Blade for a hockey stick

1. A hockey stick blade comprising:

a front blade face, a rear blade face, a heel and a neck,

the front blade face comprising at least one front layer of reinforcing fiber material including a first plurality of reinforcing fibers, the at least one front layer having a first reinforcing fiber density defined by a ratio between an area of each front layer covered by the first plurality of fibers and a complementary area of each front layer free of the first plurality of fibers,

the rear blade face comprising at least one rear layer of reinforcing fiber material including a second plurality of reinforcing fibers, the at least one rear layer having a second reinforcing fiber density defined by a ratio between an area of each rear layer covered by the second plurality of fibers and a complementary area of each rear layer free of the second plurality of fibers, and

the first reinforcing fiber density differs from the second reinforcing fiber density.

2. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein:

the first reinforcing fiber density is greater than the second reinforcing fiber density.

3. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein:

the first plurality of reinforcing fibers are arranged in at least one front face reinforcing fiber pattern contributing to the first reinforcing fiber density; and

the second plurality of reinforcing fibers are arranged in at least one rear face reinforcing fiber material pattern contributing to the second reinforcing fiber density.

4. The hockey stick blade of claim 3 , wherein:

the at least one front face reinforcing fiber pattern comprises a plurality of front face fiber tows of the first plurality of reinforcing fibers, the plurality of front face fiber tows having a first tow width and being spaced apart from each other by a first distance;

the at least one rear face reinforcing fiber material pattern comprises a plurality of rear face fiber tows of the second plurality of reinforcing fibers, the plurality of rear face fiber tows having a second tow width and being spaced apart from each other by a second distance; and

the first tow width and the first distance contributing to the first reinforcing fiber density, and the second tow width and the second distance contributing to the second reinforcing fiber density.

5. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one front layer of reinforcing material comprises a plurality of front face fiber tows of the first plurality of reinforcing fibers, the front face fiber tows having a first tow width;

the at least one rear layer of reinforcing material comprises a plurality of rear face fiber tows of the second plurality of reinforcing fibers, the rear face fiber tows having a second tow width; and

wherein the plurality of front face fiber tows have a different number of fibers per unit width than the plurality of rear face fiber tows.

6. The hockey stick blade of claim 5 , wherein:

the first reinforcing fiber density is greater than the second reinforcing fiber density.

7. The hockey stick blade of claim 5 , wherein:

the plurality of front face fiber tows each contain about the same number of fibers as the plurality of rear face fiber tows; and

the first tow width differs from the second tow width, whereby the plurality of front face fiber tows have a different number of fibers per unit width than the plurality of rear face fiber tows.

8. The hockey stick blade of claim 3 , wherein:

the at least one front face reinforcing fiber pattern comprises:

a first front group of similarly aligned front face fiber tows of the first plurality of reinforcing fibers, the front face fiber tows of the first front group having a first tow width and being spaced apart from each other by a first distance, and

a second front group of similarly aligned front face fiber tows of the first plurality of reinforcing fibers, the front face fiber tows of the second front group having a tow width similar to the first tow width, and being spaced apart from each other by a distance similar to the first distance, the first front group extending at an angle relative to the second front group;

the at least one rear face reinforcing fiber pattern comprises:

a first rear group of similarly aligned rear face fiber tows of the second plurality of reinforcing fibers, the rear face fiber tows of the first rear group having a second tow width and being spaced apart from each other by a second distance, and

a second rear group of similarly aligned rear face fiber tows of the second plurality of reinforcing fibers, the rear face fiber tows of the second rear group having a tow width similar to the second tow width, and being spaced apart from each other by a distance similar to the second distance, the first rear group extending at an angle relative to the second rear group.

9. The hockey stick blade of claim 8 , wherein:

the front face fiber tows of the first front group extend generally parallel to each other, and the front face fiber tows of the second front group extend generally parallel to each other; and

the rear face fiber tows of the first rear group extend generally parallel to each other, and the rear face fiber tows of the second rear group extend generally parallel to each other.

