European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 22007 Star s and stripes Page 37 new hockey stick punches holes in tradition equipment evolution continues with product that borrows Tennis technology by Michael Felberbaum the associated press Detroit red wings Center Pavel Matsyuk has scored five goals in the past seven games helping his team Clinch a playoff spot for the 16th consecutive sea son he might have a new stick with seven holes in the Shaft to thank for it the holes in the stick Are meant to reduce wind resistance by More than 20 percent while improving accuracy and durability Matsyuk who is in his fifth nil season has averaged about 17 Points per month since he started using Reebok new stick in mid december in the two months prior the russian had Tal lied less than 20 Points in about two months Matsyuk said it has improved his game enticed him to put More shots and More powerful ones on goal and allowed him to Block shots without breaking his stick during the Middle of a shift its a big Progress for Sticks he said if s what i needed Matsyuk was the first to adopt the stick but others Are slowly Fol lowing suit including Ottawa senators Winger Chris Neil and Van Couver canucks Center Bryan Smolinski and More converts Are Likely during the playoffs and after the Sticks retail launch in May for now Matsyuk int the Only player benefiting from using the stick one game after Pittsburgh clinched a playoff berth Colby armstrongs Backhander helped Canadian press Jeff the Detroit red wings Pavel Matsyuk is among the nil players using a new hockey stick that has seven holes in the Shaft the holes Are meant to reduce resistance while improving accuracy and durability the penguins reach 100 Points with a 42 Victory Over the Boston Bruins on thursday for me if s just a Comfort said Armstrong who had 22 Points in the nearly five months before using the new stick and has tallied 11 in the last month and a half Armstrong said the stick allows him to handle the puck better when it comes to Sticks play ers can already choose from traditional Wood aluminium fiber Glass Carbon fiber and other composite materials Wood Sticks still sell for As Little As about while the newest Sticks can Cost More than Sticks also have gotten lighter and lighter most now weighing less than a Pound the Story around the evolution of Sticks definitely is a Story of materials and in particular composite materials said Ken Covo director of research and development for Nike Bauer hockey has really allowed us to do different very Cool things with hockey Sticks the new Ostick borrows technology used in some Tennis rack ets said Yan Martin the director of marketing for Reebok com hockey and he said the less is More approach might be the next step in a game where timing is every thing the last thing we wanted to do was have something that s just Gimmicky Martin said and obviously when you have holes in a stick it can easily be perceived As stranger in a strange land Petty attends Montreal canadians game Behan Kurz or the associated press Martinsville a the sport was unfamiliar and so was the language that didst Stop Richard Petty from having a Good time at a hockey game it was a neat Deal he said the Stock car great attended a recent Montreal canadians game As the guest of team owner George Gillett or while admittedly being interested in hearing what Gillett or anyone else has to say about a possible partnership Petty made the most of the hockey experience he found it hard to understand what was going on because All those Guys spoke French no one said much when the canadians fell behind 20 he added but a five goal second period for the Home team fixed that closer to Home Petty Mark ing his 30year relationship with sponsor goods said the car of tomorrow was Long overdue Lascar notes weve been running basically the same car since 1981 and All Treyve done is refine it and pushed it around and made it look different because there moving the tops and the Bottoms he said the big Deal i think is the safety the cot which was to be used for the second consecutive week in sundays goods 500 at Martinsville Speedway is supposed to be safer for Drivers and More economical for teams the idea is that the cars will allow one car teams to compete better some Drivers have complaints you hear them complaining about the car Doest handle Good and the tracks Are rough said Petty a seven time Champion who retired in 1992 they want the tracks smooth Heck if the cars drove perfect and the tracks were perfect id still be driving Petty who once won 27 races in a season and believes his career record of 200 victories is Safe said he thinks the sport still has plenty of growing to do weve got 50 million fans or 80 million fans or whatever weve got he said weve got 300 Mil lion people out there weve got a Long Way to go Dasef Twett spat Dale Jarrett criticized Matt Kenseth for being an unnecessarily rough Driver after Contact Between the two last week at Bristol ended Jarretus race after 45 laps and sent him tumbling out of the top 35 in owner Points Jarrett also said then he planned to have a discussion with Kenseth but the Roush racing Driver said he had not spoken with Jarrett when they arrived in Martinsville on Friday he also said he want inclined to go look ing for him because hed done nothing wrong if i would have run into the Steve Richard Petty above talked business at a recent Montreal canadians game As the guest of team owner George ii Lett or Back of him i would have called him right away and talked to him about it Kenseth said he said during the race he tried to pass Jarrett several times finally got Well underneath him and then watched As Jarrett came Down the track and into Kenseth Lane from there Jar reefs car crashed i dont really feel like i was at fault he said something Gimmicky because it has never been done in the past Long before the innovations Wood Sticks were used by Hall of Farmers Bobby Hull Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr Hull reportedly recorded a slap shot faster than 118 Mph after Al Mclnnis used an Allwood Sherwood stick to hit a 99 Mph shot during the 200203 ail Star festivities he said so much for technology he there Are several current nil players that continue to use wooden Sticks including Bobby Holik of the Atlanta Thrashers and Ottawa senators Center Jason Spezza the 23yearold Spezza said that while Hes tried composite Sticks they just dont have the same feel of the Wood Sticks he grew up using the first hockey Sticks were whittled from Canadian tree trunks in the 1800s in december 2006 a stick believed to have been carved Between 1852 and 1856 was sold at auction for million and put on display at the hockey Hall of Fame in 1976 the fibreglass Blade was introduced on the hockey stick five years later the nil approved the use of aluminium shafts and in 1994 composite Sticks made their first appear Ance it really changed the game said Ned Goldsmith the vice pres ident of Easton hockey you see players now All Over the ice getting these very Quick passes and very Quick shots off without having to make a big motion with their body and that time is every thing in a sport that moves so quickly Skinner takes truck race at Martinsville the associated press Martinsville a Mike Skinner started on the pole and stayed out front virtually All Day at Martinsville Speedway on sat urday leading All but seven of 253 laps to win his third consecutive Lascar craftsman truck series race coming off victories at califor Nia and Atlanta Skinner set a series record by leading 246 laps and won for the 22nd time in his f career he became Only the Sec Ond Driver in the series to win twice on the Small tight Oval at Martinsville this was about As Good As it gets right Here he said in Victory Lane Skinner beat Todd Bodine to the finish by 0527 seconds after the 15th caution of the race brought about a two Lap dash to the finish in overtime in All the race went 253 laps and 85 of them were run under a yellow Flag because of numerous Acci dents