One of the cruel facts of life is that nothing lasts forever. Everything has an expiry date. But when it comes to hockey sticks, should this be the case?

Whether you’re driven to practice in a mini-van or reverse parking a Mercedes Bens every Saturday morning, paying for products that don’t last can range from an annoyance to a complete financial nightmare. Sure, nothing lasts forever, but intentionally engineering the lifespan of an item to be shorter than it should be; not exhausting every resource and effort to ensure that item reaches its full lifespan potential – should be seen as an utter abomination.

Let’s focus more intently on the current state of the elite composite hockey stick market. It may seem far too philosophical a context for the topic of sports equipment, but when the cost of the equipment is as high as it is, the context is completely justifiable.

A top tier composite hockey stick’s cost can reach upwards of $300.00. Anyone who has watched at least one professional hockey game in the past five years could infer that the price comes at an incredible risk. One would essentially be wagering a large sum of money on the hopes that the stick does not fail structurally and catastrophically during gameplay. This would not only make waste of a substantial investment on the consumer’s part, but could also cost a player or a team a crucial scoring opportunity; lost due to substandard equipment.

COLT Hockey’s goal is to mitigate the overall risk and cost players face when searching for a compromise between performance and strength. The key is to not have to compromise at all – limiting the need for tradeoffs, and maximizing a player’s investment in the process.

By reinforcing and re-engineering the standard composite substrate with a coating of patented nano-nickel alloy, players can use the COLT with confidence in both its strength and its performance. The stick feels as light and flexible as any other, but is incredibly more resistant to breakage and wear. In addition to being more than $30 cheaper than the leading composite, decreasing the amount of breakages that occur in a given season means a player’s costs can be reduced exponentially.

Overall, one could see it as a wise purchase; a better product that costs less and lasts longer would do the wallet well. Or, one could see it as a show of faith – a sign of a new way to conduct business.  Intriguingly, individuals would have to wonder about the possibility of an honest relationship between a manufacturer and a consumer where one wants to put forth a quality product and the other is able to trust and rely on what that company provides.

Maybe it is possible for a company to want to better the game as a whole and see equipment placed in the hands of professionals and recreational players alike that will stand up to what the game demands. Hockey’s very nature calls for an integrity that has recently been lacking, if not completely missing.

Until next time