Hockey Sticks

A few months ago I shared some baseball cards from the 1980s and 1990s that clearly showed various bat brands of the era, along with some players who were known to use those brands.

 
Well, the other sport I followed (and played) back then was ice hockey. And hockey players can be just as picky about their sticks as baseball players are with their bats. In fact, hockey players might even have more to consider. Along with the length and weight, there's the shaft flex, the blade curve, the blade height, the blade angle, and the lie angle. And after all that is settled, you've got to decide how to tape the blade. And what sort of tape to use. Some players even apply a little wax on the blade after they've taped it.

 

On top of that, NHL hockey has been an international sport for quite some time now. You can go back as far as the late-1980s and find NHL players from Canada, the USA, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, and more. Because of this, players toted sticks from all over the place. And as card collectors, we can see all of those stick brands if we look closely enough.

 

So let's flip through some cardboard, and see what we can find. Similar to the baseball bat post, I'm going to stay with the era of hockey I'm most familiar with. Let's call it 1975 through 1995. That matches up well to the hockey cards I have in my collection, too.

 

(Note: Because hockey sticks usually don't show up at close range on trading cards, you might have to zoom in on some of the images a little bit to see the brand names.)

 

Here we go. 

1982-83 Neilson #11 Wayne Gretzky, 19998 Kenner Starting Lineup Timeless Legends #555040 Mike Bossy,
1986-87 Topps Box Bottoms #I Mario Lemieux 

The Finnish brand Titan had eye-catching graphics, often red and white, and also came in a "Turbo" model. The sticks were made outrageously popular by two of the most prolific goal scorers of the 1980s: Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy. It's pretty remarkable that Titan also had a young Mario Lemieux in their stable for a little while.

1981-82 O-Pee-Chee #111 Paul Coffey, 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee #200 Guy Lafleur, 1990-91 Topps #5 Jari Kurri

Koho, another Finnish brand, manufactured sticks that were pretty popular back then as well. The thin red stripes and blocky "KOHO" wordmark made these sticks easy to notice. Other big scorers of the '80s to use Koho sticks include Mario Lemieux, who switched from the Titan brand, and Pat LaFontaine early in his career.

 

 

1988-89 Topps #13 Marcel Dionne, 1994-95 Stadium Club #77 Ray Bourque, 1993-94 Ultra #246 Tomas Sandstrom

 

Sherwood was a solid hockey stick manufacturer out of Canada for many years, and the "P.M.P." models were used by many NHL players throughout the '80s and '90s. I used Sherwoods quite a bit during my high school hockey days. Although the sticks were mostly available in the black, white, or natural wood color, I think Tomas Sandstrom used that red-colored version (see right-hand card) throughout his NHL career, no matter what team he played for.

 

 

 

 

1992-93 Pinnacle #209 Neal Broten, 1992-93 Stadium Club #216 Dave Christian, 1991-92 Upper Deck #20 Jaromir Jagr

 

The Christian Brothers Hockey Company was founded by American hockey royalty. Bill Christian and his brother Roger were members of the 1960 US Olympic hockey team that took home the gold medal. Bill's son Dave (pictured above, middle) was a member of the 1980 US Miracle on Ice hockey team, which also of course took home the gold. On top of that, Bill and Roger had another brother, Gordon, who helped the 1956 US Olympic team take home a silver medal. And to bring it back to the present, Brock Nelson, currently a center for the New York Islanders, is Dave Christian's nephew!

 

All that being said, it's no surprise that the family knew a thing or two about hockey sticks when they started manufacturing them in the early 1960s. It's also no surprise that Dave Christian and his Olympic teammate Neal Broten used these sticks, along with some other notable pros like Jaromir Jagr. That diamond-pattern wrap on the blade is how you know it's a Christian.

 

 

 

 

1974-75 Topps Billy Harris #228, 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee #246 Bobby Lalonde, 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee #91 Marcel Dionne

CCM sticks were popular in the 1970s, but by the time the 1980s rolled around, I feel like the company was much better known for its helmets, pads, and hockey jerseys. The sticks did experience a resurgence in the late-1990s, however, and they've made another comeback here in modern times. Superstar players like Autson Matthews, Sidney Crosby, and Connor McDavid use CCM sticks.

 

 

 

1982-83 O-Pee-Chee #77 Doug Wilson, 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee #173 Al MacInnis, 1988-89 Topps #58 Cam Neely

You can easily notice Canadien sticks on hockey cards by that super-cool 1980s font. I don't remember them being that prevalent, though—among the pros or in local hockey shops.

  

 

1990-91 Kraft #23 Pt LaFontaine, 1992-93 Parkhurst #218 Alexander Mogilny, 1990-91 Pro Set #257 Joe Sakic

Louisville hockey sticks—a brand owned by the very same Louisville Slugger/Hillerich & Bradsby company—were around as far back as the 1970s. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that the "TPS" model (Tournament Players Series) brought the brand into the spotlight. Many big stars of the day used the TPS, as you can see from the three cards above. You'll also see from the photos that Louisville's hockey gloves were quite popular. I wore Louisville gloves for most of my high school and college hockey days.

 

 

 

 

1975-76 O-Pee-Chee #170 Greg Joly, 1987-88 Islanders Police NNO Bryan Trottier, 1990-91 Bowman Hat Tricks #20 Bernie Nicholls

Although the Victoriaville company wasn't really one of the major brands of the time, I remember their sticks being in hockey shops all around Long Island when I was a kid. I feel like quite a few Islanders players used Vic hockey sticks back then, so there must have been something to them.

 

 

 

 

 

1991-92 Parkhurst #207 Wayne Gretzky, 1991-92 Bowman #125 Mike Modano, 1991-92 Parkurst #219 Brett Hull

Yep, this is the same Easton that made those ultra-popular aluminum baseball bats in the 1990s. The superstars you see on the hockey cards above really sold the company's new, fancy aluminum shafts. (Wooden blade not included.) Brett Hull scored a million goals a year with Eastons back then. And the company made an especially shiny silver model for Wayne Gretzky during his days with the Kings. I remember those "Easton Air" hockey gloves you see on the cards above being wildly popular at the time, too.

 

 

 

1992-93 Pinnacle #8 Nicklans Lidstrom, 1983-84 O-Pee-Chee Mats Naslund, 1990-91 Score #224 Sergio Momesso

Montreal, Torspo, and Chimo were three other stick brands I remember back then. However, I just don't think they were used by a whole lot of NHL players. Torspo was a Scandinavian brand, and funny enough, I think Montreal was, too. Chimo sticks were made by Sherwood.

 

 

And I think that covers the hockey stick brands of the era. I know there aren't as many hockey fans around the trading card blogosphere as there are baseball fans, but I'll still pose the questions:

Do you remember any of these stick brands from back then? What brand did your favorite players use? And if you played hockey, what brands did you use?

Thanks for reading!