50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick

By Peter Manchester

From the days when proto-humans lashed animal jawbones to sticks and whacked wildebeest-poop slapshots in Olduvai Arena to today’s super-high-tech computer-assisted extravaganzas, one by-product of the hockey game has gone unnoticed and untapped. Until now . . . In 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick, Peter Manchester transforms the agony of a fractured stick into the thrill of creation. Instructions and explicit cartoons show woodworkers of all abilities how to fashion items for outdoors, items for indoors, and items without any purpose at all. No basement artiste will ever throw away a broken hockey stick again. The finished projects will delight friends and win the respect of detractors, even those in the maker’s own household. Using broken hockey sticks as tomato stakes is elementary compared with crafting a Walking Stick or a Piñata Stick. But Manchester goes far beyond making a stick out of a stick; his inventions encompass the full potential of this free and almost infinite resource. Even in this age of miracle materials, ordinary recreational hockey sticks are a tough, flexible composite of resin and wood, and the broken pieces are just too good to throw away. Truly practical designs include a modern Travois, a springy, long-range Catapult, and a Toilet Paper Holder for the well-appointed fishing camp. Science fair projects leap from the pages of 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick: a Wind Vane, a combination Sun Dial and Snow Depth Gauge, and a Geodesic Dome that requires plenty of duct tape. Accessories for the home include a Curtain Rod for the bedroom of a hockey-crazed kid and a Lamp that really works. Fathers and children can bond as they manufacture gifts and sporting goods: a Pot Rack, a Wind Sail, an Ice Croquet Set, and a Bathroom Occupancy Designator. The book’s pièce de résistance is the Mock Moose, a trophy made from a skate and at least four stick blades.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Goose Lane Editions
• Release date: Sep 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9780864925480

Peter Manchester

An accomplished illustrator and painter, Peter Manchester lives in Sackville, New Brunswick. His passion for discovering the magnificent in the mundane extends beyond hockey sticks into the realm of history, an interest enflamed by his experience as a museum curator. Totally without the aid of research, he illuminates the march of progress from pre-history to the post-rink life of the hockey stick. 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick was his first foray into authorship.

Book preview

50 Things to Make

with a Broken

Hockey Stick

50 Things to Make

with a Broken

Hockey Stick

PETER MANCHESTER

Text and illustrations copyright © Peter Manchester, 2002.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any requests for photocopying of any part of this book should be directed in writing to the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

Edited by Rhona Sawlor.

Cover illustrations by Peter Manchester.

Cover design by Paul Vienneau.

Book design by Julie Scriver.

Printed in Canada by Transcontinental Printing.

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National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Manchester, Peter, 1952-

50 things to make with a broken hockey stick / Peter Manchester, author and illustrator.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-86492-358-9

1. Hockey sticks — Humor.   2. Hockey sticks.   3. Canadian wit and humor (English)   I. Title.   II. Title: Fifty things to make with a broken hockey stick.

PN6231.H54M35 2002             C818'.602             C2002-903640-2

Published with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program, and the New Brunswick Culture and Sports Secretariat.

Goose Lane Editions

Suite 330, 500 Beaverbrook Court

Fredericton, New Brunswick

CANADA E3B 5X4

www.gooselane.com

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Ice Sail

2. Mock Moose

3. Catapult

4. Pasta Dryer

5. Piñata Stick

6. Firewood Holder

7. Beach Chair

8. Doll Cradle

9. Sundial / Snow Depth Gauge

10. Curtain Rod

11. Back Scratcher

12. Luge

13. Book Ends

14. Travois

15. Key Holder

16. Canoe Paddle

17. Walking Stick / Remote

18. Quilt Stand

19. Wind Block

20. Bathroom Accessories

21. Washtub Bass

22. Water Balloon Launcher

23. Pot Rack

24. Golf Club Rack and Rangefinder

25. Japanese Sandals

26. Library-Style Newspaper Holder

27. Kayak Hockey Stick

28. Geodesic Dome

29. Mock Microphone Stand

30. Lamp

31. Jack-o-Lantern Holder

32. Ice Croquet Set

33. Windmill

34. Stilts

35. Puck Display Shelf

36. Trellis

37. GPS (Global Positioning Stick)

38. Hat Rack

39. Shoe Horn

40. Ribbon Dance Baton

41. Action Figure

42. Door Knocker

43. CD Holder

44. Weather Vane

45. Guitar Stand

46. Hobby Horse

47. Backpack

48. Pooper Scooper

49. Massage Wheel

50. Marimba

Index

Introduction

Skating on the first ice of winter, hockey stick in hand, makes a person feel like an artist gazing on a newly gessoed canvas: anything is possible. The most outrageous manoeuvres seem attainable, the season brims with possibilities. Sadly, gravity, dexterity, and a host of other factors chip away at our fantasy, and reality comes calling. All aspiring athletes feel the inequality between ourselves and the pros. Yet every last player in the NHL uses the same tools and equipment available to the local rink rat. Of course, the professional player’s skates and stick might cost many hundreds of dollars, and the uniforms and padding are all customized and therefore very expensive. But every hockey player has a hockey stick that is much like everyone else’s. Research shows that price is the number one factor in buying a hockey stick. Most of us are cheapskates (cheap-sticks?), but, no matter how much we pay, every stick can end up broken and discarded.

When a hockey player’s exuberance on ice leads to the busting up of a hockey stick, and it is cast aside, seemingly worthless, a small thought balloon pops up. In the recesses of any hockey-obsessed brain, a premonition lurks: a broken stick is not trash. It has potential, unseen possibilities. As the gardens of hockey playing families will attest, broken sticks make great tomato stakes in the rough sledding months of summer, but take heed: they are a resource worthy of greater works.

The hockey stick has a spotty and colourful past. Theories vary as to who came up with the first one. Like anyone flummoxed by research, I have made up my own Eurocentric version, based on no research whatsoever, with apologies to the true pioneers.

1. Ice Sail

When the icy gales of December blow, forget this hockey business. With broken hockey sticks and a garbage bag, you can fly across the ice like a paleo fun-seeker with his mammoth rib rig. If you have awning scraps, or, heaven forbid, you buy a length of sailcloth, your ice sail will last longer.

Make an A shape out of three pieces of broken stick, drill holes, and bolt them together. Keep the bolt ends facing away from you and cover them with duct tape. (A high speed encounter with metal parts can be unpleasant.) An extra cross piece near the point makes a useful handle and gives better balance under full sail. Use a staple gun to attach the awning fabric/sailcloth/garbage bag. If you are using a garbage bag, the copious use of duct tape is advisable along the stapled edges.

Ice is derived from the Sanskrit word for smooth, according to author Wayne Grady. That is the kind of ice you want, and you will