Old photo of Stan Mikita’s hockey stick shows off his absurd curve

On Tuesday, Hockey Hall of Famer Stan Mikita passed away at the age of 78 and all of the hockey world mourned his passing.

As is the norm with a moment like this, people all over the internet chose to share their stories of Mikita and what made him such a special person and player. One story was of the maskless goalie, Glenn Hall, who hated practicing with the Blackhawks. Dave Stubbs shared the story and attached an image to explain why: The mini-stick-like hook on Mikita’s blade.

We’re always fascinated to hear about different curves, tape jobs and basically any other equipment preferences and this has to be one of the most extreme examples we’ve ever seen.

If you compare that curve to our list of the 6 most extreme toe curves in the NHL, the ones from today don’t even compare to those of the past. It truly looks like when someone goes too far when curving their mini stick. We wouldn’t be surprised if his stick contributed to the change in what constituted a legal blade to use.

We’re not sure we’ll ever see a curve like Mikita’s again in the NHL.