Steven Stamkos' 60 Goal Season: Infographic

With a personal best 60 goals and 97 points, 2011-12 was a historic season for Steven Stamkos. Check out this infographic created by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Steven Stamkos' 60-Goal Season - An infographic by the team at TampaBayLightning.com

Easton Makes Their Mark in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The monstrocity that is Zdeno Chara triumphantly lifted the Cup, becoming the first player to hoist hockey's holy grail and cause onlookers to wonder if, perhaps, he routinely drinks from a cup of that size. Nevertheless, Chara let out a gut-rumbling cry as he raised Lord Stanley to the heavens like it was the Crown of a vested King, fallen at the hands of a giant Medieval Warrior.

These 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs were intensely physical from the first drop of the puck, and it's safe to say that there were plenty of surprises – even though we're all well aware of hockey's inherently unpredictable nature. That's what often keeps us from jumping ship when our team hits a rough patch, or when a player falls into a slump; there's always hope that things will turn around. I looked around for a single person who predicted that the Bruins would win the Cup when the playoffs started, and I couldn't find anyone. That's our game – You've gotta love it.

Hockey is constantly evolving, with better training techniques, changes to the rules (some good, some bad), and perpetual improvements made to players' gear. Sticks, arguably, have been changing more rapidly than any other single piece of equipment. Every year, we see dozens of new models hit the market with tweaks and modifications made to give the player a competitive edge. When someone is doing it right, you can't help but notice.

I recently wrote a review of the Easton Synergy EQ50 Hockey Stick, and if you give it a read you'll pretty quickly figure out how impressed I was with it. I must not have been the only one pleased with the direction that Easton is heading with their new sticks, as well as their protective gear and skates. If you glanced out on the rink at any point during the playoffs, you probably wouldn't have been able to catch a single shift where there wasn't at least one player on the ice with an Easton product.

Easton gave us some compelling stats from the 2011 NHL Playoffs:

Easton #1 in the 2011 NHL Playoffs for players who scored 1 or more points

Easton #1 in the 2011 NHL Playoffs for goals

Easton #1 in the 2011 NHL Playoffs for assists

Easton #1 in the 2011 NHL Playoffs for points

Easton's Zdeno Chara led all players with a +14 plus/minus rating

Easton's Mike Cammalleri led all first round scorers with 3G, 7A, 10Pts – stick of choice: Easton Stealth RS

Easton's David Krejci led all 2011 NHL Playoff scorers in Goals (12), Points (23), and Game Winning Goals (4) – stick of choice: Easton Stealth RS

Bauer - #1 Brand at 2011 NHL All-Star Game

At the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, more players used Bauer gear than any other brand. They reported some staggering numbers to us regarding the number of players who were using their skates, sticks, helmets, visors, gloves, and pants. Bauer topped the list in each of these equipment categories, and in some cases they did so with a sizable margin. In the image below, you can see the stats that Bauer reported following the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.

Get your Bauer hockey gear at HockeyGiant.com

Easton Hockey Sticks - Defenseman's Choice

After an exciting all-star weekend in North Carolina, Easton shared some interesting stats with us. Easton sticks seem to be the most popular choice among star defensemen in the NHL. If you were watching the skills competition, you saw the blistering 105.9 mph shot taken by Zdeno Chara in the hardest shot competition. Chara's stick of choice: Easton Synergy EQ50.

Here's a look at some of the numbers:

• Top 3 Defensemen picked at the All Star Fantasy Draft:
  
  
  
  • Duncan Keith - 4th pick overall: Stick of choice Easton
    
  • Zdeno Chara - 7th pick overall: Stick of choice Easton
    
  • Shea Weber - 8th pick overall: Stick of choice Easton
    
  
  
• 18 of 30 NHL teams' leading scoring defensemen choose Easton


• Nearly 50% of all points scored by the 30 NHL teams' top 2 scoring defensemen are scored with Easton sticks


• 42 of the NHL's top 100 scorers through the All-Star break use Easton sticks

Pretty impressive stats! The Synergy EQ50 is the newest top of the line model from Easton and it delivers some serious kick without sacrificing even the slightest bit of feel. Easton offers two additional top models with the Easton Stealth S19 Stick and Easton Synergy ST Stick.

Get your Easton Hockey Stick at HockeyGiant.com