Finnish wooden stick manufactures KOHO, TITAN, (COOPER) and MONTREAL dominated over half of the global hockey stick market for 30 years

The dynasty of Finnish wooden sticks, which began in the 1960s and ended in the 1990s, is still remembered by many hockey connoisseurs. Finnish wooden sticks became the best-selling sticks around the world, thanks in part to legends like Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and the Soviet national team. Before the development of carbon fiber sticks, Finland was the undisputed leader in wooden stick manufacturing. In addition to their own brand names, sticks for other suppliers, such as Cooper, were also manufactured in Finland.

As we all await the start of the NHL season, I decided to take a trip to Forssa to pass the time. It is a 100-kilometer drive from Finland's capital, Helsinki. Forssa is a very small industrial town located between Helsinki, Tampere, and Turku, yet it holds immense significance in Finnish hockey history. Not just on a national scale, but globally, Forssa is renowned for manufacturing wooden hockey sticks!

Although ice hockey has been played in Forssa for nearly a hundred years, the production of hockey sticks has gone hand in hand with Forssa's hockey culture. For example, the story of KOHO began in Forssa in 1964. Right up until the 2010s, brands such as KOHO, Titan, Cooper, Bauer, and Nike were manufactured in the Forssa region. For instance, Wayne Gretzky played 11 seasons with a Finnish Titan wooden stick and won 4 Stanley Cups during that time. Rumor has it that he even visited the factory in Forssa, though there is no paperwork to confirm it. It is estimated that at least 15 million Titan sticks alone were sold.

I began my visit to Forssa at the ice arena. The place oozed legendary status in many ways. Originally built in the early 1970s, the arena features player benches built on two levels! The benchwarmers truly had their own peace up on the top shelf, on a completely different floor. I have never encountered a similar setup in any other ice arena. Furthermore, the Cooper promotional clock ticking on the arena wall is completely unique and surely the only one of its kind in the world.

The Forssa ice arena houses one of Finland's most fascinating hockey exhibitions. It all started thanks to Jan Alitalo, a local hockey enthusiast from Forssa. Ever since he was a little boy, he collected sticks—just like juniors do all around the world. However, juniors in Forssa were in a uniquely fortunate position because they actually got real sticks! Sticks could be found in factory trash cans, arena hallways, and dozens of other places, simply because sticks were manufactured right there in Forssa.

Jan Alitalo initially donated 450 wooden sticks from his personal collection to the Forssa ice arena. Naturally, the most valuable sticks in the exhibition include Wayne Gretzky's Titan stick, but the sticks of Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull are also highly prized. For example, Bobby Orr’s blade was extremely curved and custom-designed for him. Additionally, among the older sticks on display was Gary Dineen's straight-bladed stick. Players like Frank Mahovlich, Lanny McDonald, Mike Bossy, Bernie Geoffrion, Vladimir Krutov, and Ulf Samuelsson could all be found in the display cases. Likewise, Finnish stars Jari Kurri and Teemu Selänne had donated their sticks. Selänne made his donation personally and brought the stick to the venue in person.

After admiring the sticks, I was able to visit Jan Alitalo's private garage. He had collected items deeply rooted in local history, and there was plenty for both Forssa locals and hockey fans to marvel at in the garage! In total, Alitalo owned about 1,300 wooden sticks, and a quick look around the garage revealed the wooden sticks of many 1990s NHL stars. The sticks and gear of Forssa's sole NHL player, Antti Laaksonen, also held immense value.

To wrap up the trip, I drove over to the courtyard of the old KOHO factory. The logos were still in place on the wall, but otherwise, all the old history was gone. The machinery and tools of the wooden stick factory were rusting outside in the courtyard. It felt incredible to think of all the global stars who had visited the place. This sad sight also mirrored the shift and fierce competition that KOHO, Titan, Montreal, and many other Finnish stick brands failed to keep up with.

Later on, Finnish giant NOKIA suffered this very same defeat in the mobile phone market after losing the battle to APPLE. But we Finns do not give up. We are resilient.