I imagine the most common retort— to playing hockey with a straight blade especially at higher levels—to be that it’s impossible to control the puck and to shoot with it so why bother?
Hockey is a defiant game, the sport of kings somebody once told me. The game arising in the first instance is sort of a miracle given how difficult it is to play. But mirroring the improbability of it is one of the points of playing straight. The place it will leave you will be far different than the one you started in and certainly far from the one opponents who choose not undertake the challenge will be found at. Think of what it will make you overcome. Think of the demands of the challenge. Where blades do most of the work now for these booming shots coming off players sticks all of the skill, art and precision of shots coming off a straight blade must be generated by the players using it.
Its extremely hard to play skillfully with a straight blade but it’s not impossible. Like playing the game. So the next time someone thinks the idea is crazy or can’t be done— I beg them to ask where the game would be if someone proposed playing a hockey game without ever seeing one played.
Playing straight means puck play happens inside an infinite variety for receiving and delivering the puck so players would become extremely adaptable teammates and deadly opponents. So playing straight would mean getting the most out of yourself when responding to the game.
Why do we play sports? To compete for some thing? We play sports for recreation, for fun and excitement, to share experiences with others, to develop ourselves and others, to see what we can create together, for the experiences, to lose ourselves and see what we’re made of..