In 1965, Stan Mikita and his teammate Bobby Hull were practicing their shots, when Stan Mikita took a shot and his blade broke so that it was curved, in frustration, he takes a slapshot against the boards and hears something he has never heard before out of his shot. Over the next couple of weeks, him and Bobby Hull began experimenting with curved sticks and eventually convinced their coach, Billy Reay, to let them use the "Banana curve" in games. In the picture above are some current curves of NHL players.