Throughout the history of hockey, a player's curve is one of the most important things a player looks for and desires to make them the best version of themselves possible. There have been some absolutely insane curves throughout the league over the years, and I'm gonna run you through some of them today.
Peter Schaefer
Peter Schaefer was drafted #66 overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 1995, and played 9 seasons in the show and racked up 261 points in the show using one of the most ridiculous curves we've ever seen. His curve was straight at the heel but then had a ridiculous twist at the toe, along with the top of the blade along the middle of the stick being super shallow and thin. How he ever managed to take a shot with this thing is beyond anyone's comprehension. Looking at the blade from the front kind of reminds me of a stubbed toe. He also only taped the toe section of the blade with a layer of tape along the bottom edge. It worked for Schaefer though, notching a career high 50 points with the '05 Senators. I would love to someday find out how he even came to realize "yeah this is the curve I wanna use in the NHL".
John LeClair
Initially drafted 33rd overall in 1987 by the Montreal Canadiens, John LeClair rose to prominence in 1995 as 1/3rd of the feared Legion of Doom line for the Philadelphia Flyers along with Mikael Renberg and Eric Lindros. He would become the first American-born player to score 50 goals in back-to-back seasons. He did so using one of the strangest curves in the history of the game. His blade was straight but twisted almost diagonally along the entire blade. You would struggle to determine if he shot left or right upon initially seeing this blade (He shot left). You just know he used to heat the blade of that old Sherwood wooden twig over the stove until he got what he wanted. While he may have heated his blade, he still racked up 819 points over his career so hey, if it works it works.
Ilya Kovalchuk
Drafted first overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2001, Ilya Kovalchuk very quickly became one of the most prolific goal scorers in the 2000s, putting up 52 goals twice and over 40 goals 3 times throughout the 2000s. Kovalchuk was noted for using one of the most extreme toe hook curves we've ever seen, to the point where he was once penalized in a game against the Florida Panthers for using an illegal stick. The Thrashers had told Easton, who made Kovalchuk's sticks at the time, that they would not accept any sticks that were illegal, and Kovalchuk used a friend to circumvent the Thrashers and buy his sticks for him directly from Easton. Kovalchuk was dedicated to his extreme toe hook curve, using it to put up 876 points throughout his NHL career. In case you were wondering, here at HockeyStickMan, we offer custom curves for our Pro Blackout line, and Kovalchuk's curve is one of those, which can be found here.
Ryan O'Reilly
Drafted 33rd overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2009, Ryan O'Reilly very quickly solidified himself as one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL, winning the Selke Trophy in 2019, the same year that he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as he and the St Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Boston Bruins in 7 games. All of this was done while O'Reilly utilized one of the strangest curves we've ever seen. On the surface, the blade looks pretty standard if not a little straight, until you get to the toe edge, where it literally hooks almost 90 degrees to the right. There are toe hooks, and then there is Ryan O'Reilly. O'Reilly himself has been quoted as calling the curve "a little weird" but also says it helps him control the puck and handle the puck in certain areas. For a player like O'Reilly who has been dominant at both ends of the ice, we absolutely trust his judgement on this one. We've also got some Ryan O'Reilly Pro Stocks at some unbeatable prices only found here at HockeyStickMan. If this insane curve intrigues you as much as it intrigues us, you can find it here.
