Hockey stick curve chart: every 2026 pattern, cross-brand equivalents and blade lie, with real measurements

The short answer: a mid curve, open, with a round toe (P92, P29, W03, T92, PP92) suits most players and is the best place to start. Want to lift the puck quickly and dangle off the toe? Lean toward the P28. Want lower shots and more predictable passes and backhands? Look at the P88.

The tool overlays two curves from any brand. From above, you see the blade leave the shaft, where it curves and by how much, against the NHL limit; head-on, the face angle, with a puck that rises higher or lower in the net; from the side, height and toe shape. Further down, you set the lie with a slider and the worn-tape test tells you which way to adjust. Values come from the manufacturers' official specs, from Ice Warehouse when a brand publishes nothing, and from ABS Hockey's measurements for millimetres and degrees.

A curve's name (P92, P28) is just a label. What changes your game is six parameters, which Bauer publishes almost entirely, CCM partly, and Warrior without the lie. Here is what each one does, according to Warrior's and Ice Warehouse's guides.

Every curve in the tool, with its 2026 status. The curves actually on offer are few: at Bauer, P92, P28, P88 and P90TM, plus the P28Y in youth; at CCM, P28+, P29+, P88 and P90TM. Older ones (PM9, P14, P02, W71, T88) still appear in retailer charts, but are no longer in the makers' catalogs.

Bauer's P92 matches the P29 at CCM, the W03 at Warrior, the T92 at True and the PP92 at Sherwood. The P28 keeps almost the same name everywhere (P28, W28, T28, PP28). This chart comes from three sources that agree: Ice Warehouse, Hockey Monkey and ABS Hockey.

No. An equivalent is a curve from the same family, not a copy. Hockey Supremacy warns that an equivalent “might not be an exact clone”. The P88 is the clearest example: its face is described as open, slightly open or closed depending on who describes it. The gaps below come from the specs themselves.

Bauer describes the P28 as “similar to a P92, but with more of a toe curve”. ABS's measurements back that up: the P28 is the shorter of the two (273 mm versus 288) and its face opens more at the toe (11.6° versus 10.9°), at a similar depth (11.2 versus 11.5 mm). Bauer also gives it a lower lie (5 versus 6).

In practice, the P92 does everything well: handling in traffic, passing, quick shots to the top corners. The P28 buys a quicker release and easier toe drags, with a blade that stays nearly straight from heel to mid, as Ice Warehouse describes toe curves. If in doubt, start with the P92; move to the P28 once you mostly shoot off the toe, close to the net.

You often hear that the P88 is a “flat” curve. It isn't, and it is the best example of mixing up depth and openness. According to ABS's measurements, the P88 is the deepest of the common curves (13.3 mm), but the most closed: 2.0° at mid-blade, versus 6.2° for the P92, about three times less. At the toe, 4.9° versus 10.9°. As ABS puts it, calling it flat confuses curvature with openness.

On the ice, the P88 cradles the puck better on receptions, gives more predictable passes and backhands, and hard wrist shots that stay lower. The P92, longer and more open, is more forgiving on one-timers and lifts the puck more easily. ABS reckons switching from the P92 to the P88 usually takes about a week to get used to.

CCM is the only manufacturer that names curves after players: the P28 is the McDavid Curve, the P29 the Crosby Curve, the P90TM the Tavares Curve. The other brands name nobody on their official charts, and the names that circulate elsewhere can't be verified.

The P29 is CCM's all-rounder, “the all-in-one”: accurate passing, good control and a hard shot. It is the P92 equivalent, with nearly identical ABS numbers (12.1 mm, 6.4° at mid-blade). The P90TM blends the P28 and P29 with a taller blade according to CCM; Bauer describes it as the consistency of a P92 with the aggressive toe of a P28. Careful: at CCM and True, this family is listed as longer and lie 5, at Bauer as medium length and lie 6. Same name, different specs.

Bauer makes a dedicated curve, the P28Y: a long, flat blade to handle and catch passes without losing the puck, with a sharply curved toe that helps new players lift it. In tyke and youth sizes, Bauer offers only the P28Y and P92; Sherwood offers only the PP28 and PP92 (or PP92MX) on its REKKER youth sticks. So the choice is quick.

