Sherwood Hockey


Product type	Ice hockey equipment
Owner	Canadian Tire (2018–)
Country	Canada
Introduced	1949
Previous owners	Sherwood-Drolet Ltd. (1949–2008) Sher-Wood Hockey Inc. (2008–2018)
Website	sherwoodhockey.com

Sherwood, styled sometimes as Sher-Wood, is a Canadian brand of ice hockey equipment owned by the Canadian Tire Corporation through its subsidiary INA International Ltd. The brand was created by Léo Paul Drolet (1919–2001) in 1949, and was manufactured originally by his company Sherbrooke Woodcraft Limited, which in 1969 was renamed the Sherwood-Drolet Corp. Ltd. Since 2018, Sherwood has existed only as a brand rather than a company. Sherwood is part of Canadian Tire's group of hockey brands, which includes Hespeler and Victoriaville also.

Sher-Wood also produced equipment under the Chimo brand name from 1977 to 1986.^[1]^[2] Since 2008, it has been the official supplier of game pucks to the NHL, taking over those duties upon its purchase of InGlasCo, which had served in that capacity prior to its purchase by Sher-Wood.^[3]^[4]

Sher-Wood's line of hockey products include sticks, protective elements (shoulder pads, shin guards, gloves, jockstraps). The company also produces a clothing line that includes compression garment, t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, caps, socks, and accessories (bags).

History

Sherbrooke Woodcraft/Sherwood-Drolet Corp. Ltd., 1949–2008

The Sher-Wood brand of hockey stick originated in the business Sherbrooke Woodcraft Limited, which was founded in 1949 by Léo Drolet. The name Sher-Wood was created as a portmanteau of "Sherbrooke" and "Woodcraft." In 1961, Drolet formed the Sher-Wood Hockey Sticks Corp. Ltd. Then, in 1969, Drolet merged Sherbrooke Woodcraft and Sher-Wood Hockey to form the Sherwood-Drolet Corp. Ltd.

In the early hours of 17 July 1969, a fire engulfed the Sherwood-Drolet factory, shutting down business temporarily.^[5]^[6] Allegedly, the fire was started by a disgruntled employee who had been fired recently.^[7] The fire occurred while the plant was shut down for summer holidays. As insurance covered only a third the cost of the damage, Drolet was forced to sell control of his company to pay for reconstruction. In the spring of 1970, Drolet sold an 80 per cent stake in his company to Rowan Industries Inc. of Oceanport, New Jersey. However, on the return flight to New Jersey after completing the acquisition, the company's chartered plane crashed, killing four of its executives, including its president and chairman.^[8] After the crash, Figgie International Inc. of Cleveland acquired Rowan's stake in Sherwood-Drolet.

In 1991, Léo was replaced as president by his son Denis S. Drolet (1951–2023).^[9] Control of Sherwood-Drolet returned to Canada in late 1994 when Figgie sold the Sherwood-Drolet Corp. to the Drolet Group Inc., a Quebec holding company whose principal shareholder was Denis Drolet.^[10]

Sher-Wood Hockey Inc./Sherwood Athletics Group Inc., 2008–2018

In 2008, Sherwood-Drolet filed for bankruptcy. Its assets were purchased by Carpe Diem Growth Capital, which renamed the business Sher-Wood Hockey Inc.^[11] In 2011, Sher-Wood moved the bulk of its production from Sherbrooke to Asia.^[12]

In September 2014, the Gracious Living Corporation, a furniture manufacturing company in Vaughan, Ontario, purchased the assets of Sher-Wood Hockey. It reorganised the business into a new company called the Sherwood Athletics Group Inc., which had two divisions: a manufacturing arm called Sher-Wood Hockey (GL) Inc. and a marketing arm called Sher-Wood Sports Licencing Inc.

Sher-Wood as a brand, 2018–

In February 2018, the Canadian Tire Corporation purchased the Sherwood trademark from the Sherwood Athletics Group. The purchase was executed by INA International Ltd., a subsidiary of FGL Sports (formerly the Forzani Group Limited), which is itself a subsidiary of Canadian Tire.^[13] The acquisition of the Sherwood brand added to Canadian Tire's group of hockey brands, which includes Hespeler and Victoriaville.

References

^ SHERWOOD-DROLET CORPORATION LTD. Trademarks
^ CHIMO - Trademark Details
^ Sher-Wood Hockey Acquires Inglasco Assets on SGB Media, Sep 15, 2008
^ "Sher-Wood™ | Products". Archived from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
^ Richard Spalding, "Midnight holocaust leaves plant in ashes," Sherbrooke Daily Record, (17 July 1969), 1.
^ "Fire destroys factory," Sherbrooke Daily Record, (18 July 1969), 2.
^ Sean Derning, "Hockey stick manufacturer scores with VOC-eliminating equipment," Wood and Wood Products, (vol. 100, no. 6, 1995), 43.
^ "4 Businessmen Die As a Plane Strikes Gas Tank in Jersey," New York Times, (19 March 1970), 49.
^ "Figgie International Inc.," Wall Street Journal, (14 January 1991), B2.
^ "Sherwood-Drolet brought back by Sherbrookers," Canada NewsWire, (1 December 1994).
^ Mike King, "Sher-wood sticks switch hands," Montreal Gazette, (21 June 2008), C5.
^ Jason Magder, "End of an era: Sher-Wood hockey sticks moving to Asia," Victoria Times Colonist, (8 April 2011), B1.
^ "Canadian Tire buys Sher-Wood trademarks," Victoria Times Colonist, (15 February 2018), B3.