Eichel's Stick

[Taro T]

Mods, feel free to move this somewhere else if you'd prefer.  Couldn't find where the discussion about Eichel's stick was ongoing.

Last night on NHL Tonight, Billy Joffe had some interesting info about Eichel's stick selection.

Apparently, he's been working with Glen Tucker (?) of Shot Doctors based in Boston for the past ~4 years.  That guy told him Eichel switched to an 87 flex (btw, that's typically a junior flex no, just at the very low end of senior flexes) from his old 102 flex 2 weeks ago right before the Loafs game.  They felt he was pressing too hard on the shot with the heavier flex.

He also goes back to the 102 on the powerplay.

This choice was apparently made to allow him to still get the normal whip that guys who adjust their lower hand down further on the stick when shooting/checking get, while accomodating his tendency to keep his hands in the more closed stickhandling position that pretty much everyone uses even when he's shooting.

They then followed that news with a segment by Mike Johnson & Darren Pang discussing his stickhandling & shooting.  It was actually very interesting.  Sorry, I don't have a youtube of it.  If nobody finds it online, I might make a copy of the segment & set up a link over the weekend.

No mention of any other adjusments made prior to the Loaf game.  And at any rate, this last adjustment seems to be working.

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by Taro T

[Huckleberry]

This title is so misleading if you all remember what Eichel means in German ?

[That Aud Smell]

Good stuff!

It's been kicked around a fair amount - in various spots. Good to have a dedicated thread, though -- or just a heads up that the stick stuff is a real thing.

[PASabreFan]

2 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Good stuff!

It's been kicked around a fair amount - in various spots. Good to have a dedicated thread, though -- or just a heads up that the stick stuff is a real thing.

Have there been discussions about his stick not involving length? No one said it wasn't real. Jack talked about it in some podcast. I think the debate was whether he made a dramatic change to his stick length for this season that he was adjusting to (and struggling with).

[SDS]

9 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Mods, feel free to move this somewhere else if you'd prefer.  Couldn't find where the discussion about Eichel's stick was ongoing.

Last night on NHL Tonight, Billy Joffe had some interesting info about Eichel's stick selection.

Apparently, he's been working with Glen Tucker (?) of Shot Doctors based in Boston for the past ~4 years.  That guy told him Eichel switched to an 87 flex (btw, that's typically a junior flex) from his old 102 flex 2 weeks ago right before the Loafs game.  They felt he was pressing too hard on the shot with the heavier flex.

He also goes back to the 102 on the powerplay.

This choice was apparently made to allow him to still get the normal whip that guys who adjust their lower hand down further on the stick when shooting/checking get, while accomodating his tendency to keep his hands in the more closed stickhandling position that pretty much everyone uses even when he's shooting.

They then followed that news with a segment by Mike Johnson & Darren Pang discussing his stickhandling & shooting.  It was actually very interesting.  Sorry, I don't have a youtube of it.  If nobody finds it online, I might make a copy of the segment & set up a link over the weekend.

No mention of any other adjusments made prior to the Loaf game.  And at any rate, this last adjustment seems to be working.

 

I've never heard of 87 referred to as a Junior flex. My experience has always been ~65-75 has been called "Intermediate" and ~55 to be junior. 

https://www.hockeymonkey.com/article-finding-the-right-hockey-stick-flex-for-you.html

[darksabre]

87 is just kinda the bottom end for senior sticks. I wouldn't call it junior either and I bet most people would be surprised at how many NHL players are using light, whippy sticks. A player like Jack aught to be loading his stick in tight spots and quickly. You just can't do that with a 100 flex. I don't care how strong you are. 

[SDS]

6 minutes ago, darksabre said:

87 is just kinda the bottom end for senior sticks. I wouldn't call it junior either and I bet most people would be surprised at how many NHL players are using light, whippy sticks. A player like Jack aught to be loading his stick in tight spots and quickly. You just can't do that with a 100 flex. I don't care how strong you are. 

Brett Hull is famous for his whippy shaft...

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/07/former_wing_hull_admits_using.html

[Weave]

Just now, SDS said:

Brett Hull is famous for his whippy shaft...

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/07/former_wing_hull_admits_using.html

Inky, clean up in aisle 2!

