Buttendz hockey stick grips provide an alternative to tape

Ann Arbor native Jeff Petry is one of the first NHL players to use Buttendz. (Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey)
Ann Arbor native Jeff Petry is one of the first NHL players to use Buttendz. (Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey)

 

 

From the Buttendz official website
From the Buttendz official website

By @SKubus

As is the case with most hockey players, former professional hockey player Rob LaLonde was very nitpicky about his equipment.

And after toying around with the idea of improving the stick grip for hockey players with longtime friend Kevin Lonergan, Buttendz was ultimately born in late 2013.

The New York-based company aims to do away with regular tape in favor of their rubber stick grips for the butt end of hockey sticks.

“It’s showing people the benefits of using a grip over taping your stick, which is the first sale that you have to make is that you shouldn’t be taping your stick,” Lonergan said. “It’d be like taping your driver if you’re a golfer. Taping your driver as opposed to using a grip, you just lose performance on it. There’s more vibration, there’s less torque, more room for error.”

In addition to the performance benefits, Buttendz ultimately saves players money in the long run, too, both on stick tape and also by extending the lifespan of gloves and their palms.

“You don’t have to keep re-taping the top of your stick, it’s a consistent feel every time, it doesn’t give that gross residue from tape that’s going to eat away at the palms of your gloves and be slick and slippery by the third period once it gets wet,” Lonergan said.

“It’s also something that will reduce the vibration opposed to tape, from receiving a pass, not letting passes blow up on you when it comes to having control of the stick from the top hand. It creates a little better torque when it comes to the shot just because of the grip you can feel on the stick and the material that it’s made out of.”

Buttendz grips are completely made of rubber and are applied with an adhesive spray that is packaged with the grip.

“It kind of adheres to the stick once you let it dry, and you can feel it’s not going to move at all. And what it does is it doesn’t require you to hold the stick as tightly on your top hand just because of the grip and the texture and the tackiness to it. So the looser your wrists are, the more flexibility your wrists have and the higher velocity you can shoot and the more accurate your shooting can be.”

The two-tone grips also come in many colors, too, allowing players to match their stick color or team colors if they so choose.

Now with players in four National Hockey League organizations – the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens – currently using the grips, Lonergan said he wasn’t surprised with how the product has caught on so far, citing that ButtEndz satisfies a formerly missing need in the market.

“After our first couple months of sales, we realized the market potential and the market research and the product research showed that we were on to something and that it was untapped.”

Ann Arbor native and former Michigan State Spartans standout Jeff Petry is one such ambassador. The 27-year-old defenseman has shined since coming over to the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline. Petry tried the Buttendz grip after receiving one from teammate and goaltender David Leggio at the 2014 IIHF World Men’s Championship, and the rest was history.

“He’s a good ambassador for us, he’s been having a great year,” Lonergan said. “He’s a good supporter, he loves it.”