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what happened to GRAF?

AintLifeGrand

AintLifeGrand

Burnin Jet-A
Apr 8, 2009
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GreatestSnowOnEarth
Back in my playing days GRAF skates were the shit-expensive and had a sick cadre of guys in the show who wore their shit

Are there any guys in the show that wear their skates?

What happened?
 
The Canadian branch went bankrupt. Vaughn bought them. They fell behind and apart on several fronts. I know that Price and Rask used their skates. Sadly, the NA market is now dominated by Bauer, with leftovers going to CCM. GRAF still functions in Europe though.
 
Troubadour said:
The Canadian branch went bankrupt. Vaughn bought them. They fell behind and apart on several fronts. I know that Price and Rask used their skates. Sadly, the NA market is now dominated by Bauer, with leftovers going to CCM. GRAF still functions in Europe though.
Click to expand...

I think it's actually the reverse. All the top NHL stars wear CCM head-to-toe... see: Crosby, Ovechkin, Bergeron, McDavid, McKinnon, Rantanen, Matthews, Hischier, Panarin
 
ForsbergForever said:
I think it's actually the reverse. All the top NHL stars wear CCM head-to-toe... see: Crosby, Ovechkin, Bergeron, McDavid, McKinnon, Rantanen, Matthews, Hischier, Panarin
Click to expand...

"Leftovers" was a stretch that should have been reserved for the likes of Warrior and True, but last time I checked, CCM had only a slight lead in the sticks and helmet department among NHLers while Bauer completely dominated the skate, pant and glove market.
 
Geargeek has brand totals for NHL players for sticks, skates, gloves, helmets, and pants.

GearGeek: NHL Hockey Equipment Stats Database

Find out what gear is being used by your favorite NHL player, what are the most popular hockey brands and view stat breakdowns by equipment type and model.
www.geargeek.com www.geargeek.com

As of Nov 15, 2022:

Sticks: 39% Bauer, 37% CCM, 17% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood
Skates: 68% Bauer, 21% CCM, 10% True
Gloves: 38% Bauer, 36% CCM, 20% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood, <1% Easton
Pants: 45% Bauer, 44% CCM, 11% Warrior
Helmets: 49% CCM, 42% Bauer, 9% Warrior, <1% Easton
 
Last edited:
You can ask this question with nearly an endless number of defunft brands and get a similar answer.

ForsbergForever said:
I think it's actually the reverse. All the top NHL stars wear CCM head-to-toe... see: Crosby, Ovechkin, Bergeron, McDavid, McKinnon, Rantanen, Matthews, Hischier, Panarin
Click to expand...

CCM has the large majority of super-duper stars but a lot of the 2nd tier stars and overall NHL wear Bauer. Check the poster above's link.
 
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Filthy Dangles said:
You can ask this question with nearly an endless number of defunft brands and get a similar answer.



CCM has the large majority of super-duper stars but a lot of the 2nd tier stars and overall NHL wear Bauer. Check the poster above's link.
Click to expand...

I remember when TPS was bought by sherwood and then the name disappeared. I don't even think the 'TPS' technology is even used by them anymore
 
Captain Charisma said:
Geargeek has brand totals for NHL players for sticks, skates, gloves, helmets, and pants.

GearGeek: NHL Hockey Equipment Stats Database

Find out what gear is being used by your favorite NHL player, what are the most popular hockey brands and view stat breakdowns by equipment type and model.
www.geargeek.com www.geargeek.com

As of Nov 15, 2022:

Sticks: 39% Bauer, 37% CCM, 17% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood
Skates: 68% Bauer, 21% CCM, 10% True
Gloves: 38% Bauer, 36% CCM, 20% Warrior, 6% True, 1% Sherwood, <1% Easton
Pants: 45% Bauer, 44% CCM, 11% Warrior
Helmets: 49% CCM, 42% Bauer, 9% Warrior, <1% Easton
Click to expand...
yoooo is Easton still kicking??


Also, no one rocking Tacklas anymore??

Filthy Dangles said:
You can ask this question with nearly an endless number of defunft brands and get a similar answer.



CCM has the large majority of super-duper stars but a lot of the 2nd tier stars and overall NHL wear Bauer. Check the poster above's link.
Click to expand...
Bauer is way cooler than CCM..
 
I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS
 
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ForsbergForever said:
I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS
Click to expand...

Wow, quite a bit of nostalgia in that list. Never really realized how many brands have disappeared.
 
ForsbergForever said:
I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS
Click to expand...

It's probably nearly an infinite list of defunct brands you can list.....Christian, Franklin, Eagle, Daoust, Micron...etc. as well off the top of my head.
 
