that for you.

Easton OEMd them for Christian first.

You need to write a book on the history of the industry amigo...

[xstartxtodayx 340]

1 hour ago, clarkiestooth said:

We used Christian sticks in college back in the early 1980's.  I think the shafts were from a solid piece of wood. Depending on the kind of life the tree lived, you would get anywhere from what felt like a steel beam to a rubber band (probably a 115 flex to a 50flex by today's standard), and some were twice as heavy as the next. I remember going into the stick room, and having to flex every stick to find the good ones (and if you found a really good one, hide it for games). I think some of you young guys on here would laugh if you got your hands on one of these twigs.

haha yes I remember this, needing to test every copy of the same stick since they all felt different.  Later on I was a huge fan of their blades in my aluminum shafts, there was a heal curve with a squared toe I remember using a lot.

 

45 minutes ago, the_game said:

I remember some guy named Jagr using Christian sticks and everyone wanting to use those sticks to be just like him....wonder whatever happened to that guy, ha. I guess Bending Branches wasn't for sale or else this guy would've snatched up that brand too.

Bending Branches... the whippiest wooden stick I ever used haha.

[kyleo29 58]

A few years back I bought a torspo 421 stick for pond hockey. Not the worst stick I've ever used

[flip12 698]

6 minutes ago, xstartxtodayx said:

haha yes I remember this, needing to test every copy of the same stick since they all felt different.  Later on I was a huge fan of their blades in my aluminum shafts, there was a heal curve with a squared toe I remember using a lot.

 

Bending Branches... the whippiest wooden stick I ever used haha.

Christians were the only wood blades I ever liked.

[GoalForFun 169]

8 hours ago, Cavs019 said:

You need to write a book on the history of the industry amigo...

This. I would love to read a chapter on "true-one-piece construction vs. fused one-piece" and the variations in manufacturing methods between the companies.

[Monty22 821]

Here's some Christian PuckMaster SlapSock diamond design Hartford Whalers blades (and a Branches one for the_game)  to complete this walk down memory lane.   My first stick was a Christian, used their blades and aluminum sticks for a long time.  Curious to see what they end up doing with the name. 

 

[asgoodasdead 74]

man, those are sweet

[yrhmblnr8r 69]

I like the classics, too. 

 

 

[the_game 452]

I think I might have some Christian blades too buried in my parents garage somewhere.

gotta love the Christian brand in the 90's, I know I mentioned jagr, but gotta add Hull and Fedorov too. From a pure nostalgia perspective if they start making wood sticks again I'm definitely buying one.

[yrhmblnr8r 69]

36 minutes ago, the_game said:

I think I might have some Christian blades too buried in my parents garage somewhere.

gotta love the Christian brand in the 90's, I know I mentioned jagr, but gotta add Hull and Fedorov too. From a pure nostalgia perspective if they start making wood sticks again I'm definitely buying one.

I'd be happy with a diamond pattern on a high end composite blade. Pattern for nostalgia, blade for performance. 

[joshy207 15]

13 hours ago, the_game said:

I remember some guy named Jagr using Christian sticks and everyone wanting to use those sticks to be just like him....wonder whatever happened to that guy, ha. I guess Bending Branches wasn't for sale or else this guy would've snatched up that brand too.

Bending Branches is still around, they make paddles for canoes and kayaks.  I used to love their sticks...

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

8 hours ago, joshy207 said:

Bending Branches is still around, they make paddles for canoes and kayaks.  I used to love their sticks...

Right, hockey sticks were essentially a side project for them.

[AronB 4]

Bending Branches history I just found

http://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/807216-bending-branches-hockey-sticks

[Monty22 821]

27 minutes ago, AronB said:

Branches history I just found

http://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/807216-bending-branches-hockey-sticks

Cool find. That was a good read. 

[AronB 4]

59 minutes ago, Monty22 said:

Cool find. That was a good read. 

Thanks...and thank you for posting those pictures ... brings back good memories reading the names on those blades.

[hawkeyfan 36]

wow...I thought that Total Hockey had aquired the christian brand, since they where the only outlet of late selling their sticks.  EddieBelfour was one of the last I can recall to use Christian Sticks...although he may had switched when he had a deal with Cooper.

For those reading the Hockey MN site...they have a page on Christian sticks as well...And the Boa /Eleven 11 hockey off-shoots did not last...although I did look at them for wood blades a few years back