Hockey 09 Oct 2009 01:24 pm
back in the day…
So it’s been… … … 13 years since I played ice hockey in an organized league (I’m not counting intramural ice hockey when I was in college). So it’s been on my mind a lot lately, and I’m planning on getting back into it. I still have my equipment from back then. Though I think some of it *shrunk* in storage (yeah, that’s what I tell myself). I still use my old Bauer Custom 4000s… but they’re literally falling apart, I’ll have to post a pic. I think I’m gonna replace them with a pair of Graf’s. I have to drive to Houston for that, but it should be worth it.
Aside from replacing some of the shrunken equipment (which still retains that great old post-game/practice smell), I have to get a new stick. I used Titan sticks when I played. Titan sticks were great for my slapshots. Actually, myself and a childhood friend who got me into hockey had the hardest slapshots on the team. He got his clocked in the lower 80’s [mph], mind you we 15 or younger. I never got mine clocked, but it was close to his shot.
Titan sticks were manufactured by Karhu Canada (later Sports Holdings, then CCM acquired them, but then Reebok acquired CCM). Of the brands that they [Reebok] inherited, they only kept CCM, Koho and Jofa brands active. Heaton, Canadien and Titan brands are gone. Titan sticks had their history in nordic/cross-country skis (google XSD History project), incorporating fibreglass in their construction. A very stiff stick, perfect for slapshots and quite a spectacle when the blade snapped.
I’ve been searching around for the rare stick, occasionally seeing them on ebay or some classified ads. I’ve been trying to remember what stick it was that I really liked. I want to say it was the Titan ASD X000 (I don’t know the exact number, probably 5000). Also had an aluminum Titan shaft, but the shaft actually cracked (yes the aluminum) while in college, so I chucked it. The blades I used typically had a square toe and square/sharp heel with a closed face, similar to what CCM now calls the Thornton blade pattern. This let my slapshot rise about a foot [30cm] of the ice without effort.
I’ve read that the Reebok 1k/2k sticks are what became of the Titan sticks. As much as I hate that two shoe companies now own 90%+ of the hockey equipment market, I’ll have to suck it up and check out those sticks.