10. The hockey stick blade of claim 9 , wherein:

the front face fiber tows of the first front group extend substantially perpendicularly to the front face fiber tows of the second front group; and

the rear face fiber tows of the first rear group extend substantially perpendicularly to the rear face fiber tows of the second rear group.

11. The hockey stick blade of claim 3 , wherein:

a portion of the front blade face covered by the first plurality of reinforcing fibers arranged in the at least one front reinforcing fiber pattern is approximately 1% to approximately 10% greater than a portion of the rear blade face covered by the second plurality of reinforcing fibers arranged in the at least one rear reinforcing fiber pattern.

12. The hockey stick blade of claim 8 , wherein:

a ratio of the first tow width to the second tow width is approximately 0.2 to approximately 0.8.

13. The hockey stick blade of claim 8 , wherein:

a ratio of the first distance to the second distance is approximately 0.2 to approximately 0.8.

14. The hockey stick blade of claim 8 , wherein:

an area of the front blade face covered by the first and second front groups is a first covered area;

an area of the rear blade face covered by the first and second rear groups is a second covered area;

and a ratio of the first covered area to the second covered area is approximately 0.8 to approximately 1.1.

15. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein the blade is integral with a hockey stick shaft.

16. The hockey stick blade of claim 3 , wherein:

the at least one front face reinforcing fiber pattern consists of a plurality of distinct front face fiber tows and the least one rear face reinforcing fiber material pattern consists of a plurality of distinct rear face fiber tows; and

the plurality of distinct front face fiber tows is greater in number than the plurality of distinct rear face fiber tows.

17. The hockey stick blade of claim 16 , wherein:

each tow of the plurality of distinct front face fiber tows has about the same number of reinforcing fibers as each tow of the plurality of distinct rear face fiber tows.

18. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein the reinforcing fiber material comprises carbon fibers.

19. The hockey stick blade of claim 18 , wherein the reinforcing fiber material is a carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer.

20. A hockey stick comprising:

a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end opposite the proximal end, a front face and a rear face; and

a blade connected to the shaft,

the blade having a front blade face, a rear blade face, a heel and a neck adjacent the proximal end of the shaft,

the front blade face comprising at least one front layer of reinforcing fiber material including a first plurality of reinforcing fibers, the at least one front layer having a first reinforcing fiber density defined by a ratio between an area of each front layer covered by the first plurality of fibers and a complementary area of each front layer free of the first plurality of fibers,

the rear blade face comprising at least one rear layer of reinforcing fiber material including a second plurality of reinforcing fibers, the at least one rear layer having a second reinforcing fiber density defined by a ratio between an area of each rear layer covered by the second plurality of fibers and a complementary area of each rear layer free of the second plurality of fibers, and

the first reinforcing fiber density differs from the second reinforcing fiber density.

21. The hockey stick of claim 20 wherein the hockey stick is a one piece hockey stick.

22. The hockey stick of claim 20 , wherein:

the at least one front layer of reinforcing fiber material extends along at least a portion of the front face of the proximal end of the shaft; and

the at least one rear layer of reinforcing fiber material extends along at least a portion of the rear face of the proximal end of the shaft.

23. The hockey stick of claim 20 , wherein:

the at least one front layer of reinforcing fiber material extends along the front face of the shaft; and

the at least one rear layer of reinforcing fiber material extends along the rear face of the shaft.

24. The hockey stick of claim 20 , wherein:

the first reinforcing fiber density is greater than the second reinforcing fiber density.

25. The hockey stick of claim 20 , wherein:

the at least one front layer of reinforcing material comprises a plurality of front face fiber tows of the first plurality of reinforcing fibers, the front face fiber tows having a first tow width;

the at least one rear layer of reinforcing material comprises a plurality of rear face fiber tows of the second plurality of reinforcing fibers, the rear face fiber tows having a second tow width; and

wherein the plurality of front face fiber tows have a different number of fibers per unit width than the plurality of rear face fiber tows.