Browsing on nameberry.com, a website utilized by expecting parents to choose baby names, is part of Rocco Grimaldi's daily routine.

The 25-year-old center for the Predators doesn't have children and isn't expecting any. But he does baby his hockey sticks. He even names them.

Grimaldi, a native of Anaheim, Calif., is feisty and physical on the ice. Maybe it's because he's the son of two police officers. Maybe it's because that's what you'd expect from a guy named Rocco. Or maybe it's because he is, at 5-foot-6, the shortest player in the NHL.

But he treats his sticks with tender care.

"The boys, you hope they're hard-nosed and have some good strength in them," Grimaldi said. "The girls, you try to treat them right and take care of them."

By any other name

Grimaldi came up with the idea of naming his sticks a couple of seasons ago when he was in the minor leagues in San Antonio. When he finished wrapping the handles with tape, he wrote a different name on each one with a marker.

"There's really no reason," he said. "I just thought of it: 'Oh, that would be a funny idea.'"

As far as he knew, it was an original thought. Not so, says Predators teammate Ryan Ellis.

"It's uncommon because no one else does it on our team," said Ellis, who has been playing professionally since 2006 and in the NHL for seven seasons. "There's probably a handful of guys that I've seen do it for various reasons."

The way Grimaldi sees it, asking for a stick by name when he wants to make a change is easier than having an equipment manager bring two or three sticks to the bench and choosing one of them.

"You just say, 'Bring me Maddie' or whatever," Grimaldi said.

Through the alphabet

Grimaldi started with boys names, going A to Z, then switched to girls. He's gone through the alphabet twice with the boys and is in the second half of his second time through with female names.

"I try not to put names that are super original," he said, "but you get kind of stuck."

He only uses one name for each letter each time through the alphabet, so he'll look for boys names that start with C or girls names that begin with L. That's where nameberry.com comes into the picture.

"Whatever sticks out to me, that's what it is," he said.

He also avoids using Abby – his wife's name – or those of any other close friends.

Building a relationship

Hockey players have a special relationship with their sticks. They personally wrap each one. Grimaldi estimates he goes through 40 or 50 a season. Players change sticks when one begins to lose its feel.

"The only difference is wear and tear," Ellis said. "Once you use it once or twice, it loses its flex and its strength and that's when you get a new stick.

"There's a reason you got the stick to a certain flex point in the first place, so as you use it and shoot more with it, it gets whippier, so to speak."

How Grimaldi performs with a particular stick has some bearing on how long he uses it.

"If I score a goal, she's my girl for the rest of the night," he said. "Next game, she'll start. If the tape unravels or something and I have scored, I might stick with it.

"If I go through four games and don't score, I don't change my tape job. It's not the tape."

Grimaldi develops a soft spot for his sticks. In the Predators' last home game, on Dec. 15 against the Devils, the stick he named Olivia was slashed from his hands and clacked hard against the ice. He picked it up and kept playing with it, happy to find it wasn't damaged.

It was the first game for Olivia.

"She's a newborn," he said after the game. "Just born today. It was a close call, but she's a tough girl."

Reach Tommy Deas at 615-259-8328 and on Twitter @tommydeas.

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