Tale of the Tape: Modano Game Used Sticks, Part I

Mike used many types of hockey sticks during his illustrious career. I managed to get one or more of each except for maybe three, one of them being the Sherwood twig he used when he first entered the league with Minnesota. Sometimes I have fans or collectors ask me if their Modano stick is game used, and so, I thought it might be a good idea to document each era so that maybe it serves as a resource. This is part one and we'll look at the tape job patterns on the stick knob.

A chronological timeline of Modano's sticks and tape patterns post Louisville/Sherwood

The Easton Aluminum era lasted all the way through the Met Center years. There are different variants of the Easton Aluminum, both with wording on the shaft and colors of the graphics. The grip pattern on these sticks was less defined, usually with one layer of tape crisscrossed leading up to more of a defined knob on the end. The ends where wood and some were even marked. The markings, I have yet to decode, but most were present during the early North Stars years and had Mo's initials, "MM."

Easton AC 7000 obtained from Michel Goulet

For the 1993-94 season, Mo began using the Easton AC7000. Again, there are two versions of this stick. The tape pattern remains somewhat the same as the Aluminum, but with cloth tape for the knob. The AC only lasted a couple years, and soon after, for the 1995-96 season, Mo started using the Easton T-Flex. I should note that before Mo began using the T-Flex, there were a few games where he used the Easton Ultra-Light, but again, it was short lived. The T-Flex era is when we start noticing a substantial change in the tape pattern. There's more of an effort to create additional grip, and it's almost as if it keeps the same weight going into the knob. It's close, but the knob is still defined here. I'd say the tape job is also less organized; almost like there is more care to create a handle rather than one layer of tape. I have several of this model, with two of them being from the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals; one of which I managed to obtain from the Blues equipment manager after Game 5, Round 2.

1999 Easton T-Flex from Game 5, Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

After the T-Flex era, Easton rolls out the one-piece stick and so we have the Synergy. The tape job is very similar to the T-Flex, but less defined and definitely thinner. In the Synergy era, players like Modano started using wax and sticky substance on the shaft, so there was less need for tape. Modano mostly used three different variants of the Synergy. There was the silver model, which he used the most. The gold model and the lesser used orange model. In 2004, Reebok entered the market, and Mike began using the Reebok 7k. This was short lived as he began using Warrior soon after. But the 7k is one of the rare ones because Mo didn't use it as much; the tape job is similar to the T-Flex era.

Modano's Warrior Dolomite from his 502nd NHL career goal.

For the remainder of his career and final season with the Wings (2011), Mike used Warrior, primarily the Dolomite (he would use the Spyne and Widow with the Wings). For the most part, the tape job in the Warrior era is again similar to the T-Flex years. There's one noticeable change with the Wings. Most of those sticks were taped with hockey tape then taped over with cloth tape and again, a more defined knob. For part II, we'll look at what to know with regards to the flex and other markings of the shaft and blade.