Complete Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Stick Guide
My first stick after I graduated from using wood and started playing competitive hockey was a Wayne Gretzky Easton aluminum. If you played hockey in the early 1990s, the only thing you wanted in your hands was The Great One’s Easton HPX-5100. Today’s Toronto Maple Leafs fans may feel the same about skating with their favorite player’s stick.
This is your complete guide to which sticks the Toronto Maple Leafs players prefer to use in game action.
Hockey stick technology has come a long way since players like Bobby Orr, Allan Stanley, Tim Horton, and even Taro Tsujimoto used their wooden versions to patrol the blueline. Stick technology is still improving. No longer are serious players heating the glue on their replacement blades to fit into their Gretzky aluminum shafts. If you’ve purchased a hockey stick in the last decade then it’s very likely that you’re using a composite. (Apologies to everyone playing pickup and beer league with the nickname “Oldtimer” who are sticking with their wooden sticks.)
The composite twigs are ideal for ensuring max velocity on shots. There are sticks with carbon fibers, ones with nickel-cobalt, graphite, graphene, and even micro-sized grains. Today’s sticks have been built for more absorbency and power and are incredibly light in weight.
This does come at a cost. Today’s sticks are also substantially more expensive than they used to be. I have seen players and their parents far more upset about breaking a stick than losing a hockey game. In fact, one of the angriest I’ve ever seen anyone in a hockey rink (and I have been present for far too many in-stands brawls) was when a AAA player purposefully broke his stick on the boards after his opponent scored a goal. While the player was unhappy, his father was furious. The entire arena heard this man loudly share his displeasure. He let everyone know that his son just lit $300 on fire and that he wasn’t buying another hockey stick for him. Surrounded by others who have been sucked into paying big sums for their children’s sticks, the crowd was firmly on this father’s side.
When spending exorbitantly on this essential piece of equipment, players need to choose wisely. Some are very loyal to a particular brand and most will find the flex, lie, and curve they like and won’t deviate. A stick’s flex measures how much it will bend on a shot. The lower the number, the more flexible it is. The higher a number, the stiffer. A stiffer stick is better for slap shots while a more flexible stick is ideal for wrist shots. A stick’s lie is the angle it’s at when the blade is flat to the ice. For example, the standard lie of 5.5 sits at a 46-degree angle between the ice and shaft. The curve refers to the depth of the curvature of the blade. Individual players have preferences for all these different facets to their stick.
For those who love to know which stick to buy to match your Toronto Maple Leafs hockey hero or for those who just like to know what everyone is using, we’ve got you covered.
Toronto Maple Leafs Forwards Sticks
To collect the following information, sites like Geer Geek and Pro Stock Hockey were utilized. However, some information was incomplete or outdated. In order to determine the sticks currently in use, Getty Images was scraped to see which stick was most recently in hand. Finally, to complete the needed stick attributes, they were extrapolated from game-used stick sales and auctions.
Michael Bunting
Brand: Bauer
Model: Nexus Geo painted
Shoots: Left
Flex: 87
Curve: Mid
Lie: 6
Grip: Grip Tape
Height: 69″
Adam Brooks
Brand: CCM
Model: Jetspeed FT3 Pro painted
Shoots: Left
Flex: 80
Curve: Mid
Lie: 6
Grip: Hockey Tape
Height: 61″
Pierre Engvall
Brand: CCM
Model: Jetspeed FT3 Pro painted
Shoots: Left
Flex: 85
Curve: Mid
Lie: 6.5
Grip: Hockey Tape
Height: 61″
David Kampf
Brand: Bauer
Model: Nexus 2N Pro XL dressed as Supreme 2S Pro
Shoots: Left
Flex: 87
Curve: Mid
Lie: 6
Grip: Hockey Tape
Height: 60″
Alexander Kerfoot
Brand: Bauer
Model: Supreme 2S Pro & Supreme 2X Pro
Shoots: left
Grip: Hockey Tape
Spiral tape down the shaft
Mitch Marner
Brand: True
Model: Project X
Shoots: Right
Flex: 85
Curve: Mid
Lie: 5.5
Grip: Hockey Tape
Height: 59″
Auston Matthews
Brand: CCM
Model: Jetspeed FT2 and Alpha DX
Shoots: Left
Flex: 85 (He was using as low as an 80 flex when he was with Bauer.)
