The Unbreakable Hockey Stick

[hf101]

Just in time for Christmas.....

 

Will the unbreakable hockey stick have a future in the NHL?

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/trying-to-break-the-unbreakable-stick/

 

Palumbo read a National Post article on Integran Technologies, which electroforms nanocrystalline metals to manufacture products used in aerospace and medical devices. Integran coated a ping pong ball in a thin layer of its silvery nano material, making it able to withstand the weight of a grown man while maintaining its light weight.

 

“If they can put this coating on a ping pong ball, why not a hockey stick?” thought Palumbo, whose ball-hockey-playing friends were going through a few $250 composites per week in hack-happy rec leagues.

 

The blade and bottom third of the shaft was coated in the nano material, strengthening what is known as the “hack zone” and thus preventing microfractures – tiny stress cracks that eventually lead to full-on breaks later — to form farther up the shaft. After lab-testing for flex, durability and impact (“You can stand on it with a skate blade, and it won’t break,” Palumbo says), machines mimicked slap shots with the prototypes before they got into the mitts of actual pro and junior players.

 

“We had people logging 1,000 slap shots per hour on this thing, and we did not experience any damage or deadening of the shaft, which is what happens with a lot of the composites,” Palumbo says.

 

Colt tagged several players to put one stick through 10,000 hours of use – still, the flex and pop did not deteriorate whatsoever.

 

The Colt has now gone through 22 different iterations, is about to begin production in a couple weeks, and plans to start shipping to those NHLers (and Johnny Beer League) by mid-December for a retail sticker of $269.99, a price Palumbo says is competitive with the elite composites on the market.

 

 

 

[fan4ever]

@hf101

 

Pretty cool, but how would they know when to make a slashing call??????

[flyerrod]

I am ready to buy stock in that company. I hope he can get it to pass the tight specs required by the NHL....

[DaGreatGazoo]

As a parent with 2 kids playing, this is awesome.  My only question is how does it NOT affect the flex of a hockey stick?  

[flyerrod]

As a parent with 2 kids playing, this is awesome.  My only question is how does it NOT affect the flex of a hockey stick?  

Did you watch the video? The stick is only covered from the "slash section" down. I am curious as to how the new properties of the stick perform over all...more or less torque/possibly more injuries/etc....

 

and as a side note, if that were on axe or chopping maul handles it would definitely be a plus....

Edited November 22, 2013 by flyerrod

[radoran]

I thought you meant this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mrloganrhoades/hockey-player-who-hates-his-stick-and-wants-to-break-it-but

 

[hf101]

@radoran

 

I'd say that Rask doesn't particularly like the shootout.

 

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

Those sticks will cost $1K or higher.  Otherwise, they won't make any money.

[Rink Rat]

I like the idea of the unbreakable hockey stick. With the speed these guys are shooting now and the amount of sticks being broken this is a great idea for the NHL.

[CannonHockey]

Problem is that it will be banned. Stick needs to break under certain load.  Same happened to aluminium sticks.