New Easton Hockey Stick Patterns

Just as players occasionaly go from league to league (i.e. Jaromir Jagr just returned to the NHL after a 3 year stint in the KHL), sometimes they also go from one hockey manufacturer to another (i.e. Ovechkin leaving CCM to join Bauer). It can be confusing to keep up with at times, and we won't even bother discussing the contractual reasons involved. Instead, let's just assume that NHL players are just like you and me when it comes to gear; sometimes you feel like trying out a different brand of skates, sticks or gloves. Anyhow, the point is, when a player-manufacturer relationship changes, it really doesn't affect the average hockey player/consumer, until they go looking for their favorite blade pattern and they can't seem to find it anymore... In fact, maybe ALL of the names they once recognized have been replaced with a whole new batch of European and Russian names they've never heard before.

I can remember standing in the stick aisle at Johnny Mac's Sporting Goods in St. Louis, trying to decide between an Easton P3 Sakic curve, Nike Fedorov curve, and Bauer P88 Lindros curve. That was a while ago, but you get the point... Times change, and the names get updated. The P3 Sakic is now the P3 Hall, the P88 Lindros became the P88 Kane, and Nike doesn't even make hockey equipment anymore. The good news is that Nike doesn't make hockey equipment anymore. Oh, and the other good news is that we're here to make sure you're up to speed on the newest blade patterns and names.

Easton recently changed a few of their blade pattern names, threw in some new ones, and even brought back an oldie. Here's the new Easton lineup:

• P2 – Cammalleri (Previously "Shanahan" - Briefly reintroduced in 2010 [S19 & ST]; discontinued for 2011)
• P3 – Hall (Previously "Sakic")
• P4 – Cammalleri (Confusing right..? Previously "Zetterberg", and "Forsberg" before that)
• P5 – Getzlaf (Previously "Lidstrom")
• P6 – Parise (Previously "Drury")
• P7 – Iginla
• P8 – Roy (Introduced last year)
• P9 – Heatley
• P10 – Chara (Discontinued)
• P33 – Chara (Introduced in 2011)

Since the P2 Cammalleri is no longer being produced, and Zetterberg left Easton for Warrior, Easton decided to just turn the P4 Zetterberg into the P4 Cammalleri. Also, the P10 Chara was discontinued, most likely because Easton already produces two other 1/2" mid curves (Iginla and Heatley). After pulling the P10, Easton introduced the P33 Chara, which is the deepest curve they offer, at 3/4".

Hopefully that sheds a little light on the subject and helps you avoid playing the guessing game when you pick out your pattern for the new line of 2011/2012 Easton Sticks.

Check out the new Easton Stealth RS Stick and Easton Synergy EQ50 Stick at HockeyGiant.com

Hockey Skates: Pitch, Hollow and Radius

Whenever you take your skates to your local pro shop to have them sharpened, I'm sure the man behind the sharpening stone throws around a few terms that you may or may not be familiar with. If you're a seasoned vet, you probably don't need to read much further. If you're a beginner, or you've simply made a habit of handing over your skates and crossing your fingers as you hope for the best, this article should help you become a bit more familiar with some of the hockey pro shop jargon.

We're going to discuss the terms pitch, hollow, and radius, as they pertain to runners (blades) on your ice hockey skates. Knowledge is power, and if you have a clear understanding of what these terms mean, you'll be able to communicate more clearly with your local skate sharpener. You have options – so take full advantage, and don't hesitate to make some adjustments here and there until you find what you're looking for.

Hollow

Hollow is the depth of the edges given to your runners when they are sharpened. The most common hollows used are (from deepest to shallowest) 3/8”, 7/16”, 1/2”, 9/16” & 5/8”. You may be wondering what these numbers represent. You may also be wondering why the sharper/deeper hollows are represented by smaller numbers. Well, the numbers actually represent the radius of the imaginary circle that would be created if you traced the contour of the hollow in the runner to produce a complete circle.