Curve: Mid-Toe
Lie: 6.5
Grip: Grip Tape
Height: 62″
Ilya Mikheyev
Brand: Bauer
Model: Nexus Geo and Nexus 2N Pro
Shoots: Left
Flex: 102
Curve: Mid
Lie: 5
Grip: Lizard Skin
Height: 63″
William Nylander
Brand: Bauer
Model: Supreme ADV
Shoots: Right
Flex: 77
Curve: Toe
Lie: 5
Grip: Grip Tape
Height: 60″
Nick Ritchie
Brand: CCM
Model: Ribcor Trigger ASY
Shoots: Left
Flex: 95
Curve: Mid
Lie: 7
Grip: Hockey Tape
Height: 61″
Wayne Simmonds
Brand: Bauer
Model: Bauer Supreme Ultra Sonic painted
Shoots: Right
Flex: 95
Curve: Toe
Lie: 5.5
Grip: Hockey Tape
Height: 60″
Jason Spezza
Brand: Bauer
Model: Supreme Ultra Sonic painted
Shoots: Right
Flex: 110
Curve: Toe
Lie: 4.5
Grip: Grip Tape
Height: 64″
John Tavares
Brand: CCM
Model: Jetspeed FT3
Shoots: Left
Flex: 95 (Tavares used to use a Ribcore Trigger with a stiffer flex at 100.)
Curve: Heel
Lie: 7
Grip: Grip Tape
Height: 61″
Toronto Maple Leafs Defensemen Sticks
Defensemen, just like forwards, have preferences in their sticks as well. Many will choose a stiffer stick so that they can load up for a heavy slapshot. Though the Toronto Maple Leafs blue line doesn’t prefer it, there are many in the NHL who have a flex over 100. Zdeno Chara still holds the record of playing with the stiffest stick, using a 150-160 flex.
Some will also use longer extensions to give themselves great length on their twig. This helps when swiping at and poke-checking the puck carriers. The downside to using a very long stick is that it gives up some puck control. Stickhandling is easier with a shorter stick.
TJ Brodie
Brand: CCM
Model: Jetspeed FT3 Pro painted
Shoots: Left
Flex: 95
Curve: Toe
Lie: 95
Grip: grip tape
Height: 64″
Travis Dermott
Brand: Warrior
Model: Alpha DX painted
Shoots: Left
Flex: 95
Curve: Toe
Lie: 7
Grip: Grip Tape
Height: 61″
Justin Holl
Brand: Bauer
Model: Nexus 2N Pro and Nexus Geo Pro painted
Shoots: Right
Flex: 95
Grip: Grip Tape
Timothy Liljegren
Brand: CCM
Model: SuperTack AS3 Pro
Shoots: Right
Flex: 85
Grip: Trip Tape
Jake Muzzin
Brand: Bauer
Model: Nexus 2N Pro
Shoots: Left
Flex: 95
Grip: Taped Nob only
Morgan Rielly
Brand: CCM
Model: Jetspeed FT3 Pro painted
Shoots: Left
Flex: 85
Curve: Toe
Lie: 5
Grip: Taped nob only
Height: 61″
Rasmus Sandin
Brand: Warrior
Model: Alpha DX
Shoots: Left
Flex: 80
Curve: Mid
Lie: 5.5
Grip: Grip Tape
Height: 59″
Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltenders Sticks
Goaltenders, just like the skaters, have their preferred sticks as well. Things like length, flex, lie, and curve matter as well. Some stoppers like Campbell also like a notch on their stick. Campbell’s sticks have a v-shape groove cut at the start of the paddle. This helps him with his grip when holding and controlling his stick. (The notch cannot be seen in the above photo because it sits below his blocker on the bottom right side of the ‘W’.)
Jack Campbell
Brand: Warrior
Model: Custom Pro and Ritual V1 Pro
Shoots: Left
Grip: Taped
Michael Hutchinson
Brand: Bauer
Model: Vapor 2X Pro
Shoots: Right
Grip: Taped
Petr Mrazek
Brand: Warrior
Model: Ritual V1 Pro
Shoots: Left
Grip: Buttendz Goalie Sentry Knob
Joseph Woll
Brand: Warrior
Model: Ritual V1 Pro
Shoots: Left
Grip: Taped
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While this acts as your complete guide to the Maple Leafs sticks, please keep in mind that players will often change and upgrade their sticks. It might be because they try out a teammates’ twig in practice and like the feel or the line they’re affiliated with encourages them to try their newest release. Over the years, some players will hop brands as well. If you’re looking to purchase a stick, find what’s best for you and your style of play.