Howies Hockey Takes

NHL Trades That Just Make Sense (To Us)
The trade deadline is rapidly approaching, and the playoff picture is getting tighter, and tighter. Some teams are looking to make that last move to become a true Cup Contender. Others are looking to dish their star players, in exchange for some draft capital. The trade deadline is one of the more exciting weeks in the NHL season. Players are shipped off to a new city, and suit up for their new squad within days of the deal. As the deadline approaches on March 3rd, the trade rumors continue to buzz. After some office banter, the team at Howies decided...

Hockey Superstitions
A superstition is an unjustified belief that the causation of a certain event is directly correlated with a very specific action. The bad luck that comes with opening an umbrella indoors, walking under a ladder, or walking by a black cat on Friday the 13th, are all real life examples of superstitions as old as time. They say that Hockey Players are the most superstitious athletes, and there is good truth to that. Looking back through history, and talking with some fellow Howies employees. Here are The Best Hockey Superstitions. The Same Lunch Every Game Day Josh VanderWel, the Director of...

NHL TJ's
Here at Howies we know that taping your stick is an art. You can tape heel to toe, toe to heel, tape the toe or leave it exposed, you can even choose between black and white or even colored cloth. But have you ever wondered how players in the NHL tape their twigs? Most go the traditional route like you and I, simple yet classic. But these guys take TJs to a whole new level... Ranger's player Artemi Panarin has a hard time choosing between white or black, so why not both? David Pastrnak of the Bruins clearly...

Chris Davidson-Adams; Howies in the Pros
We sat down with long-time Howies fan Chris Davidson-Adams to find out why he trusts Howies for his players. If you don't recognize the name, Chris is the Head Equipment Manager for the Vegas Golden Knights. Read on to hear what he had to say... Tell us about how you got started in professional hockey: While I was playing JV hockey in high school, my assistant coach was a security guard at the arena where the Grand Rapids Griffins (at that time in the IHL) play. The Griffins’ Equipment Manager was looking for some kids to volunteer to fill water...

Howies Humor - Hockey Memes
Take a little time to laugh, courtesy of Howies and friends!
credit: @hockeytrolls
credit: @hockeymemes
credit: @hockeytrolls
credit: @hockeytrolls
credit: @hockeytrolls
credit: @hockeytrolls
credit: @hockeytrolls
credit: @nhl.com
credit: @winkgo
credit: @winkgo

Howies Picks
It’s time for the release of the long awaited, 2022 NHL Mock Draft - Howies edition. The buzz of the Stanley Cup is still very much alive. The Colorado Avalanche are plastered everywhere, and they earned it. There’s no greater accomplishment than getting your name engraved into the silver and nickel treasure that is the Stanley Cup, touched by the greats before you. But while Landeskog and the boys are still celebrating their victory, next season’s draft is already in the works and will be taking place this Thursday and Friday, July 7th & 8th. And there seems to be...

Top 5 Gifts for the Season
The holidays are right around the corner and it's never to early to secure the best Howies Christmas gifts of the season! Check out the Top 5 Christmas Gifts to buy for the hockey player in your life now and get shopping! Loaded Accessory Bag The Howies Loaded Accessory Bag comes pre-loaded with all the things you will need for the season. From Tape and Skate Stones to Stick Wax and Scissors, this bag is the one stop shop for hockey players of any age! Not to mention, you get to put all of your new accessories right...

Howies Taping Tips
At Howies, we have seen our fair share of perfect TJs, that being said, we have also seen even more grisly, filthy TJs if we are being honest (and not the good kind of filthy). If you happened to find yourself on this page, there is a decent chance your TJs are looking like Panarin with the "Roller Daddy" single strip because you're not sure what else to do. But low and behold, there is hope for you yet! The Howies team has put together some of our best taping tips to get you taping like a Pro! Pre Taping...

2021 NHL Mock Draft
It’s about that time. It’s time for our mock draft for the upcoming NHL Draft. We're predicting the top ten players to be drafted in the first round. However, it's a bummer that the draft is virtual again this year. Hopefully, things get better by 2022 because I'm not sure if I can handle another virtual draft where guys log into their Zoom accounts and begin their careers by hoping that their Wi-Fi doesn’t cut out. I miss all the people in the stands booing every pick. I miss the TSN guys scrambling to find highlights on Moritz Seider because the...
How often should I retape my hockey stick?
We have already covered why we tape our hockey stick, but now we need to figure out how often we should be retaping. We need to retape our sticks when the cloth starts to wear out, falls off, or is ripping from the stick. All of these instances can be caused from puck marks, shooting the puck, ice and snow getting under the adhesive and more. Let’s start with shooting and passing the puck. This wears the tape out because the edges of the puck start to scrape the tape and also leave puck marks. Like any tape, anytime you start...

Why do hockey players tape their hockey stick?
While we all continue to buy roll after roll of hockey tape and do TJ after TJ but do we actually know why we are taping our hockey sticks? When it comes down to it, there are rather basic functions that hockey tape is servicing but if you have a tape that doesn’t have quite the right stick or falls off as soon as you hit the ice, you are going to be running into more issues than goals. So why do we tape a hockey stick? Well, initially the tape is there to protect your hockey stick. You aren’t...

Howies x BLPA
When it comes to Beer League, we think of the Beer League Players Association. Being that most of our Howies crew is dedicated to playing Beer League (no, unfortunately none of us made it to the show) we saw nothing but a great collaboration with the BLPA! Traveling all of the States and even internationally, the BLPA successfully gives all of us Beer Leaguers an elite experience of being drafted to a great team with great sweaters, new friends and of course a few drinks. If you are interested in following along on this tournament experience, check out...