Is it finally time to switch to a composite stick?

Maybe it's because I'm originally from Winnipeg, so I'm cheap, but I still use a wooden hockey stick. (Frugality is a quality Winnipegers are proud of, by the way. When we get together with other Winnipeggers the conversation often turns to bargains: where we recently got a good deal on some quality item, and how we managed to achieve it.) But I feel like I'm the only person in the universe still using a wooden stick. Statistically, this is unlikely, since there is one (albeit dwindling) row of wooden sticks for sale at the local hockey mega-super-store, and they are probably not all manufactured just for me.


I admit the wooden stick is heavier than a correspondingly sized composite stick. This was a disadvantage when I started playing because I was relatively weak - it made it hard to take the puck off someone, especially by using a poke check. I just couldn't manipulate the stick fast enough with one hand. But I'm much stronger now, and the additional weight of my stick relative to my opponent's composite stick gives me an advantage, I think. Especially in the women's league, I'm more likely to successfully knock the puck away from my opponent, because I have additional weight and strong wrists vs. the opponent's lighter composite stick.

Unfortunately, I play frequently enough that I have to replace my wooden stick at least once per season. Just today I was calling for a pass by banging my stick on the ice, except I couldn't hear it at all - it was like hitting the ice with a wet noodle. I imagine if I take the tape off, the laminate layers of the blade will be flaky and split, like with other sticks I've retired.

Maybe it's time to try a composite stick but I imagine the cheapest ones are probably not very good. They seem to start around $40 and go way, way up from there. I somehow can't justify paying loads of money for something recreational and, let's face it, disposable. At least my other hockey gear is relatively permanent. I'm guessing that even the composite sticks must wear out and be replaced eventually. Just recently, I accidentally broke a someone's stick in a league game, so it does happen.

Is it finally time to switch to a composite stick?