From the days when proto-humans lashed animal jawbones to sticks and whacked wildebeest-poop slapshots in Olduvai Arena to today's super-high-tech computer-assisted extravaganzas, one by-product of the hockey game has gone unnoticed and untapped. Until now ...

In 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick, Peter Manchester transforms the agony of a fractured stick into the thrill of creation. Instructions and explicit cartoons show woodworkers of all abilities how to fashion items for outdoors, items for indoors, and items without any purpose at all. No basement artiste will ever throw away a broken hockey stick again. The finished projects will delight friends and win the respect of detractors, even those in the maker's own household.

Using broken hockey sticks as tomato stakes is elementary compared with crafting a Walking Stick or a Pinata Stick. But Manchester goes far beyond making a stick out of a stick; his inventions encompass the full potential of this free and almost infinite resource. Even in this age of miracle materials, ordinary recreational hockey sticks are a tough, flexible composite of resin and wood, and the broken pieces are just too good to throw away.

Truly practical designs include a modern Travois, a springy, long-range Catapult, and a Toilet Paper Holder for the well-appointed fishing camp. Science fair projects leap from the pages of 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick: a Wind Vane, a combination Sun Dial and Snow Depth Gauge, and a Geodesic Dome that requires plenty of duct tape. Accessories for the home include a Curtain Rod for the bedroom of a hockey-crazed kid and a Lamp that really works. Fathers and children can bond as they manufacture gifts and sporting goods: a Pot Rack, a Wind Sail, an Ice Croquet Set, and a Bathroom Occupancy Designator. The book's pièce de résistance is the Mock Moose, a trophy made from a skate and at least four stick blades.

Hockey and art may seem like an unlikely mix but don't tell that to artist/illustrator Peter Manchester. A long-time practitioner of eco-art, he has been turning trash into treasures for over a decade. Transforming hockey sticks into works of useful art was a natural transition for someone with his unique sense of humour and vision. The son of a Methodist missionary, Manchester spent his childhood in the US, Europe, and Africa. He moved to New Mexico in the 1970s to attend university and stayed for 25 years. In the late 1990s, he followed his wife and children to Sackville, New Brunswick, where he "discovered" hockey. He has been huge fan ever since. When he isn't dreaming up new uses for hockey sticks or goalie masks, Peter Manchester is a busy illustrator and painter. His paintings have been exhibited at galleries such as the Albuquerque Museum, the Tamarind Institute, the Owens Art Gallery, and the Confederation Centre of the Arts Gallery, and can be found in numerous private and public collections.

Peter Manchester's profile page

"Thoughtful, yes, but practical, too."

<i>The Toronto Star</i>

"You'll never again throw out a splintered stick without wondering about the coat rack you need for the foyer."

<i>The Montreal Gazette</i>

"It takes a splintered mind to use a splintered hockey stick. The most fun I've had while using duct tape."

Bruce Dowbiggin

"Some quite cunning ideas."

Canadian Press