Goalies making move to composite sticks

Goaltenders at every level are always looking for an advantage when it comes to their equipment. New materials and designs are emerging each year to allow them to slide faster and close more holes, along with carrying less weight and making them look bigger.
Which is why it feels odd that the majority of NHL goaltenders have been so slow to embrace the same technological advances in their sticks, at least until now.

After years of resisting the trend among forwards and defensemen toward composite sticks, NHL goaltenders are now making the switch, with almost half of them using the new technology.
Bauer has been a leader in composite goalie sticks, with several NHL goaltenders using them during the past decade; that number has grown to 17 this season. CCM has 12 goalies using the composite stick it introduced two seasons ago; among those making the switch this season were Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens and Mike Smith of the Arizona Coyotes, arguably the two best puckhandling goalies in the League.
"They've been out for, gosh, like 10 years, but it's hard to switch out of something," Price said.

Like a lot of goalies, Price was hesitant to move away from the more traditional blend of wood, fiberglass and foam core because of the feel associated with those sticks. What finally convinced him to switch? It was the knee injury that kept him out for most of last season and left him skating on his own, without goalie equipment but with a player's stick, during rehab.
"I'm not kidding, I used a player stick for two months [when he was injured] and I just got used to using a light stick," Price said. "Then when I started jumping back in net, I just used [his regular stick] and it felt heavy compared to a player stick. So I just thought that was the best time to switch."
Injury also played a role in Florida Panthers veteran Roberto Luongo switching to a composite stick late in the 2014-15 season. After 16 seasons using a foam core wood stick, Luongo tried composite when he was recovering from a broken bone in his right shoulder because it was lighter and felt his blocker was quicker with it.
"It gave me better range of motion," Luongo said. "I came back a week early because of the stick, and I'm still using it."
The weight difference between a composite stick and a traditional foam core wood stick can be anywhere from 100 to 250 grams, depending on the brands.
"It felt so light," said Toronto Maple Leafs No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen, who switched to a Bauer composite model last season. "The balance was different, but once I got used to it, it felt normal and natural. Now I don't know if I could ever switch back."

Like forwards who began playing with one-piece composite sticks in 2000, it sometimes takes a little time for goalies to adjust to pucks bouncing harder off the stiffer blade. For Smith, the consistency of composite sticks, which are made using a mold and arrive feeling the same every time, more than makes up for it because wood sticks sometimes arrived feeling different from one batch to the next.
"With wood you have more feel," Smith said, "but I think it's like anything in life, when you change from using something for a long time it takes time to adjust and it was no different with that.
"The composites are so stiff and rigid for playing pucks behind the net and making good plays and passes. I think it has benefited me. A big part if it is the consistency from stick to stick and not having to worry about one being different from the other."
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward has been using versions of a Bauer composite stick since 2007.
"I'm surprised that other goalies didn't make the switch sooner, but really it is a personal preference," Ward said. "Some like to feel the weight but the lighter the better for me as I like to have an active stick. … Soon after I started using them I realized there was no way I could go back to wood simply because of the weight difference. The composite was so much lighter, and has increasingly become even lighter over the years."

As an early adopter, Ward was willing to live with any problems that plagued early composite goalie sticks. He has reaped the benefits, with companies like Bauer improving the product.
"They used to break too easy; they don't as much now," Ward said. "Initially it was annoying to tape new ones all the time, but it was worth it. I would admire [Martin] Brodeur playing the puck and wanted to improve my ability. I'd seen he used a short stick so I cut mine shorter, and with the lightweight composite I felt it really improved the way I handled the puck."
A decade after he started using composite, more and more of Ward's puck-stopping peers finally appear to agree.