Filthy Dangles said:
It's probably nearly an infinite list of defunct brands you can list.....Christian, Franklin, Eagle, Daoust, Micron...etc. as well off the top of my head.
Click to expand...

Never heard of Daoust but thanks for jogging my memory on the other ones. Man, it does seem incredible that there were ever that many companies churning out hockey equipment all in competition with each other.

I'm sure there are other exclusively European brands like Torspo, that could be added to the list.

When you think about it, every major economic sector has seen a dramatic reduction in competition over the last few decades- banking, aerospace, automotive, tech companies...
 
ForsbergForever said:
I made this list awhile ago. It shows the consolidation of the hockey equipment industry since the 1990s...

BAUER
Cooper (1990)
Nike (1995-2008)
Mission-Itech (2008)
Combat (2013)
Easton (2016)

CCM
Koho (2004)
Jofa (2004)
Titan (2004)
Canadien
Heaton
Reebok (2004-2015)

WARRIOR

TRUE
Lefebvre

Brian's
Vaughn

SHER-WOOD

(Recreational consumer)
Win-Well
Graf

-Defunct-
Ferland
Victoriaville (Vic)
Hespeler
Rawlings
Wilson
Louisville-TPS
Click to expand...
This list makes it seem like Warrior was a start-up, but they indeed begun out of the ashes of Innovative. IIRC it was a buy and rebrand.
1668780385420.png


Filthy Dangles said:
It's probably nearly an infinite list of defunct brands you can list.....Christian, Franklin, Eagle, Daoust, Micron...etc. as well off the top of my head.
Click to expand...
Eagle was acquired by Vaughn. They are still making equipment, but it seems they operate on a direct-to-consumer model now. Glad that's the case, because they make (or used to make) some of the best gloves around. Still made in Canada.
 
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ChuckLefley said:
Christian is still making hockey sticks.
Click to expand...

Mostly (if not exclusively?) wood, though. I'm honestly not sure who uses wood anymore except for Timbit level or maybe purely recreational street hockey/ODR type stuff.

After using exclusively wood for my entire life I finally bought my first cheap $50 CCM composite at Walmart a few years ago and I could not believe the difference... saucer passes, hitting corners, all that stuff I dreamed of suddenly became possible. I mean my shot still sucks, but at least it looks cool when the puck goes high and wide now haha
 
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jetsmooseice said:
Mostly (if not exclusively?) wood, though. I'm honestly not sure who uses wood anymore except for Timbit level or maybe purely recreational street hockey/ODR type stuff.
Click to expand...

I think that's about it. In coaching minor hockey I saw some timbit kids using wooden sticks - and I would recommend to parents just starting out to get a wooden stick with no curve for brand new hockey players.

But even in Timbits most kids have some kind of composite stick, and certainly U9/Novice and up I've never seen a single wooden stick. And for adult rec hockey, no matter the level, I've never seen a wooden stick. I used to bring a wooden stick as a back-up in case my regular twig broke, but I don't even bother doing that any more.

They are great for street hockey though - asphalt can tear up a composite blade in no time,
 
Yukon Joe said:
I think that's about it. In coaching minor hockey I saw some timbit kids using wooden sticks - and I would recommend to parents just starting out to get a wooden stick with no curve for brand new hockey players.

But even in Timbits most kids have some kind of composite stick, and certainly U9/Novice and up I've never seen a single wooden stick. And for adult rec hockey, no matter the level, I've never seen a wooden stick. I used to bring a wooden stick as a back-up in case my regular twig broke, but I don't even bother doing that any more.

They are great for street hockey though - asphalt can tear up a composite blade in no time,
Click to expand...
I suppose the cost difference is not that vast, you can get a composite for starting around $50.

My kid used a wood stick in Timbits... I did not see a single kid who benefitted from having a composite at that level, even at U9 it was pretty questionable although I finally gave in once he reached that stage, haha.

Getting back to GRAF, I did notice huge piles of identical looking lightly used GRAF skates at my local Play it Again Sports. They didn't look that old, not sure where they came from but they are out there.
 
jetsmooseice said:
Mostly (if not exclusively?) wood, though. I'm honestly not sure who uses wood anymore except for Timbit level or maybe purely recreational street hockey/ODR type stuff.

After using exclusively wood for my entire life I finally bought my first cheap $50 CCM composite at Walmart a few years ago and I could not believe the difference... saucer passes, hitting corners, all that stuff I dreamed of suddenly became possible. I mean my shot still sucks, but at least it looks cool when the puck goes high and wide now haha
Click to expand...
They have composite and wood sticks.
 
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