Creative Uses for Your Broken Hockey Stick
Hockey season may be over for your broken hockey stick, but before you throw it out…
Your hockey stick works hard for you. Although you may take great care of your stick to make it last longer, inevitably it is going to wear out and break.
Hockey sticks can be expensive and it really feels wrong to just throw them out, especially if the stick has minor damage or is a visual reminder of a great hockey season or memorable hockey moment. So, before you toss your broken stick, you might want to consider reusing, recycling, or re-purposing it.
Reuse: Pass Down Your Hockey Stick to a Younger Player
Although a worn out stick stick might not be able to handle your power slap shot, young players don’t have the strength to power a weak stick into a completely broken one. If the stick is broken in the middle of the shaft, cutting it off and taping it will make for the perfect length for a junior hockey player. You can talk to your local junior house league team coaches to hand down your stick. Or, you can give it to the neighborhood kids to use for street hockey games.
Recycle: Go Green by Recycling Your Broken Hockey Stick
Every year, more than 3 million composite hockey sticks are produced and the vast majority of these eventually end up in a landfill. The HockeyGreen Initiative lets players turn in broken hockey sticks to a Total Hockey retail store location and receive a $10 store credit on a new hockey stick. The initiative also has an online hockey stick recycling option.
Re-purpose: Hockey Decor Ideas for Your Broken Hockey Stick
There are a ton of creative people out there that have come up with some great ideas for re-purposing broken hockey sticks into useful, decorative items for their room, home or garage. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Hockey medal, puck, jersey, or trophy holder – this is a great idea if you had a particularly memorable season or scored that game winning goal.
- Hockey stick framed mirror – a great addition to your hockey player’s bedroom decor.
- Hockey stick furniture and decor – from benches to chairs to tables to lamps to coasters… if you are handy, you can create something really cool.
- A holder for other stuff – a magazine holder, hat rack, coat rack, storage cube or trunk. The list is only limited by your imagination and skill level.
- Original ideas – thinking outside of the box, you can try to create BBQ tools, flooring, a hockey equipment drying rack, or door handles out of your broken hockey sticks.
Although hockey sticks are going to break sooner or later, there are ways to prolong the life of your hockey stick.
Check out our recent blog The Science of Hockey Stick Breakage and How to Prevent It which gives tips on how to spend less money replacing broken hockey sticks.
But when your cherished stick does go to the hockey stick heaven, don’t just chuck it! Reuse, recycle or re-purpose that broken hockey stick so it lives another life.
And Sniper Skin has a way for you to be creative with your current hockey stick with their GRIPtomizer tool. You can design your own custom grip that can even include your name and number on it!
