mahalo.

Here’s an overhead shot of Marion Gaborik of the Minnesota Wild. He’s playing on the Slovakian team during the Olympics.

Just a tidbit to those non-hockey players/fans out there, that you don’t simply swing your stick to hit the puck. You actually preload your stick and the rebound from the flex is what gives the puck most of its power.

From a physics perspective, I think the easiest way to think of it is as a spring acting on the puck plus a little bit of velocity from the actual swing. Focusing on just the x-component of a stick hitting a stand-still puck:
(1/2) k x^2 (recovery from flex in stick) + (1/2) mv^2 (the actual swing of the stick through the follow through) = (1/2) mv^2 (speed of puck upon release)

I think the parts that are hard to define are the “k” of the stick and the “m” of the stick. But from experience, if you take that spring part of the equation out, you lose a significant part of the resulting velocity. I am also reminded once again how much I suck at physics because I can’t figure out for the life of me why the follow through of the stick isn’t still considered part of the system.

I’m sure that there are physics buffs out there who can help sort the details out. I’ve been curious of the real explanation for a while but have never had the skills enough to convince myself thoroughly of any explanation.