The world's largest hockey stick, which was built in Penticton in 1985, can now be found at the Cowichan Community Centre.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Geoff Nicholas @geoffnicholas34
July 24, 2022 - 6:00 AM
To help draw epic crowds to Vancouver for the '86 Expo, a Penticton business was hired to build the world's largest hockey stick.
At 62.48 metres long and weighing 28.12 tonnes or 62,000 pounds, the giant hockey stick – when assembled – is 40 times larger than a normal one, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The record still stands today.
For reference, the length of a hockey stick in the NHL is not allowed to be more than 63 inches.
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Matt Berry, who’s now the president of Berry and Smith Trucking, started with the family business in 1985 – the year the giant stick was built and transported hundreds of kilometres to the Lower Mainland.
“I remember being impressed that it was made locally,” he said.
Berry said it was transported on a flat deck truck with extended mirrors, pilot cars drove in front and behind, and special permits were needed.
“It was in two pieces, one on top of the other, strapped down. It was a big stick for sure.”
The stick is made from Douglas Fir beams, three feet by four feet, which are reinforced by steel. It’s brown and has a “Canada” logo on it with a Canadian flag above the third A.
The Aug. 15, 1985 Penticton Herald reported on when the Canada logo was applied to the world's largest hockey stick.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Penticton Museum and Archives
The driver travelled along Highway 3 and arrived with the cargo “safe and sound,” Berry said.
“I’m sure it was a challenge for the driver – it really shows skill of the people doing those jobs,” Berry said.
The stick was put on display for the first time on August 21, 1985 in Vancouver.
In 1987 the stick was transported by barge to Vancouver Island so that it could live on as a monument in Duncan at the Cowichan Community Centre.
It now has 665 LED lights to make the stick glow at night. Colours and patterns get changed regularly to promote charitable causes.
Aug. 15, 1985 Penticton Herald
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Penticton Museum and Archives
Dec. 9, 1985 Penticton Herald
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Penticton Museum and Archives
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