The hockey tape knowledge base.
Straight answers to the questions players, parents and coaches ask about hockey tape. Every article is checked against rulebooks, manufacturers and reporting, with sources at the bottom.
Tape basics
What hockey tape is, the kinds you can buy, and how much you need.
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What Is Hockey Tape Made Of?
Standard cloth hockey tape is a woven cloth backing, usually a polyester and cotton blend, coated with a rubber-based adhesive. Clear shin pad tape is stretchy polyethylene, and most grip tapes are self-adhering gauze or stretch wraps.
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Cloth vs Grip vs Clear vs Sock Tape: What's the Difference?
Cloth tape goes on the blade and knob to protect the stick and grip the puck. Grip tape goes on the upper shaft so your top hand does not slip. Clear and coloured sock tape are stretchy plastic tapes that hold shin pads and socks in place.
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Hockey Tape Widths and Roll Lengths Explained
Most cloth hockey tape is about 1 inch (24 to 25 mm) wide, with 1.5 inch rolls for goalie sticks and fast coverage. Roll lengths vary by brand and width, from about 12 m to about 22 m for cloth tape, so check the label.
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How Much Tape Does It Take to Tape a Hockey Stick?
A full blade job with 1 inch tape uses roughly 3 to 4 metres, depending on your overlap, so a 24 yard (about 22 m) roll covers about five to seven blades before you count knobs. How long a roll lasts depends on how often you retape.
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Friction Tape vs Cloth Tape: What's the Difference?
Regular cloth hockey tape has adhesive on one side and a dry cloth face. Friction tape has tack on the outside as well, which adds grip on the blade or handle but can wear glove palms faster.
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Choosing tape
Colour, brand, width and grip: picking the right roll.
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Black or White Hockey Tape: Does It Matter?
Not much. Black and white cloth tape start as the same cloth, and the NHL, Hockey Canada and USA Hockey all allow any colour on a skater's stick. The choice comes down to feel, looks and what you think it does for visibility.
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Does Tape Colour Affect What Goalies See?
There is no evidence that one colour hides the puck. What NHL goalies do say is that they use tape colour, and whether the toe is taped, to recognise shooters, and some goalies mark their own white tape so their blade is easier to see on the ice.
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Hockey Tape Brands Compared: Renfrew, Howies, Lowry and More
The best-known North American hockey tape brands include Renfrew Pro (Renfrew, Ontario, since 1980), Lowry Sports (Winnipeg, since 1969), Howies (Grand Rapids, Michigan, since 2002) and Comp-o-stik by North American Tapes (Watertown, New York). All make woven cloth tape, and the ones that publish materials describe a polyester and cotton blend.
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Grip Tape or a Grip-Finish Stick: Which Is Better?
Neither is better for everyone. A grip-finish shaft is tacky from the factory and cannot be adjusted, while grip tape lets you choose where the grip goes and how thick the handle is. On a smooth shaft, tape adds grip only where you want it.
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Technique
Why and how players tape blades and knobs the way they do.
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Why Do Hockey Players Tape Their Stick Blades?
Players tape the blade for grip on the puck, a softer surface for catching passes, and protection against wear from the ice, skates and sticks. The NHL rulebook itself allows tape for reinforcement or to improve control of the puck.
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Heel to Toe or Toe to Heel: Which Way Should You Tape?
Either direction works. Taping heel to toe or toe to heel changes which way the overlapping edges face, and claims that it changes spin or release speed are untested. Gretzky taped toe to heel; NHL forward Jason Dickinson has described taping heel to toe.
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How Much Should Hockey Tape Overlap on the Blade?
Most guides suggest overlapping each wrap by somewhere between a quarter and a little under half of the tape width. Less overlap means a thinner layer and more direct feel; more overlap means a thicker, longer-lasting layer that uses more tape.
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Full Blade, Mid-Blade or Half: How Much of the Blade to Tape
A full blade job covers and protects the whole blade, and most players tape most of the blade. Mid-blade and half-blade jobs save tape and weight and leave parts of the blade bare. NHL players use all of them, so pick the one that suits how you handle the puck.
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How Big Should a Hockey Stick Knob Be?
Big enough that the stick will not slide out of your top hand, and small enough that it does not get in the way. A common test is to stop building when your little finger wraps comfortably around the knob with your glove on. Skaters have no size rule; NHL goalies need a white knob at least 1/2 inch thick.
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How Often Should You Retape Your Hockey Stick?
Retape when the tape is torn, peeling or worn through enough to show a significant part of the blade, or when it stays wet. How often that happens depends on how much you play; some NHL players retape before every game and others only when the tape comes loose.
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Rules and leagues
What the rulebooks say about sticks, tape and knobs.
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What Do NHL Rules Say About Stick Tape?
NHL Rule 10.1 allows adhesive tape of any colour to be wrapped anywhere on the stick, for reinforcement or to improve control of the puck. The only tape-specific requirement is for goalies, whose sticks need a white tape knob, or another approved material, at least 1/2 inch thick.
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Hockey Canada and USA Hockey Rules on Stick Tape
Both allow tape of any colour. Hockey Canada Rule 3.3 says the stick may be wound with any colour tape and the end of every shaft must be covered; USA Hockey Rule 301 allows adhesive tape of any colour anywhere and requires the end of a hollow shaft to be fully covered.
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Goalie Stick Knob Rules: Why the Knob Must Be White
In the NHL, a goalie stick must have a knob of white tape, or another league-approved material, at least 1/2 inch thick at the top of the shaft. The IIHF rule is the same at 1.3 cm. A stick that breaks the rule must be fixed or changed, but there is no penalty.
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Care and gear
Wax, residue, sock tape and taping the rest of your gear.
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What Does Stick Wax Do, and How Do You Apply It?
Stick wax fills the weave of cloth tape so water and snow stay out, adds a slightly tacky feel for puck control and helps the tape job last longer. Rub it over freshly taped cloth on both faces and the bottom edge, then work it in with your fingers.
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How to Remove Old Hockey Tape and Residue Safely
Peel the old tape off by hand, warm stubborn spots with a hair dryer to soften the adhesive, then lift what is left with your fingers or a plastic scraper. Avoid knives and razors on the blade, which can score it.
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Clear Tape or Sock Tape for Shin Pads?
Clear and coloured sock tape do the same job: they are stretchy polyethylene tapes that hold shin pads and socks in place. Choose clear if you want it to disappear and a colour if you want it to blend with your socks. Do not use cloth stick tape on your legs.
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Hockey Tape on Wet, Slushy and Outdoor Ice
Wax your cloth tape so water and snow bead off instead of soaking in, rewax when it starts to look wet, and carry a spare roll. Wet tape adds weight and loses grip on the puck, so replace a tape job that stays soaked.
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Goalies
Blade, paddle, blocker grip and knob: the goalie stick.
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How Do Goalies Tape Their Sticks?
Goalies usually tape four zones: the blade, the lower paddle, a grip where the blocker hand holds the stick, and a big knob at the top. In the NHL the knob must be white and at least 1/2 inch thick; the rest is up to the goalie.
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Goalie Paddle Tape and Blocker Grip: How to Set Them Up
Wrap a grip where the paddle narrows into the shaft, the spot your blocker hand holds, and build a small ridge of tape at the top as a finger stop. NHL goalies also customize the shape of that shoulder, but that is done to the stick itself, not with tape.
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