(Durham, NH)- With the NCAA hockey season winding down, teams are unable to order shipments of sticks from their sponsored manufacturers due to the coronavirus outbreak.
With several large companies making their sticks in China, factories have been backed up and orders have not been able to process to the United States. In an interview, UNH equipment manager Brandon Guidotti, says that “The NHL takes priority” when ordering sticks. Manufacturers in China are focusing on shipments out to NHL teams first, leaving some college teams to find a different method of ordering sticks. The UNH Men’s Hockey team has been impacted by this, but has found an alternate way of getting sticks. Colin Shank, Associate Athletic Director for Hockey Operations at UNH states via email that, “Currently we have been getting stock sticks and haven’t had to order custom sticks at the moment.” Pro Stock sticks are shipments of sticks sold in the US that are the same brand, but are a slightly different style than custom sticks. Guidotti mentions that the players do not mind using these types of sticks.
Because of the delay in China, large shipments of custom sticks would not arrive in time for the end of the season, so UNH will continue to use Pro stock sticks in their final two games of the season vs Boston College, and potentially playoffs.
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