Growing up in Burnaby, Cliff Ronning was told he was too small to play pro.
“I was your typical hockey loving kid,” said Ronning, who at 5'8" was one of the shortest players ever to don a Vancouver Canucks jersey. “I always had that NHL dream. But I was a smaller player, so I had to use anything I could to my advantage.”
For example: equipment. “I always tweaked my hockey sticks. By changing the curve, the lie and the size, you can really improve performance.”
After hanging up his skates in 2004, Ronning sought ways to pass his knowledge of the game on to a new generation of players.
“I was coaching kids and I realized so many of them were using the wrong sticks. I saw an opportunity to make the highest-end product for kids, beer leaguers, anyone, at a great price.”
Recruiting ex-Easton Hockey executive Holmes Ghassemi, Innovative Hockey’s Ron Kunisaki and former defenceman Al Iafrate – famed for having, at one point, the hardest slapshot in the NHL – Ronning launched Base Hockey Labs in Burnaby’s Lake City Business Centre earlier this year.Kunisaki, who’s been designing sports equipment for years, said Ronning pulled him out of retirement to start the company, which produces custom-made graphite and Kevlar composite hockey sticks.
“I’d been working in NHL locker rooms analyzing players’ shots and building sticks for them,” Kunisaki said. “It was performance-driven, high-end customization work. I learned if you can interpret what a player’s looking for and build that into a stick you can compete with bigger brands that may have more marketing strength.”
Of the hockey players he’s worked with, Ronning had “the most intuitive eye in terms of what was happening with his shot and what he needed in his stick.”
“We felt if we could bring the customization that worked so well at the pro level to the consumer, we’d be filling an important part of the market that wasn’t being serviced,” Kunisaki explained. “There was a lot of pent-up demand; as soon as we opened the doors we hit the ground running.”
To design a player’s perfect stick, Base – which opened its 4,800-square-foot facility, complete with two in-house synthetic hockey rinks, in early September – uses high-speed cameras to videotape shooting styles and skating drills, then analyzes the results. Ronning and Iafrate are usually on hand to offer their big-league brand of performance tips.
“We love giving free advice, but the goal is to get the right stick in your hands,” Ronning said. He added that a custom, factory-direct Base stick emblazoned with the customer’s name and number costs about $150, plus a $50 consultation fee.Most competitors’ hockey sticks range between $200 and $300.
With sales double their planned production for 2010 and fittings being booked a month in advance, the Base boys are set to expand. Property negotiations are underway for a second facility in Alberta, and Ronning’s in talks with former big leaguers like Darrin Shannon and Steve Dubinsky about teaming up in Toronto. Kunisaki said the volume of business has produced one challenge: “Each order we take is custom. No matter how busy we get, we need to keep that attention to detail in mind and give a personalized experience to every customer. It’s a process that needs to be executed carefully with no mistakes, because that’s a big portion of what sets us apart from other guys in the game.”
“Sure, there are bigger players in the industry, but I see it like I see my own hockey career,” Ronning added. “If you’re good at what you do, you rise to the top – no matter your size.”