Largest hockey stick in world to be removed from Cowichan community centre

The World’s Largest Hockey Stick, located in Duncan, is scheduled to be dismantled.

The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) says the iconic piece, which came to the city in the 80s, has “reached the end of its serviceable life.”

“First constructed for Expo 1986 in Vancouver, then brought to the Island and affixed to the Cowichan Community Centre building in 1988, the structure has resided as a prominent landmark of the Cowichan region for the past 35 years,” the district said in a press release Thursday.

The district says repairs in 2000 extended its career, but the decay of the Douglas-fir structure of the stick is beginning to be a threat to public safety.

The behemoth stick is 205 feet in length, and weighs 61,000 pounds.

CVRD says the hockey stick’s ownership has been transferred to a manufacturer that will create collectible pieces out of it.

“[The collectibles company] intends to utilize as much of the World’s Largest Hockey Stick as possible during the manufacturing process. Any wood, metal, and other materials that are not used during production will be processed through CVRD waste streams and private metal salvage operations,” said the district.

The stick was reportedly modeled after former Canuck Tony Tanti’s stick.

After the dismantling, the title of “world’s largest” hockey stick will pass to a structure in Eveleth Minnesota, which stands at 107 feet in length and weighs 6,000 pounds.

The district said the removal will happen over the coming weeks.