Victoriaville (ice hockey)
Canadian hockey stick brand dominant in the 1960s NHL.
Victoriaville is a Canadian brand of ice hockey gear, now owned by Canadian Tire Corporation through its subsidiary INA International. The brand got its start in Victoriaville, Quebec, in 1945, when Henri Mailhot founded Mailhot & Frères, Inc. By the 1960s, Victoriaville had become the top hockey stick in the National Hockey League, capturing roughly 65 percent of the hockey stick market.
Henri Mailhot ran the business until 1952, when he passed it to four of his sons: Gérard, Bertrand, Léo-Paul, and Raymond. (His youngest son, Gilles, did not join the company.) The brothers patented a fibreglass blade for their sticks, a major innovation in stick design. In 1957, Sher-Wood owner Léo-Paul Drolet sued them over the patent, claiming he had made fibreglass blades two years earlier, and won the case.
In the 1950s, CCM and Northland sticks dominated the NHL. Victoriaville broke that duopoly in the 1960s, largely thanks to Montreal Canadiens star Jean Béliveau, who grew up in Victoriaville and had gone to school with the Mailhot brothers. After some early failures—blades flying off during practice—the brothers improved the stick, and Béliveau used it for the rest of his career. By the end of the decade, Victoriaville sticks were used by Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Rod Gilbert, Larry Robinson, and Frank Mahovlich. Around that time, Mailhot & Frères changed its name to Victoriaville Hockey Sticks Limited.
In January 1971, the Kendall Company of Walpole, Massachusetts, bought Victoriaville. President Gérard Mailhot said the sale happened by coincidence, with no other buyers. Kendall, originally a textile company turned medical supplier, created a sports division that included Victoriaville, Bike, and Nelson Knitting. In 1972, Colgate-Palmolive acquired Kendall. In 1976, Colgate-Palmolive merged Victoriaville Hockey Sticks Limited with several other companies into a single entity called CKR Inc., making Victoriaville a division of CKR.
In 1981, Victor Alfred Farr bought the Victoriaville hockey division from CKR and incorporated it as Victoriaville Hockey Sticks (Canada) Inc. He introduced the “Vic” brand alongside the original name. In January 1987, a fire at the Victoriaville plant caused about $3 million in damage. After the fire, operations moved to Les Equipment Sportifs Davtec Inc., which ran a factory in Daveluyville.
Quick Facts
- Country
- Canada
- Producttype
- Ice hockey equipment
- Currentowner
- Canadian Tire
- Introduced
- 1945
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Victoriaville brand of hockey stick was created in 1945 by Henri Mailhot, who formed the company Mailhot & Frères, Inc. In 1952, Henri's business was taken over by four of his sons: Gérard, Bertrand, Léo-Paul, and Raymond. The Mailhot brothers trademarked a fibreglass blade for their sticks, a major development in hockey stick history. In 1957, Léo-Paul Drolet, owner of Sher-Wood, took the Mailhots to court over the patent, claiming he had manufactured fibreglass blades two years before the patent was filed; Drolet won the case.
In the 1950s, CCM and Northland sticks dominated the NHL. In the 1960s, Victoriaville was one of the first companies to break the duopoly, thanks in large part to Jean Béliveau of the Montreal Canadiens, who had grown up in Victoriaville. By the end of the decade, Victoriaville counted Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Rod Gilbert, Larry Robinson, and Frank Mahovlich among its users. At some point in the late 1960s, Mailhot & Frères changed its name to Victoriaville Hockey Sticks Limited.
The company went through multiple ownership changes after the Mailhot family sold it in 1971. It was acquired by the Forzani Group through its subsidiary INA in 2003, and Forzani was taken over by Canadian Tire in 2011. Canadian Tire manufactures Victoriaville equipment alongside its other brands, Sher-Wood and Hespeler.
Reader's Guide
Victoriaville's significance lies in its rise from a family-run Quebec operation to the dominant hockey stick brand in the NHL during the 1960s, capturing roughly 65 percent of the market. The brand broke the long-standing CCM and Northland duopoly, aided by local star Jean Béliveau's endorsement and the Mailhot brothers' innovation of a fibreglass blade. Despite losing a patent lawsuit over that blade to Sher-Wood, Victoriaville became the stick of choice for legends such as Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull. The brand's legacy continued through a series of corporate owners—from Kendall and Colgate-Palmolive to Victor Farr, then Rawlings, and finally the Forzani Group and Canadian Tire. Today, Victoriaville remains in production alongside Sher-Wood and Hespeler under Canadian Tire's ownership, preserving a name that once defined hockey stick manufacturing in Canada.
Did You Know?
- Victoriaville was created in 1945 by Henri Mailhot in Victoriaville, Quebec.
- During the 1960s, Victoriaville held approximately 65 per cent of the hockey stick market.
- The Mailhot brothers trademarked a fibreglass blade, but lost a patent lawsuit to Sher-Wood in 1957.
- A fire at the Victoriaville plant in 1987 caused around $3 million of damage.
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