Imagine being a hockey player until the early 1960’s.

You had little protection all over your body (helmets were yet to be discovered), and the game severly lacked scoring following WWII, where goals were a plenty due to the talent pool being scare and the overall product being watered down.

One of the innovate tactics to get scoring up following the return of the players that joined forces was experimenting with curved sticks.

New York Rangers centre Andy Bathgate started to mess around with bending his blades in order to make his slap shots more unpredictable.

Labeled as the “broken blade,” Chicago Blackhawks legends Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull started to follow in Bathgate’s footsteps, and asked their stick manufactures to start bending the blade, known as the “banana blade.” The NHL took notice, and considering that goaltenders weren’t yet wearing masks until Bathgate broke Jacques Plante’s nose with a slapper, curved sticks were considered dangerous.

One major advantage to using a straight, or straighter blade, is the ability to roof the puck while using you’re backhand. If you need any evidence, just have a look at Sidney Crosby’s stick and search “Crosby backhander” on YouTube.

Straight blades are now a thing of the past in the professional ranks. The only place you really see them is at recreation centres or schools that allow each player to curve them whatever way they want depending on their handedness.

So, how would a player with a straight blade perform in today’s game? It’s been almost 60 years since anyone used straight blades.

Pavel Barber, who’s a stickhandling specialist and creates YouTube videos breaking down some of the silkiest moves around, decided to buy an old vintage Northland lumber stick online, and tried his hand at using a straight blade in a beer league game.

As expected, it’s pretty tough to execute a toedrag with a straight curve, as there’s no hook or bend that easily allows for the puck to be cradled and shielded. Barber alluded to this in his post-video breakdown of the stick. While Barber isn’t your average beer leaguer, his backhander was still pretty ridiculous to see.

If you’re ever in need of a challenge, or are simply just a ringer playing in a division that’s well below your skill level, then why not try to the straight blade out just for some fun?

(h/t Pavel Barber)