When did the practice of forwards handing stickless defensemen a stick begin?

[RussianShark]

In modern hockey, when a defenseman breaks their stick in their own d zone a forward will typically hand them theirs.

Handedness or length does not matter, which can lead to some intriguing moments, particular on the penalty kill.

When did this practice start? I feel like this is a product of the composite stick era but would be curious if there are older examples of this.

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[tabness]

Not sure of the origin (probably real early in hockey) but definitely seen this in the nineties before composite sticks. Just seems like common sense, especially in defensive zone situations to hand the stick to a defenseman, so I'd expect this to be a thing from very early on.

 

[JianYang]

Not sure, but I started watching in the early 90s and it was already a thing.

Out of the replays I watched for games in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, I just can't recall a time where a player lost their stick. Maybe it wasn't a common occurance?

I seem to remember that the early 2000s were an epidemic for broken sticks.

 

[daver]

Maybe the first time a d-man broke his stick?

On a sidenote, Stickless Defensemen was an underrated punk band in the late 70s.

 

[The Panther]

I seem to remember that the early 2000s were an epidemic for broken sticks.

Oh God, the broken sticks back then! It was, like, every third scoring chance was ruined when the players' sticks exploded.

Then, on top of that, you had the boring-ass hockey...

 

[RussianShark]

Definitely common sense but just curious about when this became coached.

I like to imagine a scenario where an old timey lefty defenseman is confused why a righty is trying to hand him his stick. Or vice versa where a forward is reluctant to give it up.

I seem to remember that the early 2000s were an epidemic for broken sticks.

I imagine a lot of those were two-piece sticks. Only era where those were popular.

 

[MadLuke]

When I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s it was goaltender>d>forward priority when it came to stick in case of a broken one, now it seems less obvious if it did not change for skater sticks > goaltender having one, I think I have seen team that decided to leave the goaltender stickless..... maybe advanced stats showed something about that.

 

[Hobnobs]

Earliest occurance Ive seen is in the 50s where a Red Wing defenseman broke the shaft of his stick and was handed one by, I think, Abel.