Emails / Equipment

I have received quite a few emails asking me about the different types of equipment that our guys use. Since I came in so early today, and I have a few extra minutes before I start sharpening skates, I thought I would answer some of those questions.



I think our league has something unique that most leagues in the world don't have, that is the opportunity to use whatever brand equipment we want to. Leagues like the AHL, ECHL, CHL are all limited to the exclusive deals that the leagues have in place. For instance, if you grew up always using Easton sticks and used them in college, and then go to the ECHL, you have to switch to RBK. That league is exclusively Reebok and no other companies may be used. This also goes for pants, gloves, and helmets. However, they have made some exceptions with helmets based on a players past history. As far as I know there are only three leagues where you can use whatever you want for equipment, the NHL, IHL, and your local men's league. As an equipment manager I have seen the negatives and positives of these deals. A positive is that you don't have to worry about getting in a lot of different brands of stuff. One of the negatives is that you have to listen to players complain that they don't like a certain product. Another negative is that you may have to wait longer for stuff to arrive.



You may notice that our team uses a lot of RBK products: gloves, helmets, sticks, etc. That is because we have a direct account with them which allows us to get things easier. Also, if one of our guys gets called up to the AHL, they won't have to switch to a Reebok stick. I have used them for a long time and found them to be very reliable. The other thing is the more we buy from one company, the better the price they give us sometimes.



Right now the drury curve is the most popular on the team. We have 3 guys that are right handed using them, and 4 guys that are left handed. Most guys always have 3 sticks taped up that they can use. During games most guys put out 1 or 2 sticks as backups incase they break there game sticks. Have you ever wondered how those sticks end up on the bench before the game?

Before the game we put tape on the wall with everyones numbers that is playing. After guys are done taping their sticks, they will then put there spares under there #'s. Usually 30 minutes before warmups the stick boys will move those sticks out to the bench. Then right after the game, the stick boys will bring them back in and put them back on the stick rack.



Well, I hope that this answers some of your questions.

See you tonight! GO Thunder!