[evo_9]

It's been crazy watching the evolution of hockey sticks from wood to aluminum shafts, then to carbon-fiber. The prices have steadily skyrocketed, but it's hard to deny the incredible effects of just these material design changes. There are of course trade-offs, most notable being the tendency of these new carbon fiber sticks breaking without much warning, or apparent wear. The speed at which the shot comes off the stick now is pretty mind-boggling, too, which makes it easy for me to justify 300+ for a stick. They tend to either break soon, or last a lot longer than old style wood sticks, or aluminum + wood blades, etc.

I'm eager to try out one of these new designs myself but the pricing is just absurd for a beer league even if I'm playing in the top non-pro league in Colorado, and one of the teams I play against is all retired well known pros.

Like anything it'll come down as the process is refined and likely this approach is adopted from top-to-bottom. Excited to try one out for sure!

[me_me_me]

> new carbon fiber sticks breaking without much warning

I think it was an F1 article when I was reading about it, apparently carbon fiber creates a lot of small particles that when inhaled get lodged in your lungs akin to crushed asbestos .

I wonder if this is something to worry about.

In F1 the body of a bolid would literally disintegrate on impact (thus absorbing a lot of energy) so that is a lot of shattered carbon fiber in comparison to a part of a hockey stick.

[nix23]

>I think it was an F1 article when I was reading about it, apparently carbon fiber creates

Just when in contact with fire, but you are absolutely correct.

[throwaway894345]

> steadily skyrocketed

Missed opportunity to talk about “hockey stick growth”

[cuddlybacon]

I was in youth league hockey as carbon fiber sticks went from unheard of to ubiquitous. Carbon sticks failed in a spectacular way, but wood stills would also fail. They wouldn't break in two during a slapshot, but they would generally split along the bottom of the blade. If refs noticed it, you could get a penalty.

By the time my parents caved in and bought a wood stick, I was at the point of consuming one new stick nearly every time I was on the ice. At that point, the higher upfront cost ended up being worth it.

[HenryBemis]

Silky scenarios and question (not a hockey watcher): my stick gets damaged and becomes unsafe. I drop it in the ground. The damaged stick is on the ground (as per people's comments below - until there is a break - what happens to me? I just skate around aimlessly, or I can go grab another stick and continue playing?

[ohashi]

Yes to both. If you're on defense generally you stay stickless and cover a guy at the point (blueline, furthest from the goal). If you're a defensemen and lose your stick a forward generally gives you theirs because you're more important and they play the stickless role covering lesser threats further away.

If you're not on defense, you skate to the bench and grab a new stick or jump off and another player with a stick jumps on.

Or, same player linked in article, Evgeny Kuznetsov, finds an opponent's stick caught in glass and takes it and plays with it (also happens to be a penalty, but a hilarious one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgYUdIDyNXg

[dave_aiello]

ohashi is correct.

I would add that what you as a player do after you drop a broken stick depends upon where you are and in what direction you are skating on the ice, where the puck is, and which team has possession of the puck.

If you are in the offensive zone and your stick breaks, you drop it out of the way of the play so your team's offense is not disrupted. If your team has the puck, you retreat to your bench where an equipment manager hands you your replacement stick which he got because he saw you broke yours a few seconds ago.

If your team lost the puck in the offensive zone as a result of a shot where your stick broke, you drop your stick in a way most likely to disrupt the other team, and you start playing defense without a stick until you can get back to the bench for a new stick, or until a player who can more easily get to the bench hands his to you.

If your stick breaks in the defensive zone, you are more likely to just start playing defense without a stick.

If a goaltender loses or breaks his stick, everyone in organized hockey has been taught to offer their stick to the goalie. Some goalies want any stick. Other goalies will play without a stick until his/her stick can be retrieved or until a stoppage of play.

In most sets of hockey rules, the goaltender is the only player who is allowed to continue playing with a broken stick.

[cperciva]

If refs noticed it, you could get a penalty.

I'm curious, what penalty gets called here? I wasn't aware there was a "your equipment fell apart" penalty.

[jamestenglish]

https://www.usahockeyrulebook.com/page/show/1084649-rule-605...

The penalty here isn't because your equipment fell apart, it is if you keep playing with broken equipment then that is a penalty. If your stick breaks and you drop it on the ice then you are fine.

Broken sticks are sharp so playing with one is a safety hazard.