[Taro T]

32 minutes ago, SDS said:

I've never heard of 87 referred to as a Junior flex. My experience has always been ~65-75 has been called "Intermediate" and ~55 to be junior. 

https://www.hockeymonkey.com/article-finding-the-right-hockey-stick-flex-for-you.html

My bad.  Should've looked at my kid's hockey stick prior to making that comment (would've sworn it was in the 80's - actually high 70's and is a few years old).  87 is the low end of senior flexes.  Thanks for the correction.

[Doohickie]

51 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

This title is so misleading if you all remember what Eichel means in German ?

[Doohickie]

33 minutes ago, SDS said:

Brett Hull is famous for his whippy shaft...

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/07/former_wing_hull_admits_using.html

That's about blade, not shaft.

[SDS]

Just now, Doohickie said:

That's about blade, not shaft.

It mentions the 62 flex in the article.

[Doohickie]

Oops.  Read too quickly.  "Mostly" about blade, anyway...  ?‍♂️

[Taro T]

7 minutes ago, SDS said:

It mentions the 62 flex in the article.

And THAT is a stick you'd expect to see in youth hockey.

[darksabre]

4 minutes ago, Taro T said:

And THAT is a stick you'd expect to see in youth hockey.

A 62 flex might have been more valid in Hull's era since everyone used to use shorter sticks. We have players using stiffer sticks now because they're also using longer sticks. 

[SDS]

3 minutes ago, Taro T said:

And THAT is a stick you'd expect to see in youth hockey.

Clearly they made it custom for him.

Me not being the tallest guy on the ice - OTS flexes are tough for me (for those that don't know, when you cut your stick down it can dramatically increase the flex). I tend to buy the 75s, which are a little shorter to start, so they don't go up too much upon cutting. The 65 and below generally have the much slimmer shaft and smaller blades, so those don't feel right either. 

[pi2000]

Generally you'll lose flex when you shorten the stick.   If he had a 102 and took an inch off, then it's more like a 110 flex.

That number represents the amount of weight (in lbs) required to flex the stick 1 inch.... they test this by tying weights to a string and hanging it from the stick (at the flex point), however these tests show that flexes are not consistent across brands and even individual sticks.

Some sticks have lower flex points where cutting the knob down won't have as much impact on flex as it would for a stick with a mid flex point.

With a whippier flex you can keep your hands closer together... with a stiffer flex you need to change hand position to get more leverage.     The trend is definitely moving toward whippier sticks.. personally, back in the early-mid 90's I used a very short stick, went from Louisville TPS's (Lafontaine) to Easton aluminum my last two years of college.   Flex was somewhere in the low 90's, 92 iirc?   

One isn't neccessiraly any better than the other... it's just a matter of personal preference but switching around does require adjustments to hand-position, timing, passing, etc...   just whatever you get comfortable with and success with will stick.

 

[josie]

2 hours ago, darksabre said:

87 is just kinda the bottom end for senior sticks. I wouldn't call it junior either and I bet most people would be surprised at how many NHL players are using light, whippy sticks. A player like Jack aught to be loading his stick in tight spots and quickly. You just can't do that with a 100 flex. I don't care how strong you are. 

Unless you're Chara and play with a stick of rebar stolen off a local skyscraper construction site... 

[Brawndo]

Damn and I thought hockey analytics was confusing! ?

 

 

 

 

Here is the segment 

 

 

[Taro T]

15 minutes ago, Let's Go B-Lo said:

That's an intermediate stick.  Junior sticks are 50 or less.  The boy is 5'5" and about 115lbs.  He uses a 50, a 45 would probably be better but I don't want him learning with a noodle.

It is, and they are.  Intermediate sticks tend to get used by Bantams (which is still youth hockey).

[pi2000]

3 hours ago, Let's Go B-Lo said:

That's an intermediate stick.  Junior sticks are 50 or less.  The boy is 5'5" and about 115lbs.  He uses a 50, a 45 would probably be better but I don't want him learning with a noodle.

Intermediate sticks have a thinner shaft than senior sticks.... and junior sticks are toothpicks.  

However, I've encountered 60-65 flex senior sticks (with a regular senior width shaft).     The only time my boys ever used a junior stick was when they were mites or younger...  put intermediate sticks in their hands in squirts, because yeah, they're noodles.