Hockey stick

A hockey stick is used to move a ball or puck in field hockey, roller hockey or ice hockey.

In ice hockey, the stick is about 1.5 meters long with a flat blade 10 to 15 cm long at the end which contacts the ice. The blade describes about a 45 degree angle, giving the stick a partly L-shaped appearance. This blade is sometimes curved (in the direction toward which the skater moves forward), to aid in retaining the puck. The shaft of the stick is fairly rigid, but it has some flexibility because some shots in hockey depend on bending the stick slightly to store up energy.

Hockey sticks have traditionally been made from wood, but in recent years, sticks made of more expensive carbon fiber and other composite materials have become common. In addition to weighing less, composite sticks can be manufactured with more consistent flexibility properties than their wooden counterparts. Composite sticks, despite their greater expense, are now commonplace at nearly all competitive levels of the sport, including youth hockey.

In field hockey, the stick is somewhat shorter and has a U-shaped end or blade.

The "Hockey Stick graph" is a nickname for the Mann et al temperature reconstruction of the last millennium.