The pre-curved era was distinct because the flat blades made a number of contemporary commonalities difficult. For instance, the snap shot as we know it was drastically different. In the pre-curved era, the snap shot was almost exclusively a half-slapshot, with the stick coming back to about knee height before coming forward to strike the puck. Today, this approach constitutes one kind of snap shot, though a more popular version involves a drag-and-snap that can fake to a dribble more easily and can mask the player's shot direction.
The difference in power of the two types of shot might have been negligible in the wood-stick era, but with the flex of contemporary sticks the drag-and-snap nearly maximizes the power potential of the flex.
The drag-and-snap would have been considerably harder with the flat blade because the curvature keeps the shooter from spraying wide, thus their shots frequently came from closer to the heel of the blade and without the type of shot that would fly off the open end. The curve is sometimes attributed to influencing goaltenders to switch to masks ; that might be a little bit of a stretch, as Jacques Plante started wearing his mask as had Terry Sawchuk, Gerry Cheevers well before the curve became commonplace, and sticks themselves were just as dangerous as pucks, but that doesn't negate a different general shift.
The curve helps to "grab" the puck during a wrist or snap shot, and thus gives it easier lift as the player's follow-through raises off the ice. This makes it far easier, sometimes without even trying, to get a shot off the ice.
Top-shelf, saucer pass, off the glass An overwhelming majority of the pre-curve games were played from the knees down, and a great number of the higher shots were from the backhand. So I guess you could say that while I'm skeptical that the curve was the spark for the shift to goaltender masks, it certainly caps shades helped thaw the ice. Some like wedge curves, where the bottom edge of the blade is forward of the top edge, making pucks easier to lift.
New York Rangers star Andy Bathgate claimed he was curving sticks as youngster in the s, and Mikita knew it. Mikita denied the story. Hall of Famer Bert Olmstead said he was bending blades in the s. Then there was Cy Denneny of the Ottawa Senators, who according to some accounts was bending sticks in But, his unpredictable, occasionally knuckling shots put other players off the idea, which was forgotten for years.
Additional Information Home 2 Sticks Giveaway! Players dazzle us each night with their skill. At the center of it, the composite stick can take a bow if not full credit for the nightly highlight reel.
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Shop Team Store. Seattle News. Sticking to the Story. Sticking to the Story The origin of ice hockey sticks clearly dates to Nova Scotia circa the s, but which NHL player invented the curved blade?
This reduces the accuracy of a shot and limits the amount of power you can use when shooting the puck. This allows you to focus more on power and good stick movement when taking a shot, rather than having to worry about accuracy so much.
The aluminum shaft made the stick lighter, easier to handle, and even more durable. Stick designs evolved from using aluminum to more composite material. A composite material is made from a bunch of different materials that, when combined, have desirable properties that none of the ingredient materials can achieve on their own. Many modern hockey sticks are made with any combination of:. And there you have it!
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