How Big Should a Hockey Stick Knob Be?

The knob is the built-up tape at the top of your stick. It stops the stick sliding out of your top hand and gives you something to grab when you reach. Bauer’s stick guide notes that most players use tape to build one.

The rule of thumb

HockeyMonkey’s taping guide offers a simple test. Build the knob a few wraps at a time, and stop when your little finger wraps comfortably around it with your glove on. It calls a simple, mid-size knob the most universal choice.

GoalieMonkey’s guide adds two points:

• Size it to your hand. Bigger hands can take a thicker knob; smaller hands may prefer a slimmer one.
• A flared shape, wider at the very top, helps stop your hand slipping off.

How far down the shaft?

HockeyMonkey says handle tape commonly runs about 4 to 10 inches down from the top. A short wrap is enough for a simple knob. A longer wrap helps if you slide your top hand down the shaft. The extended knob style is built for that.

What the rules say

Skaters

No major rulebook sets a size for a skater’s knob. What the rules care about is the open end of the shaft:

• Hockey Canada Rule 3.3(d): the end of the shaft of every stick must be covered to protect against injury. A hollow shaft needs a protective cap as well as being covered.
• USA Hockey Rule 301(a): the end of a hollow shaft must be fully covered.

Manufactured sticks often come with a cap on the end; the IIHF rulebook treats a stick whose cap has been removed or has fallen off as dangerous equipment. Tape over the end finishes the job.

Big knobs are legal in the NHL. Scouting The Refs looked at Vegas captain Mark Stone’s “massive” knob, built from hockey tape and medical tape, in 2023. It concluded that NHL Rule 10.1, which allows tape of any colour anywhere on the stick, puts it in the clear.

Goalies

NHL Rule 10.2 requires a knob of white tape, or other league-approved material, at least 1/2 inch thick at the top of a goalie stick. See goalie stick knob rules.

Small, big or none

• None. Tyler Bertuzzi leaves the top of his stick untaped, Zach Aston-Reese told DK Pittsburgh Sports in 2020. Under Hockey Canada and USA Hockey rules, the end of a hollow shaft still has to be covered.
• Small. A few wraps right at the end. Your top hand can slide and rotate freely.
• Big. Easier to grab and to control the stick one-handed. Stone’s knob gives him more one-handed control, according to Scouting The Refs.
• Huge (goalies). InGoal reported in 2020 that Braden Holtby builds very large knobs because they make a dropped stick easier to recover.

How to build one that lasts

1. Start at the very end, with the first wrap hanging slightly over the edge.
2. Wrap over the same spot to build thickness, checking with your glove on.
3. Fold the overhang over the butt end.
4. Finish with a few smooth wraps down the shaft so the edge does not peel.

The forward and defence tutorials show each step in 3D, and the knob styles page shows simple, candy cane, ladder, extended and grip knobs.

When to resize

If the stick slips out of your hand on poke checks, build it up. If your top hand feels locked in place, take it down.