in the sport of ice hockey , goaltenders use specially shaped goalie sticks , and example of which is illustrated in fig1 . turning to fig1 , a goaltender stick 10 is illustrated , with a shaft 12 , and a blade 18 . the end of the shaft 12 that connects with blade 18 has a wider , generally flat section 16 . section 16 meets blade 18 at point 17 . point 14 is the point where the shaft 12 widens into section 16 . this point includes shoulders 15 where the shaft widens into section 16 . in use , point 14 and shoulders 15 are important , since in use that is where the goalie will grasp the stick with his blocker hand . ( this hand is called the blocker hand since the glove on that hand typically includes a blocker ). if , during the flow of play , the goalie shifts his blocker hand away from the part of the shaft of the stick where the stick widens , the goalie usually ( and is usually trained to ) return his blocker hand to this position . in practice , this often occurs by the goalie &# 39 ; s blocker hand sliding down shaft 12 until it encounters shoulders 15 at point 14 . when actively goaltending , the goalie has a default bend - knees stance to which the goalie is trained to return . in this stance , the goaltender has bent knees , the blocker hand grasps the hockey stick 10 at point 14 , and blade 18 lies flat upon the ice . ideally , the best stance of the goaltender is reflected by choosing a goalie stick that matches the goaltender &# 39 ; s best stance : in other words , a stick is chosen that matches the stance . in reality , however , goaltenders often if not typically alter their stance to match their stick due to the necessity of having blade 18 rest upon its length upon the ice . if , when the length of the blade of the stick 18 lies flat upon the ice , point 14 is too low for the goaltender &# 39 ; s optimal stance , then compared to the optimal stance the goaltender &# 39 ; s blocker hand will be too low and the goalie &# 39 ; s stance will be out of balance ( i . e . leaning towards the blocker side ). goaltender sticks are available in a variety of pre - set sizes . however , this does not completely address the issues with proper goalie stick sizing and use . unless a goalie obtains an ( expensive ) custom made stick , the pre - set sizes may not be optimal for a particular goalie . it is more common for a goaltender stick to be too short than too long , since goaltenders often purchase sticks without properly accounting for the additional height from wearing skates as opposed to shoes . the hockey stick extender is illustrated in a perspective view in fig2 . turning to fig2 , extender 21 includes a cap 20 that is connected to members 22 and 24 . a hole 26 is pierced through the cap 20 . hole 26 may be more easily seen in fig4 , a top view of the extender 21 . hole 26 has an inner surface 46 . turning to fig3 , it may be seen that members 22 and 24 extend downwards at angles 28 and 30 from cap 20 . fig5 is an illustration of the extender 21 in use on a stick 10 . in use , shaft 12 of hockey stick 10 is passed through hole 26 , and members 22 and 24 come to rest on shoulders 15 of hockey stick 12 . returning to fig3 , angles 30 and 28 should be designed so that lower surfaces 32 and 34 of members 24 and 26 rest snugly against shoulders 15 of stick 10 . returning of fig5 , the use of extender 21 effectively replaces the distance from point 17 to point 14 with the distance from point 17 to point 36 , where point 36 is the point where in the combined goalie stick plus extender , shaft 12 meets the wide portion of the combined stick plus extender . equivalently , extender 21 extends flat portion 16 of the stick up shaft 12 . in use , the combined goalie stick plus extender allows the goaltender &# 39 ; s blocker hand to be higher when in a neutral stance , and compared to the stick without extender allows the goaltender to better balance towards the catcher - hand side . in a preferred embodiment , lower surfaces 32 and 34 of members 22 and 24 are grooved so that shoulders 15 of stick 10 fit snugly into the grooves . this should prevent the extender 21 from rotating and losing alignment with the flat portion of the stick 16 . in another preferred embodiment , turning to fig3 , the ends 38 and 40 of members 22 and 24 are squared off , so that , turning to fig5 , when in use ends 38 and 40 roughly align with the outer edges 42 and 44 of flat portion 16 of stick 10 . in another preferred embodiment , members 22 and 24 are shaped so that they match the profile of flatter portion 16 of stick 10 when extender 21 is in use . extender 21 may be made from a variety of materials . generally , cap 20 and members 22 and 24 will be made from a plastic that is durable and sufficiently rigid to withstand the wear and tear of use , including the likelihood of being impacted by a shot hockey puck . in a preferred embodiment , the lower surfaces 32 and 34 are made of a more elastic material than cap 20 and members 22 and 24 , allowing extender 21 to fit snugly and securely on shoulders 15 of stick 10 . in a particularly preferred embodiment , the lower surfaces 32 and 34 are grooved and are also made of a more elastic material than cap 20 and members 22 and 24 . in another preferred embodiment , inner surface 46 of hole 26 is made of a more elastic material than cap 20 and members 22 and 24 . this allows the extender to grip shaft 12 of stick 10 , so that once the extender 21 is in place , it is less likely that extender 21 will move up shaft 12 and lose contact with shoulders 15 . in a particular preferred embodiment , extender 21 is made from tpe or thermoplastic elastomers . by varying the type of thermoplastic elastomers used , the elasticity of various portions of the extender 21 may also be varied as described above . for example , lower surfaces 32 and 34 may be made of a more elastic thermoplastic elastomer material than cap 20 and members 22 and 24 , allowing extender 21 to fit snugly and securely on shoulders 15 of stick 10 . similarly , inner surface 46 of hole 26 may be made of a more elastic thermoplastic elastomer material than cap 20 and members 22 and 24 . in another preferred embodiment , illustrated in fig6 , the hockey stick extender is divided into two pieces 50 and 52 . in use , pieces 50 and 52 are fitted onto the goalie stick , and then are attached to each other and the stick through use of tape , typically hockey tape . in fig6 , the hockey stick extender is illustrated as divided halfway between the two members 22 and 24 and at right angles to members 22 and 24 ; however , numerous divisions of the hockey stick extender are possible . the hockey stick extender may be produced in a variety of sizes , such as youth , junior , intermediate and adult . within each of those sizes , there can be a variety of thicknesses of the cap 20 , which ( turning to fig5 ) can be used to adjust the distance from point 17 to point 36 , where point 36 is the point where in the combined goalie stick plus extender , shaft 12 meets the wide portion of the combined stick plus extender . the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments described herein , but rather the invention is intended to be applied widely within the scope of the inventive concept as defined in the specification as a whole including the appended claims .
the hockey stick extender device was invented to address the problems of too short goalie sticks . a stick being “ too short ” means that the point where the stick broadens out is too low on the shaft . the extender is a cap with a hole or tunnel pierced therethrough . the shaft of the hockey stick is passed through the extender , and the extender is lowered on the shaft until it lies on the part of the stick where the stick widens . the effect of the extender is to raise the point where the goalie will grasp the stick higher on the shaft of the stick , or equivalently the combined stick and extender raises the point where the shaft of the combined stick and extender widens .