Hockey players are known for tinkering with their equipment a lot, especially their sticks.
Whether it’s trying different flexes, curves, lengths or brands, players experiment a lot to find something they’re comfortable with. Another unique part of a player’s set up is their tape job. Most commonly, the differences you see in taping the stick can be summed up by covering the toe or not and how far toward the heel the tape goes.
However, there are a select few in hockey that wrap their twig in a unique way.
Even if it’s not every game, some players love to experiment with new tape jobs to break a slump or just try something new. Apparently, The Great One was one of those players. If you look through old photos of Wayne Gretzky, you’ll see different styles he uses – including one with a single strip of tape at the heel of the blade.
However, this is the first time we’ve seen this one and it might be the most unique tape job we’ve ever seen.
You have to love that old Titan too, which is only improved by this tape job. Split down the middle, we can call that one the Michael Strahan. That gap is so big it looks like his stick is missing a couple jibs.
So who has the most unique tape job in today’s NHL? We’d have to go with Artemi Panarin, who uses two different colours of tape to form a kind of “L” on the tip and bottom of his blade.