The grey area, in the diagram below, represents the runner. The groove in the 9/16" hollow is much shallower than the groove in the 3/8" hollow. This also means that the edges of the 9/16" hollow are not as thin or long as the edges of the 3/8" hollow. Keep in mind that these images were not done to-scale, but should help you visualize the difference between a shallow cut (9/16") and a deep cut (3/8").

A few things must be considered when choosing the hollow that best suits you.

1. Your weight – Heavy skaters do not need a deep hollow because their weight allows them to dig into the ice much easier than lighter skaters.


2. Hardness of the ice – Harder ice requires a deeper hollow in order to allow a player to dig in with the edges of the runners. On the other hand, soft, chippy ice requires a shallow hollow to allow a player to glide on the ice without digging in too deep.


3. Your skating style – Players who desire greater straightaway speed and easier gliding should use a shallow hollow, while players who desire the ability to make tighter, sharper turns should go with a deeper hollow.

Pitch

Pitch is a reference to the profile of the runner on a hockey skate which causes a player’s weight to shift to their toes or mid foot. Forward pitch puts a player on his toes and gives the skater an aggressive stance. Neutral pitch puts a skater on his mid foot for a stable, balanced stance. There's really no benefit to putting a backward pitch on your runners because leaning back on your heels will simply throw you off-balance. The pitch is adjusted by grinding down the runner at an angle so that your weight is shifted (pitched) toward your toes.

*Be careful with pitch adjustments*... Once you put a substantial pitch on your runners, there's no going back because you obviously can't reverse the grinding process. Your only option at that point is to replace the runners, which isn't the end of the world, but it's another $40-50 bucks that you don't want to have to spend as the result of a poor decision.

Another thing to understand about pitch is that your holders also play a major factor. For example, Cobra holders (used on Graf skates) have a longer heel post which lifts the heel and puts more of your weight on your toes for an aggressive stance. TUUK holders (used on Bauer skates), on the other hand, have a very neutral pitch, putting most of your weight on the middle of the foot for a neutral stance. If you've decided that you prefer a neutral stance, you're better off buying TUUK holders than grinding down the runners to off-set the natural pitch of another brand of holders. And if you prefer an aggressive stance, your best choice is to go with a pair of Cobra holders. This is the better way to address the issue of pitch, because if you happen to break a runner which you spent the time and money to have pitched (*tip: runners break more often than holders), you have to replace it and have it profiled again to match the runner on your other skate... Whereas if you simply chose a pair of holders with the pitch that suits your needs, you wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of readjusting the runner pitch.

Radius

Radius is the measurement of your skate runner’s profile as it relates to the size and shape of a circle. The visual aid above, which was used to show the imaginary circle created by the hollow of a runner, should help you understand how the radius is measured also. But in the case of runner radius, just imagine that you're looking at your runner from the side, and that the imaginary circle follows the contour of the blade's bottom edge. A runner with a 13’ radius is fairly flat and a large portion of the runner is touching the ice surface – so when you trace the profile of the blade and continue the imaginary line out to create an imaginary complete circle, the radius of that circle is 13'. A runner with a 9’ radius is noticeably more curved from tip to tip than a runner with a 13’ radius, and you can see that less of the runner's bottom edge is touching the ice surface when it's resting flat on the ice.

When you have your runners profiled, you're giving them a different "rocker". Visualize the curved feet of a rocking chair; you can find rocking chairs with varying foot curvatures, and this difference affects how much of the undersides of the feet are actually touching the ground beneath at any given point. When you look at the different rocker options that are available, you observe the same effect. More curvature (i.e. 9' Radius) = Less blade touching the ice.

Here’s basically how the pros and cons boil down…

1. 13’ radius – offers greater surface area contact, which increases straightaway speed, acceleration and balance at the cost of tight cornering and smooth transitions


2. 11’ radius – offers a good, well balanced blend of speed and agility


3. 9’ radius – offers great agility, tight cornering and smooth transitions at the cost of straightaway speed and acceleration