Hockey Sticks: Flex, Length, Kick Point & Blade Curves
Rink Hunters staff are gear obsessed, and sticks are a piece of gear we especially nerd out on. A stick is really four decisions stacked on top of each other — how long it is, how much it bends, where it bends, and what shape the blade is. The right stick will feel like magic in your hands. Start with the Stick Explorer below to turn your size and your game into a starting range, then use the Curve Explorer to see how the P88, P92, P28, P90TM and P86 blades differ — and the pros and cons of each.
The Stick Explorer
Seven questions · updates as you answer · nothing is sent anywhereYour starting point
Ranges, not rules — try before you commit where you canEvery one of these specs comes down to personal preference in the end. Treat this as a starting point — a framework for thinking about what you actually want in a stick, and what makes sense for you.
Read this before you buy: every number above is a starting range built from the standard fitting rules of thumb, not a measurement of you. Two players with identical height, weight and position routinely end up on different sticks and both are right. If a shop will let you handle a demo stick, or a teammate will let you take a few shots with theirs, that beats any calculator — including this one.
The Curve Explorer (Common Curves)
Looking down at the top of a right-handed blade · curve exaggerated for clarityThese graphics aren't exact reproductions — they're drawn to convey the general difference between blade curves.
All five right-handed blades, sighted down the blade at the same angle and scale — the way you'd compare them holding two sticks up in a shop. Pick one to open it below.
What it gives you
What it costs you
“Equivalent” means close, not identical. Brands publish their own lie and blade height for these codes, and the shapes drift a little from year to year — treat a cross-brand swap as a new pattern you happen to like the sound of.
Every common pattern, side by side
Tap any row to load that blade into the Curve Explorer above. Lie is the manufacturer's published spec for the Bauer code; equivalents at other brands sometimes differ by half a number.
| Code | Curve type | Depth | Face | Lie | Best at | Worst at |
|---|
A note on depth: manufacturer charts rate all of these “medium,” and no common retail pattern is dramatically deeper than another — what actually separates them is where along the blade the curve sits, which is what the curve type column describes. Be sceptical of any chart ranking these by depth. Curve type, face and lie come from manufacturer pattern charts. “Best at” and “worst at” describe what the shape makes easy or hard — not who should use it. Every one of these patterns is used by pros at every position, and a curve you shoot well with beats a curve that suits your position on paper.
Patterns you'll also run into
- P91A — a mid-heel curve with a slightly open face. Older, less common at retail now, but a favourite of players who want the puck sitting back toward the heel for heavy shots.
- PM9 / P14 — the traditional heel and closed-face family. Very flat face, very controlled, hardest to elevate. Increasingly rare on shelves.
- “M” versions (P92M, P28M, M03, M88) — the same curve with max blade height. See below.
- Pro-stock codes like PRO9246 — factory patterns that never got a retail name. Sometimes they're the source of a retail curve (the P86 grew out of one), sometimes they're one player's one-off. Buy them for the price, not the promise.
Max blade: what the “M” means
A max blade is the same curve on a taller blade. Height is measured from the ice to the top edge. The M at the end of a code (P92M, P28M, P90TM) marks it, and Bauer's curve chart flags it with an asterisk. Curve, face and lie stay the same. Retail guides put the extra height at a few millimetres, mostly toward the toe.
- Why players like it: more blade to catch passes and block shots, and less chance of a bouncing puck riding over the top.
- Why some don't: a bit more weight and surface out at the toe, which some players notice when stickhandling in tight. Try one before you switch.
- On this page: height can't be seen from above, so the Curve Explorer draws every blade at the same thickness. Of the five common curves, the P90TM is the one usually sold as a max blade. Its standard-height version is the P90T.
Flex: A number worth experimenting with
Flex is how many pounds of force it takes to bend the shaft one inch. An 85 flex needs 85 lb; a 65 flex needs 65 lb. Lower number, softer stick. That's the whole definition — the rest is what you do with it.
When you shoot, you're not just swinging a lever, you're loading a spring. Lean into the stick, the shaft bends, and it snaps straight as the puck leaves the blade and adds speed you didn't generate with your arms. If the stick is too stiff for you, that never happens: you're swinging a broom handle. If it's too soft, it collapses under a real shot and sprays pucks everywhere.
Half your body weight is the classic starting point — 160 lb player, 80 flex. It's a decent first guess and a terrible last word. A 150 lb beginner and a 150 lb junior with a real shot should not be on the same stick.
Cutting the stick stiffens it
This is the part that surprises people. Shortening a stick shortens the lever, so the same shaft takes more force to bend the same distance. The rough industry number is about 3 to 4 flex points per inch removed. Cut four inches off an 85 and you're effectively shooting a stiff 100. If your fitted length is well under the uncut length, buy the flex below what the weight rule says.
