Al Koken shows off Fehr’s sticks during the Wednesday’s CSN broadcast.
Eric Fehr has bounced around the lineup a lot this season, all the way from the first line to the press box. Another thing undergoing constant shuffling: his stick.
“I’m still looking around, still looking for the one that’s gonna work for me,” he told me Wednesday. “I’ve been working on a few things.”
What’s curious, though, is the specific stick Fehr settled on: when he scored his first goal since October 10 on Wednesday, the 28-year-old was using Steve Oleksy‘s stick. A power forward and a stay-at-home defenseman don’t have much in common, of course, but Fehr liked Oleksy’ stick after a cursory test of his teammates’ weapons.
Fehr’s search has been fueled in part by how Adam Oates deploys him. In the past he’s been a hard-shooting right winger, with some bouts of crashing the net. This fall, however, he’s played a lot of center, requiring him to shift his focus to passing. Fehr has used Alex Ovechkin’s stick before, but he found the twig unsuitable for his given role, despite his current position as a second line winger.
“I like it for shooting, but it’s not necessarily the best passing stick,” Fehr said of Ovi’s lumber. “When I’m playing in the middle and I have to take a faceoff or playing in the D zone, I like to be able to shoot it both ways.”
And despite Wednesday’s goal, the search continues.
“I still haven’t found one permanently,” said Fehr. “It’s not ideal, but it’s the way it’s going to be for now.”
Additional reporting by Ian Oland.
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