Stands for adolescents at $ 500: “it’s the worst anarch”, estimates a hockey worker

Several interveners in the hockey community deplore that companies like CCM or Bauer get their pockets full by selling sticks intended for adolescent hockey players at prices up to nearly $ 500, such as the intermediate level vizion model, which is Details $ 429.99 before taxes.

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“The sticks are the worst scam,” said one of them, who works in the field of equipment.

“It’s a bit like the Nike shoes, illustrates Dany Chevalier, managing director of Hockey Charlesbourg. Young people see the others who will be dressed with a brand, so they want to be dressed with the same brand. ”

“It makes me sad,” he adds, “sometimes the parents refuse to pay this price for a stick, so the young person will ask his family members to buy it at his party , For example.”

“And as it breaks, a stick, there is a good chance that, six months later, his gift would be broken.”

It will not buy goals

All the more, he points out, that for most young adolescents, for example, there is no need to spend so much for a stick. Especially because their weight is not yet high enough to be able to take advantage of the flexibility offered by these models.

“The little guy, he doesn’t Score No more goals because he has that stick, ”says Mr. Chevalier.

For almost 20 years, the former hockey player of the Canadian Alexandre Picard did not have to pay for his equipment, which was provided by the teams for which he evolved. “I made the jump when I saw the prices,” he admits.

Her son also plays hockey. “It is in secondary 1, so we are in the middle of it, the sticks,” he explains. If he has never unfolded $ 400 or $ 500, he still emphasizes that “$ 350 is not bad the standard”.

Alexandre Picard regrets especially that some parents pay colossal sums for their children of novice age, 8 or 9 years old. “At that age, a stick at $ 30 from the Canadian is doing the trick,” he said.

Marketing … from $ 30 to $ 350

Like the other speakers, the ex-defenseman estimates that a large proportion of the cost is linked to the marketing aspect. Connor McDavid for example, plays in particular with the CCM Jetspeed FT5 Pro. The newspaper asked for an interview from the company, but did not answer.

This model, in the intermediary (for young adolescents), details $ 379.99 at regular price.

“Young people want a stick like that of Connor Bedard, for example,” explains Alexandre Picard. They associate the equipment with these players. There are solutions to save, but there is additional pressure [des jeunes].»

“Of course there is research and development in there,” says a worker in the field of equipment confidentially. But their partnerships with McDavid or Sidney Crosby, they also have to pay them. ”

Now 39 years old, Alexandre Picard has himself already succumbed to this younger phenomenon. He still remembers very well with his famous white wooden stick associated with the first season in the NHL Teemu Selanne, in 1992-1993.

“When I got it, it was the best day of my life!” The difference is that it cost $ 30 in time, not $ 350! ”