BASE hockey

Technology has been moving fast when it comes to hockey equipment and former NHLer Chris Joseph and his staff at BASE Hockey in St. Albert are on the industry's cutting edge with their one-of-a-kind sticks. “Our primary customers are minor hockey-level kids, but we are seeing more and more adults,” says Chris.

BASE Hockey got its start in Vancouver thanks to former Canuck player Cliff Ronning in 2011. Chris, who had grown up with Cliff, saw what they were doing and asked to open up a performance centre in the Edmonton area. “When kids buy a stick off the rack, if they don’t like it there’s nothing they can do about it,” says Chris. “You may have just wasted $300. When I was growing up you could shave it, you could curve it – you could do a lot of different things to tweak it. BASE Hockey is the closest thing to what we had in the old days, but it utilizes the latest technology.”

While the sticks are made with the highest-quality graphite, they’re not going to break the bank. “Our sticks compete with the $300 sticks," says Chris. "They’re all top-of-the-line; we’re hoping to produce that same stick with better value.”