A Spotlight On Innovative Companies Doing Cool Things In The Hockey World
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 /
By / Andrew Chong, editor
YouBobble
www.youbobble.com
YouBobble.com was inspired by a fourth-year thesis on 3D imaging by Riyaz Datoo at the Schulich School of Business in Ontario.
Given the surge in digital photography, the idea was to enable anyone to use a simple digital photo they captured, and have it turned into a custom bobblehead.
Traditionally, bobbleheads have been exclusive to celebrities due to very high mold fees.
YouBobble.com has made it affordable for anyone by streamlining production and pre-creating 200 different body themes.
They focus on custom bobbleheads for hockey teams (custom face, jersey, name and number) starting at around $120.
This was a niche introduced in part by Don Cherry, through a promotion with Cold FX, where YouBobble.com created a bobblehead of Cherry.
After publicly endorsing the quality, he ordered 12,000 more. Now, anyone can feel like a celebrity with their own bobblehead.
Don Cherry fans may be interested to know that their very own bobblehead look-a-likes can be created by the same artistic team that worked on Canada’s hockey icon.
Easton EQ50
www.eastonhockey.com
Easton’s new EQ50 stick immediately draws attention to itself because of the uniqueness of the Focus Weight Technology in the blade.
A15-gram weight embedded in the heel of the blade “redistributes weight to the impact area to control hard passes and keep the puck on your blade.”
The customizable weighted end cap makes the stick feel less like a hollow, can-break-anytime, usual one-piece stick and more like a strong, sturdy (but still ultra-light) balanced piece of material.
As Easton says, “Weight at the end of the stick counter balances the blade for optimal swing weight.”
“Easton has a long history of creating game-changing equipment that helps athletes perform better,” says Chris Zimmerman, president of Easton Sports.
Mike Mountain, Easton Sports’ director of sticks and blades, says this stick takes things to a whole new level for players looking for high performance.
“At Easton, we want all of our products to not only improve the game of hockey but to change it,” he said. “The idea of providing a lightweight stick with great puck feel as well as control to hockey players drove this particular project.”
HockeyShot
www.hockeyshot.com
Hockeyshot.ca prides itself in being the best source in hockey training and skill-building aids.
They have all the top training tools to help players of all levels improve shooting, stickhandling, passing and fitness.
Some of HockeyShot’s top-selling products are shooting pads, dryland flooring tiles, goals, targets, shooting tarps, stickhandling pucks and balls, passing aids, instructional DVDs, and coaching aids.
They also offer a wide variety of free hockey tips and videos to help players take their skills to the next level.
HockeyShot’s website is full of resources, from instructional videos to in-depth product review.
Items can be purchased directly from the site and products are sorted into categories: Shooting, Passing & Stickhandling, Skating, Hockey Training, Coaching, Goaltender Training, Synthetic Ice, and Other.
There is also a huge section of hockey tips with drills, articles, and a variety of helpful links.
The hockeyshot.com website also features a full-site search engine, as well as a helpful resource centre to assist site visitors in finding appropriate hockey training centres and tournaments.
Got a cool company? Email [email protected]
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