ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. - Since the 1800s, when the hockey stick is believed to have been invented, there's really only been two major changes.
Adding a curve to the blade, and changing the materials of the stick itself from wood to carbon-fiber.
That is until three years ago, when entrepreneur Andy Oman decided to go where no one has gone before: Crooked.
“It's just part of my personality,” says Elevate Hockey Owner and CEO Andy Oman. “I never accept the status quo. I always challenge what is and see if there is a better way of doing it.”
And what he came up with was both revolutionary… and a little scary
“That first stick was pretty crude and raw,” says Oman. “The original one. I just call it Frankenstein.”
His company is called Elevate Hockey. And this oddly shaped hockey stick is turning a lot of heads. Now on their third prototype, the process has been long.
“There’s a lot of investment that you're making, not in just money,” says Oman. “But in time without any proof and guarantee that it's going to work.”
They've worked with physics professors to get the shape perfect. Instead of being straight like the common stick, it's wavy and curved on both axes of the stick, making for better leverage.
“In practical terms, a faster shot. A quicker release and better accuracy, so those are the three things we're ultimately trying to deliver to the player,” says Oman.
They've had a lot of player feedback. With each redesign, Andy and his partners hold multiple testing sessions like the one KARE 11's Dave Schwartz was invited to.
In the early going, the reactions to the change were ... well, mixed.
“You know the reaction was a lot of questions coming after the Elevate stick gets one or two goals in the back of the net,” says Justin Huth, who has tested every prototype of the Elevate stick.
“I won’t say that it doesn't take some time to adapt,” says Oman. “We're under no delusions that people are going to change overnight, but I can see it happening in a shorter period of time.”
This current model is testing well. At this most recent session of the 30 skaters, 28 rated it better than their current stick. And those that have been testing from the beginning can really see the benefits.
“At first I wanted to give it a chance and it wasn’t doing anything for me,” says Trevor Larsen, who has tested every prototype of Elevate stick. “But as we were talking about, you have to literally let the stick do the work.”
With this most recent response, Elevate Hockey is now readying to take their product to market. They're looking for investors and will be starting a Kickstarter campaign in June with the fall as a target release date. And eventually his hope is to have the Elevate stick as common as a Bauer, CCM or Warrior.
“If dreams were to come true, then Elevate becomes the next major brand in the hockey market,” Oman says.
All by throwing a curve at what we traditionally believe a hockey stick should be.
For more information on the Elevate Hockey Kickstarter campaign or to become an investor go to: www.elevatehockey.net, or email Andy directly at Andy.Oman@elevatehockey.net.