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Swiss rookie playmaker Cal Labovitch only recently signed his first contract in the SJMHL, but has already been spotted on a spending spree. Apparently not content with the standard material the Falcon’s were providing for him, he decided to take his five million dollar pay and head out on tour of all the hockey shops in the city of Detroit for some expensive new equipment.
According to Detroit local, and owner of hockey equipment store ‘Ice-r-us’, Sticky McSkateface this is the full list of equipment the Lausanne-born youngster took home:

Stick: CCM RBZ Speedburner
The all new Speedburner hockey stick uses CCMs brand new Speed Pocket Technology in the blade, providing a trampoline effect to maximize the velocity of your shot. Given his lack of actual goal scoring so far, despite racking up an impressive nine assist in ten games as a rookie, Cal was probably looking to add power and speed to get his shots to actually beat the goalies glove. The low swing weight of the stick makes for a fast release and quick swing speed, vastly improving his chances of getting that puck past the goalie, and into the net.

Gloves: CCM CL 500
These extremely comfortable and light gloves are surprisingly protective, while allowing the wearer to exert maximum control and grip on their stick. The newly designed Pro Flex Thumb maintains the old lock thumb ability, thus providing great protection against thumb-related injuries, but, paired with the added multi piece padding, allows for a massively improved flexion and grip of the stick. The improved control and grip will help Labovitch to move the puck with even more precision and land those tape-to-tape passes with ease on nearly every single try.

Skates: Graf PK 7700
Design wise, the Graf PK 7700’s black and red colour scheme perfectly matches the Detroit Falcons jersey Cal is wearing nowadays. Being a Swiss national, Cal is used to wearing the Swiss-based Graf skates for the majority of his hockey career. The Graf PK 7700 are made of a composite material, that’s locked into place. They’re extra light and offer extremely fast acceleration. Aggressive stops, turns and cuts are enhanced by the titanium runners, while the steel-plated top cap protects against direct puck contact.

Shoulder pads: Bauer shoulder pads
Not being much of a physical player, Cal opted to go for some light weight, yet sturdy and bulky looking shoulder pads. While they’re not going to make him a pro-fighter or shot blocker, the added bulk will definitely boost his confidence and increase his ability to deliver a quality check a little.

All of this equipment has set the Detroit Falcons’ rookie back a hefty four and a half million dollars, leaving him with enough cash from his five million dollar contract to finish the weekly training and take his new gear out for a spin during practice before getting to use it in game action.

The handful of fans that came to watch the Tuesday morning practice told our reporters they saw a confident, agile Labovitch take the ice and noticed some surprisingly accurate, and fast shots at the net from different positions during the various drills performed. With the playmaking right wing already picking up nine assists in ten games to prove he is right where he belongs, fans in Detroit can’t wait to see him bag some goals for himself. So far, Labovitch and teammate Luke McMaster are dominating the rookie points table, while another Falcon forward, Khabib Nurmagomedov, is leading the league in shots, goals and points. Together with Travis Bitties (twelve points) and Kenny Creller (nine points), they are leading the Detroit Falcons’ to a great start, finding the team in second place after ten games in what was dubbed a ‘rebuild year’ during the pre-season. If they can keep their growth and performance levels up, and peak at the right moments, surely one or more of these players will pick up an award or two when the dust settles down and maybe they can even add a cup to the Detroit trophy room.


A lot of hockey needs to be played before the end of the season though, and just a few slip ups can see the Detroit team crashing down the ranks again. Labovitch is determined to not let that happen, and as long as he keeps feeding those assists to their snipers the other teams know they’re going to have to up their game if they want to outscore these Falcons. For now the fire is still burning, and all eyes will be on the Detroit Falcons in their next game against the Halifax Raiders, who find themselves in a disappointing eight place with only four wins out of their first ten games.