How to tell you're on the wrong flex
- Too stiff: your wrist and snap shots feel like all arms, the puck comes off flat and slow, and you can't visibly bend the shaft on a normal shot.
- Too soft: pucks flutter and sail, passes are inconsistent, and the stick feels whippy or vibrates when you lean on it in a battle.
- The eye test: have someone film you shooting from the side. On a good shot you should be able to see the shaft bow.
One more thing that has nothing to do with the number: flex ratings aren't standardized between brands. A CCM 85 and a Bauer 85 don't have to feel the same, and neither has to match a Warrior 85. Pick a number, then judge the stick in your hands.
Flex preference may change as your shot evolves.
Length and lie: the two that make it feel like yours
Length
Two different things get called “length,” which is where most of the confusion comes from. The number on the stick — and the number you cut to — is the shaft length, measured from the heel of the blade to the butt end. A senior stick is about 60 to 64 inches that way. But you don't fit a stick with a tape measure. You fit it standing up: put the stick upright on the toe of its blade, in your skates, and see where the butt end lands.
- Collarbone: short. Best puck control in tight, quickest hands, the easiest length to keep the puck in front of you. Costs you reach.
- Chin: the middle. What most players end up on.
- Nose and above: long. More reach for poke checks and for keeping forwards to the outside, more leverage on heavy shots from distance. Costs you handling speed in tight and can push the puck away from your body.
In shoes rather than skates, the same range is roughly chin to nose — skates add a couple of inches you don't want to forget about. And when you do cut, cut in half-inch steps and re-tape. You can always take more off. You can't put it back.
Lie
Lie is the angle between the shaft and the blade — how upright the stick stands when the blade is flat on the ice. Common retail lies run 5 to 6, and each whole number is about two degrees. Higher number, more upright shaft, puck carried closer to your feet. Lower number, more open angle, puck carried farther out in front.
You don't really choose lie so much as inherit it: it comes attached to the blade pattern you pick. What you can do is check it. Look at the bottom of a blade you've used for a season — the wear should be even from heel to toe. All the wear at the heel means the toe is riding up and your lie is too low for your stance. All the wear at the toe means the opposite.
Length and lie work together. Cutting a stick down effectively raises how upright it feels in your hands, and adding an extension does the reverse. If you change your length by more than an inch or two, expect the blade to sit differently on the ice and give it a few skates.
Kick point: where the stick bends
Flex says how much the shaft bends. Kick point says where. That spot is where the stored energy releases, and it decides whether a stick is built for a fast shot or a heavy one.
Low kick
Loads near the blade. The fastest release of the three — built for wrist and snap shots taken in traffic where you get half a second. Less rewarding on a full slap shot from the point.
Mid kick
Loads in the middle of the shaft, over a longer windup. The most power on slap shots, one-timers and long-range wristers. Slower to release when someone's on you.
Hybrid
Sits between the two, usually a bit closer to the blade. The safe answer if you take a bit of everything, and what a lot of all-round sticks are built around.
Every brand names its kick point differently and most of them market it harder than it deserves. Kick point is real, but it's a smaller effect than length and flex — a stick that's the right length with a flex you can load will out-shoot the perfect kick point you can't.
Which stick line is which
Model names change every year. The family almost never does — Bauer's Vapor has been the quick-release line for well over a decade, and CCM's Tacks has been the power line for just as long. Learn the families and you can walk into any shop, ignore the wall of names, and go straight to the right three sticks.
Current as of September 2026. Lineups, model names and tiers change every season — check the year of the stick you're considering before buying, especially secondhand.
| Kick point | Brand | Family | Where it loads blade ← → hands |
Recent examples | What it's built for |
|---|
Kick points come from each brand's own descriptions of its lines, and the models listed are examples rather than a full catalogue. When a name disappears, expect the family that replaces it to behave the way that family always has. Rink Hunters isn't affiliated with any of these brands and doesn't sell sticks.
Every family also comes in tiers. The same Vapor or Tacks name appears at four or five price points in a season. Moving up the tiers within one family buys lighter weight and better balance — it does not change the kick point, and it will not fix a stick that's the wrong length or flex for you.
Try before you buy
Numbers on a page will only get you to a shortlist. Our Hockey Shops directory lists pro shops across the U.S. and Canada — the ones with a shooting area or a demo rack are where a shortlist turns into the right stick.
Find a hockey shop near you →Keep reading
Skate Sharpening & the Radius of Hollow does for your edges what this page does for your stick. Rink Lingo decodes the rest of the vocabulary you'll hit at the rink, Hockey Training lists coaches and skills programs, and Find a Rink gets you the ice to test all of it on.