Verified
Readable build code, official team or manufacturer confirmation, or equivalent primary evidence tied to the player's stick.
METHODOLOGY
Evidence before certainty.
StickDNA exists because visible NHL stick graphics can be misleading. A player may move from HyperLite to HyperLite 2 to FLYLITE graphics while keeping the same underlying construction. Our system treats every observed change as a research event, not an automatic specification update.
Confidence levels
High confidence
A reputable pro-stock seller or specialist source explicitly identifies the actual construction with strong provenance.
Probable
Multiple independent signals point the same way, but the construction has not been directly verified.
Historical
A genuine prior build that is useful history but not evidence of what the player is using now.
Unknown
The visible equipment may be clear, but what sits behind the graphics is not. We publish unknown rather than invent precision.
Source hierarchy
- Manufacturer, team equipment department or official team source.
- Readable physical build code on a player stick.
- Reputable pro-stock retailer explicitly identifying construction and visible graphic.
- Credible marketplace listing with clear code/namebar imagery and provenance.
- Multiple visual or geometry signals, labelled as inference.
- Graphics alone — never treated as proof of underlying build.
Operational rule
Our database is event-based. We preserve old records, evidence dates and confidence rather than overwriting a player with the latest photo. This lets us distinguish a graphics-only change from a real construction, flex, curve or shaft change.
Independence: StickDNA is not affiliated with the NHL, its clubs, GearGeek or equipment manufacturers. We do not use GearGeek as a scraped data backend. Public sources are evaluated independently and recorded with attribution.