The deadly coronavirus spreading throughout China and causing worldwide concern is not affecting hockey stick or equipment distribution at the retail level in New England. At least not yet.
With large portions of China under quarantine, several manufacturing hubs in the country have halted production and shipments abroad for fear of spreading the infectious respiratory virus that has claimed almost 1,400 lives inside the country, according to the New York Times.
Fourteen cases, one of which is in Massachusetts, have been confirmed in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CNN reports a worldwide total of 45,000 people, most of which are in China, have been infected by the virus.
Among the goods manufactured in China are hockey sticks, mainly by Exeter, N.H.-based Bauer and Montreal-based CCM.
Although some sticks provided to players in the National Hockey League have run into a shortage of supply, one New England business owner said he hasn't seen much of a change in his stock. But that has more to do with the time of the year than anything else.
"I don’t believe it will be that bad to deal with," said Wayne Zwicker, owner of Zwicker Hockey in Bedford, Mass. "You don’t stock up on stuff at the tail end of the season. You fill in with what you have here and there, and you may be out of certain models or certain flex sticks. But it’s just a good thing that this didn’t happen in September because by now with nothing much coming out of China, you wouldn’t able to find your favorite stick."
Over at Sports Etc. in Arlington, Mass., stick buyer Rich O'Rouke was similarly unconcerned.
"I think the timing of it actually worked for retail because this is as close as you’re going to get to a breath in hockey season, from March through May," he said.
"The big thing is just that if you could have a good time retail-wise in North America to have this go on, this is the time. Here in Massachusetts, once the MIAA tournament starts (in early March), that’s kind of the end bell for the 2020 season."
Zwicker said he isn't seeing stick shortages for the core of his business, which is for players in high school, juniors and high school.
One product he is seeing shortages in is skate blades, or runners, manufactured by CCM. Zwicker said he's anticipating not getting those orders until June, which he said is a long delay. O'Rourke said his store hadn't experienced delays on any equipment.
But if manufacturing and shipments doesn't resume relatively soon, Zwicker said the retail industry could feel the effects when people start stocking up for next season, usually beginning in September. However, his orders for the coming season were placed in November, so some retailers are in wait-and-see mode.
O'Rourke said it's not clear when would be an appropriate time to become concerned.
"If it goes beyond a certain point, a lot of industry is going to be very concerned because so much of what we use all comes out of China, so I don’t think it’s going to be a hockey thing specifically," he said. "We’re a year-round hockey store, so we still have plenty of inventory to get us through. So, it’s not like we empty the shelves, but it’ll be ... this particular stick or this size in a skate or whatever else. I can’t give you a definitive answer on that one."
If delays become inevitable, Zwicker said the most likely course of action is to buy equipment from other manufacturers to fill the gaps. He said companies that make sticks in Mexico or the Philippines would get the business.
"There’s always alternatives," he said.
One such alternative is Brighton, Mass.-based Warrior, which makes its sticks in Mexico.
A release emailed to New England Hockey Journal by Warrior's Pat McKinney stated:Â "Warrior Hockey sources carbon fiber material from the United States and manufactures its custom professional hockey sticks in Tijuana, Mexico. As a result, our custom production has not been affected by the coronavirus outbreak."
O'Rourke said Sports Etc. might turn to Warrior more so than usual if the shortages of the other sticks becomes protracted.
Across the board, new models of sticks are unveiled in April. Zwicker said the coronavirus might mean the new models are not available as readily as usual. But in the short term, it's status quo for everyday customers.
"Yes, there’s people who play hockey year-round, but it’s still a seasonal sport," Zwicker said. "There’s so many people playing right now where those numbers dwindle quite a bit by the time you hit April. It lessens the impact of all this. But if this is causing problems that they can’t catch up (with) over the summer ... there’s a small possibility in the fall there may be a shortage of equipment."
O'Rourke was similarly downplaying a shortage in stores.
"I would think that if it’s something where they get back to work in a reasonable period of time, I don’t really think it’s going to affect retail at all," he said.
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
