Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Hockey stick
A hockey stick is used to move a ball or puck in field hockey or ice hockey.
In ice hockey, the stick is about 1.5 meters long with a flat blade 10 to 15 cm long at the end which contacts the ice. The blade describes about a 45 degree angle, giving the stick a partly L-shaped appearance. This blade is sometimes curved (in the direction toward which the skater moves forward), to aid in retaining the puck. The shaft of the stick is fairly rigid, but it has some flexibility because some shots in hockey depend on bending the stick slightly to store up energy. Hockey sticks have traditionally been made from wood, but in recent years sticks made from carbon fiber and other composite materials have become common. Most players in the NHL, widely recognized as the premier league in the world, have moved towards compostite fiber sticks, recognizing their superior preformance.
In field hockey, the stick is somewhat shorter and has a U-shaped end or blade.
The "Hockey Stick graph" is a nickname for the Mann et al temperature reconstruction of the last millennium.
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