Ice Warehouse recommends an open face to help young players lift the puck, and a mid or toe curve to start. For little ones who don't yet know which side they play, straight-blade sticks exist that work for lefties and righties alike. Hockey Canada makes no recommendation on curves. For the rest of the stick, length and flex are in our hockey stick size guide, and the stick fits into the beginner equipment list.

Lie is the angle between shaft and blade; Warrior adds that it decides how the blade sits on the ice. According to Pro Stock Hockey, the most common lie, lie 5, is 135° from blade to shaft, or 45° between the ice and the shaft, and each number is worth 2°: the higher the number, the more upright the shaft.

Lies sold in 2026 run from 5 to 6 at Bauer and CCM, and 4 to 5.5 at Warrior according to Ice Warehouse. Lie 7 shows up only at SOYUZ and in pro-player orders.

Why? When you hold the shaft lower than intended, the stick pivots: the toe lifts and only the heel rubs the ice. A wrong lie forces the player to compensate, which changes how the puck comes off the blade and how accurate it is. That is also why a cut or extended stick may need a different lie.

Openness measures how many degrees the blade face tilts back. The more open it is, the more the puck slides up the blade and leaves high; a closed face keeps it low. Ice Warehouse recommends a closed face for low shots, slap shots and one-timers.

A detail almost nobody mentions: openness changes along the blade. It is nearly zero at the heel, then opens toward the toe: the P92 goes from -0.3° at the heel to 6.2° at mid-blade and 10.9° at the toe according to ABS. The same shot leaves higher off the toe than off the middle. The tool's “at the toe” section shows it.

Almost every curve sold in 2026 has a round toe, the most popular, especially with forwards according to Ice Warehouse. A square toe gives more surface for battles along the boards and, according to Warrior, helps a quick release and one-timers; you find it on long heel curves like the W02. Warrior's W88 sits in between, semi-square.

The NHL caps the curve at 3/4 in (1.9 cm), measured perpendicular to a straight line drawn from the heel to the end of the blade, at the point of maximum curvature. The IIHF raised its limit to 1.9 cm in its 2026-27 rulebook; an older edition said 1.5 cm. USA Hockey also uses 3/4 in.

Hockey Canada sets no curve limit at all. Rule 3.3 of the 2026-28 rulebook only covers dimensions: shaft at most 63 in (1.60 m), blade at most 12.5 in from heel to toe and 2 to 3 in wide. In Canadian minor hockey, the curve is simply not regulated. Leagues and provincial bodies may have their own rules, which we did not check: when in doubt, ask your league.

Only one controlled study compares curves. At McGill University, Léger and colleagues (Sensors, 2022) had 10 experienced players shoot with four unbranded sticks: three P92s and one PM9, a mid-heel curve with a closed face. Speed did not change from stick to stick. Accuracy did: on wrist shots, the PM9 missed the target by 22.4 cm (8.8 in) on average, versus 15.9 to 17.7 cm for the P92s, a significant difference.

An important caveat: the researchers do not rule out a habit bias. The players may have used a P92 every day; the PM9 may have been less accurate because it was new to them, not because it is worse. The real takeaway: switching curves costs accuracy at first. The same study also found no speed difference between a low and a high kick point, as our kick point guide explains.

If you shop in French, watch the translations. On the same Bauer page, the English version puts the P88's curve at mid-blade, the French version between mid and toe. The P92's benefit, “quick-high snapshots”, becomes “short slap shots” in French. Lie is translated as “angle”. These are understandable translation slips, but they change the meaning.

Our advice for bilingual shoppers: when a French spec surprises you, check the same maker's English page, which serves as the reference.

A new curve is judged over several sessions, not three shots in the store. Here is a simple method.

That last step is the one people skip most. The feel of a good shot in practice is easily misleading; the share of shots that hit the net in games is not. In RinkLog, every shot on goal and every missed shot logged during the game adds up: after a few games with each curve, you compare numbers instead of a memory. The difference between a shot on goal, a miss and a blocked shot is explained in our shot guide, and the shot types to watch in the four types of shots.