What Kind of Wood Are Hockey Sticks Made Of? | Beyond The Modern Composite

If you picked up a wooden stick today, you are most likely holding ash. But the real answer has layers—literally. A wooden hockey stick is rarely a single piece of wood; it is a laminated core of several species, chosen for strength, weight, and flex, then wrapped in a fiberglass or epoxy coating. If you are shopping for a wood stick today, ash and birch lead the market, with maple reserved for premium models.

The Simple Answer: Ash Is The Classic Wood

Ash became the dominant material for hockey sticks in the 1920s and has never fully left. It bends well without snapping, absorbs vibration better than harder woods, and has a straight grain that makes layering predictable. Before ash, manufacturers used yellow birch and hornbeam (“ironwood”), which are denser but heavier. For a budget or beginner wood stick, ash is almost certainly what you are getting.

Other Wood Types Used In Hockey Sticks

Wooden sticks are rarely monolithic. The core might be birch or poplar—lighter and cheaper—with an ash face or a maple overlay for stiffness. Here is what each wood brings:

• Ash – The standard for blades and shafts. Good flex, good durability, moderate weight.
• Maple – Heavier and stiffer than ash. Used in premium sticks or as a reinforcing layer.
• Birch – Lighter than maple, less stiff than ash. Common in lower-cost laminated sticks.
• Willow – Historically used in early field hockey sticks; rare in modern ice hockey wood sticks.
• Hickory – Very heavy and tough. Used in some traditional field hockey sticks and early ice hockey.
• Mulberry – Occasional historical use in field hockey, not common in ice hockey today.

Most modern wooden sticks are laminated—layers of these woods glued cross-grain for strength—then coated with fiberglass to resist moisture and impact. If you want a high-quality wood stick that still feels light and responsive, check our top picks for wood hockey sticks; they list the specific wood blends and reinforcement each model uses.

How Wooden Hockey Sticks Differ From Composite Sticks

The main difference is material construction. A composite stick uses carbon-fiber sheets impregnated with resin, sometimes reinforced with fiberglass or Kevlar. They are lighter, stiffer, and more expensive. A wood stick is a layered wood core—sometimes solid wood, sometimes laminates—sealed with a fiberglass wrap. This makes it heavier but cheaper, and many players prefer its more “forgiving” feel and lower price. At the NHL level, composite sticks are universal; wood sticks are virtually absent.

A wooden stick is legal at all levels of play, but it is less common. Most players now use composites for weight savings and shot speed. The trade-off is durability—wood sticks can break on hard slapshot impacts more predictably than a high-end composite shaft can. The manufacturing process for a generic wood stick: select hardwood pieces, cut and shape them, sand, apply varnish or glue, laminate layers together if needed, cure, then fit the blade and apply a final finish. Wikipedia’s comprehensive history covers the evolution from solid wood carvings to modern laminates in detail.