[evanspa]

I think it's just called the "broken stick" rule. Specifically, if you break your stick, you HAVE to drop it on the ice immediately and be done with it. If you even skate back to the bench holding it, you can get called for a penalty.

[BrandoElFollito]

Isn't the stick on the ice a hazard as well?

I have seen maybe a total of 15 minutes of hokey in my life so sorry if the question is dumb, but I would expect that there is a risk to stumble upon the stick?

In volleyball, if a ball rolls within the court, the play is stopped immediately (this happens quite often when you play on several courts side by side)

[OJFord]

The answer to 'what happens if' in ice hockey is 'play goes on' more than in any other I'm aware of, I think it's great.

'Substitutions' being on the fly too (and <1m apart), there's just something kind of raw and basic about it. Obviously there's loads of rules, but the general gist/feel of it just seems a lot more.. I don't know, 'informal', or something, than other games.

[burnte]

How does the broken stick get off the field of play if you're not allowed to carry it off?

[evo_9]

It's actually not quite so simply as the ref near it grabbing it. Depending on the play, and where the broken stick is at, the ref may elect to leave it be. I've seen broken sticks get 'accidentally' kicked/nudge near, or in front of the net which causes a sort of clean pass prevention '6th player'. The ref is generally reluctant to get too into the middle area of the play so a broken stick can become a sort of extra player out there. It's a kind funny/unique situation that doesn't happen that often.

[takk309]

Intentionally moving a broken stick to block or possibly block the puck is also a penalty. It is one of the more "judgment call" type calls a ref can make.

[Magi604]

It stays on the ice until a whistle, then an official takes it off the ice. It can interfere with play, such as if a pick hits it, but players are not allowed to purposely interact with it.

[cuddlybacon]

The nearest ref would pick it up and remove it once play left that area.

[cuddlybacon]

I think the penalty was something to do with equipment safety.

I played in Canada, but this ruling seems quite similar to what was in effect for us: https://www.usahockeyrulebook.com/page/show/1084649-rule-605...

I think the worry is a broken stick has a chance of producing something sharp that can injure others. I think it is more of a worry when the break is along the shaft of a wooden stick (as you could stab someone, you're basically wielding a spear) but even a split along the bottom of a wooden stick's blade has the potential to lose splinters.

[evo_9]

Yeah I mean while it's technically possible they'd call that, you generally don't see that happen very often, if ever. They're use to be a blade curve limit rule too, which probably still exists but I couldn't tell you the last time I saw the tool they used to check that in a time-keeper box, beer league or NHL even.

Basically the rule is there in case the stick is broken in such a way that it becomes sharp and dangerous, which generally would mean it's not functional anyway. In that case you are required to drop the stick on the ice and get a new one mid-play, or get off the ice.

[ponker]

Doesn’t the retired pros team beat everyone? Or are they super old. My perception was that the professionals are in a completely different galaxy than even top amateurs, unless you were on the cusp of playing in the NHL yourself.

[evo_9]

They're mostly above 50, but are still incredible athletes. The team I'm on is all 20-somethings, most of which played Division 1, club or similar, with a mix of some recent ex-pro Eastern Hockey League players; just the nature of the league, top talent needs somewhere to play if going pro isn't an option and none of us want to sandbag in a lower division, that's just not fun.

I would also say that the younger players are way higher aerobic conditioning and the speed of top amateurs approach pro level speed now in these top tier leagues. I track my speed on my Apple watch I regularly hit low/mid 20 MPH during these league games, and I'm probably the 3rd or 4th fastest guy on the team (and def the oldes - thank god for those REHIT sprint workouts I do). So when you add it all up, the ex-pros have their hands full for sure. It's a lot of fun though, and generally the ex-pros play hard but rarely get worked up/hot/chippy and our games against them tend to be the most clean, skilled games we have. And no, they most certainly don't win every games, they're in the top half for sure always though.

[xcasperx]

Out of curiosity what league is this? I'm in Colorado as well and I've been looking for a good adult league. I'm a peg or two below you though

[evo_9]

Promenade.

[Ichthypresbyter]

The oars used in competitive rowing switched from wood to carbon fibre in the early 1980s. The Dreissigacker brothers sold their first pair of carbon oars in 1977, and AFAIK 1984 was the last Olympics where wooden oars were used.

Even at the start, carbon oars were cheaper than wooden ones, possibly because of the shape of the material...