|
|
I have just finished The Stick and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a christmas gift from my mother as she always gives me at least one hockey related book to get me through the rest of winter. Nearing the end of The Stick, Yvon Cournoyer is quoted. "A good stick is like a good bottle of wine or cigar-it's what you like, not what costs the most. It's like a tool. You must be comfortable, because you use it everyday." That quote validates how I feel about my stick and the time I take in preperation with it. For over ten years now I have only used two types of stick(Sher-Wood 5030, Coffey, Martinville, Big-M, had to switch back to Mr. Drolet's after Itech bought Martinville and discontuined my favorite all-time stick) and completed the sometimes painful process of first finding the perfect height (cut just above the final A near the top of the sher-wood ), then torching the end, burning the wood till crisp for the filing process, using a wood file to shave the handle down untill round, then sanded with sand paper till perfectly round and smooth, with no splinters, then taped. This process used to take Earlier on in the book, other memories stirred at the mentioning of the Cooper Green Flash. It took me back to age eight, the only year my dad built a rink in our yard. My dad bought himself a Green Flash (1983 model) that had a black and green design on it. I think I was still using a straight stick at the time and still jr. models. This Green Flash was my first sr. stick and it had a curve. That winter was the best of my youth. The house across the street was used to house the workers at the big farm up the road and the family that lived there that year had three boys about my age and that winter we played before school, after school, till bedtime and my dad's Green Flash became my stick for that season, that stick is the only stick I've ever had that I completly wore the blade down from use. It never broke just widled away till the blade was too short and thin to use anymore, but , by then we were into spring and it was perfect for ball hockey. Th I was lucky enough to have grown up in a time when sticks were plentiful, but the history of the stick and knowledge of the effort by thoose that grew the game, by hand carving sticks, has made me even more thankful for the fact that I could go to Canadian Tire as a boy for my needs. The effort I put into my stick carving is nothing compared to the hours put into making a stick from a tree. The distinct feeling of Canadiana that a hockey stick evokes was recently felt by my mother as she was recently in Europe for a couple of months. She sent my an e-mail about seeing a group of boys in Portugal playing roller hockey , she saw the sticks first then realized what they were playing and the feelings of comfort away from home seeing a version of our game played abroad. I would like to take a last bit of your time to thank you Mr. Dowbiggin for creating an insightful, pleasing story that describes a big part of what Canada is and the meaning associated with The Stick.
|