Hockey Sticks Fr om Hockeytown
By Jess Myers

Once A Dominant Brand,
Christian Hockey Sticks Are On Their Way Back

It should shock almost nobody in the Minnesota hockey world to learn that after declaring a sad end to the Christian Brothers hockey stick operation this past summer, there’s been a remarkable comeback in Hockey-town USA.

One of the few remaining American hockey stick manufacturers is back in business, which should be of little surprise to anyone who knows the Christians and their place among the legends of hockey in the United States.

You see, comebacks are nothing new to Billy and Roger Christian. In fact, without the soft-spoken pair of hockey magicians skating for Team USA 44 years ago, the term “miracle on ice” might never have worked its way into the American lexicon.
Billy and Roger, who had skated on the frozen Warroad River since they could walk, and who had torn up the ice in arenas throughout northern Minnesota, were called upon to serve their country at the 1960 Winter Olympics. Trailing the Soviet Union by a goal in the second period of their Olympic semi-final game, Billy scored to tie the match, then took a pass from his brother to net the game-winner. A short time later, they returned to Warroad with gold medals and started making hockey sticks for a living.
More than one generation of Minnesota skaters grew up knowing the only way to play the game was with a piece of lumber labeled “CHRISTIAN BROS.” on the shaft. “Hockey sticks by hockey players” was their slogan, and they were the stick to own in Minnesota for decades.

The family reputation, and the popularity of their sticks, was further enhanced in 1980, when Billy’s son David led Team USA in assists at the Lake Placid Winter Games, helping cap another re-markable comeback and bringing another gold medal back home.
But times change, and the 1990s brought trouble to the family business. A combination of increased competition from sporting good giants and a shift away from wood sticks to more use of composite materials caused struggles for the Christians and their small town operation. By the summer of 2003, the business hit rock bottom, the plant shut down and thus was the end of the line for Christian hockey sticks.

Now however, a mere eight months later, at a time when the temp is below zero in Warroad for weeks at a time, the scene is much brighter again. Now, when driving by the hockey stick factory he and his brother founded many years ago, Billy Christian sees smoke coming from the smokestacks, and cars in the parking lot. After a brief hiatus, there’s been another Christian comeback.

The rally began in September, when Denver-based Harrow Sports inquired about buying the op-eration, and owning one of the most renowned names in American hockey equipment. Harrow had established a reputation as a maker of top-quality graphite lacrosse sticks and squash racquets, and had begun forays into the hockey stick world. In addition, Harrow had a history of taking old product lines and breathing new life into them. It was just a few years ago that Harrow bought the defunct Bancroft Tennis line – once the most respected makers of tennis racquets – and brought them back on line.
Eager for a line of wood hockey sticks to go along with the graphite sticks already being produced in Colorado, Harrow bought the Warroad plant and has begun the process of getting things back up to full speed. They currently employ 15 people and hope to have a 30-person workforce when things are running at full capacity. In a community the size of Warroad (pop. 1,500) that’s a big employer and a positive force for the local economy.

Harrow’s John Bayreuther has taken on the task of rebuilding and rethinking Christian hockey sticks, and is finishing his duties as the assistant lacrosse coach at the University of Denver before he and his family move to Warroad in May. He visited the plant for an extended stay in January and the company began up-dating machinery that will eventually speed up the stick manu-facturing process.

But Bayreuther, who has roots in the Maine hockey scene and knows all about the pas-sion for the game, says that the deci-sion to buy Christian and revive the brand was certainly not just a “dollars and cents” decision.

“This is far from just a business deal,” said Bayreuther. “We were romantically involved with the idea of owning one of the last American hockey companies.”

Of course, Bayreuther and his bosses think that the timing is right in terms of dollars and cents too. In the past, the Christians struggled to compete with Canadian stick manufacturers due to the weak Canadian dollar. Today, with the Canadian dollar stronger, Bayreuther notes that there has never been a better time for companies to do business in Canada.

With that said, the folks at Harrow fully understand the importance of the Christian brand and the family name to the hockey community in Minnesota and neighboring states.

“Historically, more than 70 percent of Christian’s business has been done in the Midwest, so we clearly know what an important market we have in our own backyard,” Bayreuther said. “The brand had been slowly disappearing for a few years to the point where people in other parts of the nation don’t see Christian Brothers like the people of Minnesota do, and that’s something we aim to change.”

The change begins by having Christian get back to the company’s historical strengths. Many NHL players (including Stanley Cup winners like Jaromir Jagr and Ed Belfour) chose Christian sticks on their own in the past, without the company ever paying endorsement incentives. The brand’s new managers don’t plan on spending a lot of money on endorsements this go-around either, but instead intend to win back the highest-level players (especially those who still prefer wood sticks) by providing custom-designed sticks.

“We’re hoping to get guys like Belfour back using our sticks by being on the cutting edge of goalie stick design and manufacturing,” said Bayreuther. “The company will continue to be what people know it for, primarily the best-quality wood replacement blades, wood sticks and wood goalie sticks. Custom-designed sticks are going to continue to be a huge part of what we do.”

And after a generation of being the guy in the middle of the action on the ice, making others stand up and cheer, Billy Christian is satisfied to watch from a distance and root for the new home team. He and Roger are now at retirement age, and are offering support and encouragement as the stick line they founded and grew with years of hard work is born again.

“I’m sure pulling for these guys to make a success of it,” said Billy. “It’s very important for Warroad and the region, not only in terms of jobs but in terms of identity. A lot of people are pretty proud to say that we’ve got our own hockey stick plant.”

But Billy acknowledges that with few surviving American hockey stick manufacturers, the revival of the product line that bears his family name is bigger than just 30 jobs in a Warroad factory.

“These sticks are really part of the hockey history here, so I like to think that Christian sticks are pretty important for the hockey community in this state,” he said. “We’re all certainly very happy to see them open for business again.”
Coming from a family known for taking a struggling team, mounting a comeback and turning it into gold, those are strong words indeed.

Jess Myers covers college and pro hockey for InsideCollegeHockey.com and for the Twin Cities bureau of the Associated Press. He is a volunteer coach in the Inver Grove Heights youth hockey program.