The Invention of the Curved Hockey Stick – The Legend of Klatey Young
Alan Lyall M.D.

They said Klatey was stupid.

They said Klatey made bad decisions.

They said Klatey would not go far.

Perhaps they were right, but Klatey invented the curved hockey stick.
It was in 1947 in Brantford Ontario. Klatey was my defense partner on the Terrace Hill Hillbillies hockey team.

They said I was smart.

They said I made good decisions.

They said I would go far.

But I couldn’t raise the puck. I could back-check. I could skate fast, but my shot from the blue line was like a curling stone.

Klatey hated to back-check and he was slow, but in 1947, I’ll bet he had one of the best shots from the blue line of any one in Ontario, at any level of hockey and he was still in public school.

Klatey would amble into the dressing room at the Arctic Arena, chuckling and swearing about I knew not what. He would soak the blade of his hockey stick in the puddles and slush on the floor and hold it at the door of the potbelly stove to heat it up. Then he would stand on the tip of the blade with his skate and lever the stick until the blade would bend. More water - more heat – he would bend it some more, and more, and more. Finally it was like a boomerang.

We all laughed at stupid Klatey. We all knew that hockey sticks were supposed to be straight.

As the stick cooled it straightened out some, until it was just one long curve.
Out we’d go.

“I’ll just shoot it over his head” Klatey would say, and he did, laughing loudly. The puck would rocket over the goalie’s head. Everyone on the ice was watching out for Klatey’s shots. He’d rattle a few off the boards, then he’d put a few shots on the net and usually score a few goals.

I back-checked a lot.

We were a pretty good pair.

Then it was time to go to high school, except for Klatey. He went to penitentiary. I never knew what for. I didn’t want to know. I still don’t.

A few years later, one Friday evening, the word went out. “Midnight. Arctic Arena. Klatey’s back.” A lot of the guys showed up to play a pickup game with Klatey.

He ambled into the dressing room, bigger than ever, soaked his stick and shaped it skillfully. He put his jock and cup over his pants and chuckled as he went onto the ice.
The puck flew off his stick and we all laughed and pretended we weren’t scared. I was able to raise the puck a couple of feet by then and float it toward the goal. Klatey could still send rockets over the goalie’s head and whenever he wanted to, score a few goals.

A couple of years later the word went around, “Klatey is dead, It was a car accident.”

It is over 50 years later and I still remember Klatey and what I learned from him.

They were right.

He did make bad decisions.

He did not go far.

But stupid? I don’t think so.

After all, he invented the curved hockey stick and it helped changed hockey more than any other thing in that era, or thereafter, until that other kid from Brantford came along.

Doctor Alan Lyall is a member of the Cretins Hockey Club.