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| STICKS AND STONES |
| Source: Associated Press, SportingNews.com |
| Aaron Ward couldn't believe it. Not another broken stick, and in practice no less. |
| Now with as many as five games left in the Stanley Cup finals, the Carolina Hurricanes' defenseman was down to just one stick. |
| Ward took a shot Saturday during the morning skate before Game 3 and snapped the blade in the process. When you're an NHL player, getting a new batch of sticks is rarely a problem. When your favorite model is two years out of date and no longer in production, each one is considered precious. |
| "That's my 12th stick in two weeks now that I've broken," holding the pieces as he sat at his stall. "I was demoralized. It took the wind out of my sails. Now I know the situation. Now there's no slashing. |
| "During the game, if someone comes near me I'll put the stick behind my back." |
| Most players who used the Easton model that Ward holds dear have graduated to newer forms. So he called around the NHL in recent days in an attempt to hoard any that were still lying around in equipment rooms. |
| He got some from Buffalo and a bunch from Philadelphia, including the one he used in Game 3 that had Flyers forward Michal Handzus' name on it. Ward started using this model when he found a stash that used to belong to former teammate Marek Malik |
| "It took me years to whittle that knob down," Ward said. "I've had to put tape on it to reinforce it. For a guy with really bad hands, I put a lot into my sticks." |
| If you think slap shots are out, think again. |
| "I don't have a wrist shot, that's the problem," he said. |