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Peddling their products One-piece sticks, special-edition skates on display in SLC
By Jon A. Dolezar, CNNSI.com What better time for a company to market its products than on the grandest stage in the world. Many pieces of hockey equipment being used in the Winter Olympics utilized the latest technology. Easton is getting plenty of air time for its Synergy sticks, as several players are using the composite one-piece in Salt Lake City. The stick led the one-piece revolution, though companies like Louisville TPS, Bauer/Nike, Graf, Mission and Branches are playing catch up and rushing their one-pieces to market. At the beginning of the 2001-02 regular season, 177 NHL players were using Easton’s Synergy stick. The revolutionary Synergy has been gaining converts since its launch about two years ago. Among the big-name players wielding the Synergy in Salt Lake City are Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman of Team Canada; as well as Team USA players Chris Chelios, Chris Drury, Bill Guerin, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Mike Modano, Brian Rafalski, Brian Rolston, Jeremy Roenick, Gary Suter and Mike York. The one-piece composite sticks are made of a combination of graphite, kevlar and carbon, much like most traditional graphite shafts that are used in two-piece sticks. But one-pieces have no seam at the hosel of the stick where the blade meets the shaft. The result is a stiffer stick with a lower kick point, allowing more spring off the shot. Players cite the convenience of not having to use a heat gun to melt glue and put the blade and shaft together as a top reason for switching to the new sticks. All of this convenience comes at a premium price, though, as most one-piece sticks sell for around $150. “You just tape them and play,” Sakic told The Denver Post. "You don't have to change blades or anything. That's what I like about them. They've put more speed on my slap shot, too. I couldn't use them when they first came out, but they're a lot whippier now.” Though the Synergy dominates the market, Louisville, most famous for its Slugger baseball bats, has come up with a one-piece model that is gaining popularity among the pros. Team USA forwards Keith Tkachuk and Scott Young are former Synergy users who have switched to the Louisville TPS Response one-piece. And Sweden captain Mats Sundin is a Response user, after ditching his CCM stick near the end of last season to use the Synergy for the end of the regular season and the playoffs. Steve Yzerman was among the first to make the switch to the Synergy in the 1999-2000 season. Before using the Synergy, Yzerman used a two-piece with a graphite shaft and blade. He believes the adjustment period to a one-piece stick isn’t as great as that which players needed when composite materials starting replacing wood. “I used a two-piece stick with a graphite shaft and graphite blade, which is basically the same shaft and blade that's in this Synergy stick,” Yzerman said. “Now they figured out a way to bond them together at the factory so you don't have to do it at the arena. “I was pretty much used to the stick. The big change was going from the wooden blade to the graphite blade before. I just switched right away and didn't think about it.” With all the hype surrounding these new supersticks, some players still are leery about giving up their old two-piece wooden twigs. Many players suggest two-piece sticks have better feel and they are willing to sacrifice a few miles per hour on their shots for more puck control. Paul Kariya tried a Synergy earlier this season, but returned to his two-piece stick, a two-piece Easton graphite shaft and blade, after scoring just one goal in 11 games. “The Synergy was too light for me,” Kariya said. “My stick almost has the weight of a wood stick and the Synergy is an extremely light stick. For certain things the Synergy is very good, but just for overall feel I found that I didn't have the same touch with that stick. “I use a fairly stiff stick and I tried dropping down to a little bit more flexible shaft when I tried the Synergy. For wrist shots and shooting off the wrong foot it was much better because I didn't have to put as much effort into my shot, but when I really wanted to crank it I didn't have the same control with where the puck was going.” Still others aren’t willing to give up the feel of a traditional wood stick. “I tried a Synergy, but the way I play I need a little bit better feel of the puck,” Czech Republic and New Jersey Devils winger Patrik Elias said. “The Synergy is more for guys that have a good shot. It kind of didn’t fit me.” Estimates are that one-piece composite sticks can add up to 10 miles per hour to a player’s shot. But Sergei Fedorov was using an Innovative brand two-piece when he won the hardest shot competition at the All-Star Game in Los Angeles earlier this month with a blast of 101.5 mph. Second-place finisher Jarome Iginla, never known for having a blazing shot prior to this season, took second with a 97.2 mph shot while using a Synergy. “There are some guys that had average shots that are absolutely ripping them by your ears now,” Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig said. “It’s a big enough increase in velocity that the average guy is going get his fair share of goals now, and the guys who had the hardest shots before are that much harder.” Kolzig also is frustrated that the NHL has taken steps to regulate the size of goalie equipment but still allows skaters to utilize this new technology. “In a way it makes you a better goalie because you are facing harder shots in practice, but you are also ended up banged up a lot more,” Kolzig said. “You leave practice with a few more bumps and bruises.” Canadian captain Mario Lemieux is using a one-piece Nike stick, but it’s his nationalistic skates that are drawing attention in Salt Lake City. Lemieux is wearing the same Nike Quest skate he wears during the regular season but with a Canada logo on the blade holder and a red color scheme to it. Lemieux and Bauer/Nike Hockey are helping out some charities by donating 66 pairs of autographed versions of these limited-edition skates to various charities to use in their fundraising efforts. Additionally, a pair of Lemieux’s game-worn skates will be auctioned on eBay following the Games with the proceeds going to charity. “Le Magnifique” also will be using Nike's one-piece stick, as well as wearing a new helmet that Nike plans to hit the market with in March. Nike won't bring its one-piece stick out until June, though Bauer's similar Tri-Flex stick that Eric Lindros and Michael Peca are using will hit shelves soon. Special skates and supersticks aren't be the only revolutionary 21st century piece of equipment being worn at the Games. Elias and six players on the German men’s team and seven on the German women’s team are sporting t’blades on their skates. The t’blade is a runner and blade system that uses disposable blades and therefore bypasses the need to sharpen the blades. Players can select different blade hollows and runner length to optimize to their personal preference or to adapt to changing ice conditions. The blades can be changed out in just a few minutes allowing players to swap out during a game if they have problems with their blades rather than giving their skates to an equipment guy to sharpen. Elias started wearing the t’blades last August while he was home in the Czech Republic getting ready for training camp. Previously he used the standard Tuuk blades, which come mounted on Bauer skates, but he switched out to the t’blades on his Bauer 7000 model skates for this season. “It’s quite convenient for me and for the trainers that you don’t have to sharpen them all the time,” Elias said. “You have the same sharpness every time. You have better starts and stops and more sharp turns. The material that it’s made from allows you to glide through the ice better. The only disadvantage is that they make quite a bit of a noise, but you get used to it.” Each blade can last approximately four or five times longer than a typical skate sharpening. “I usually have them for seven to eight games, and I use them for every practice in between there,” Elias said. “Sometimes it’s like two or three weeks, but sometimes longer, depending on how busy the schedule is. It’s quite amazing, actually.” The blades are 30 percent lighter than traditional stainless steel blades, allowing for easier turning and quicker acceleration. They are thinner than normal blades and heat up more quickly as a result, offering 40 percent less gliding friction, theoretically allowing players to glide more smoothly and quickly as a result. The company is based in Germany and about 60 pros in the German DEL league wear t’blades. Elias, Edmonton Oilers and Germany forward Jochen Hecht and Los Angeles Kings and Slovkia defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky are the only NHL players who wear t’blades.
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