He sure doesn’t look much like Alexander Ovechkin — and at a little over three feet tall, he won’t strike fear into the hearts of National Hockey League goaltenders.

But SlapShot XT could be the next big thing in hockey.

The prototype robot could revolutionize the production of hockey sticks and maybe, eventually, produce better slapshots.

The robot is the brainchild of University of Waterloo engineering professor John McPhee and his team of students. They believe that once their robot gets his slapshots up to 110 miles per hour — he topped out at 60 in his unveiling last month — he’ll help solve the perplexing mystery revolving around the high failure rate of composite hockey sticks.

“It’s the first robotic representation of the human slapshot,” says project leader Jean-Samuel Rancourt. “That’s something that’s been missing from the hockey equipment business.”

The robot has been five years in the making, ever since McPhee decided it was time that hockey sticks went through the same rigorous testing that golf clubs face. But the plan didn’t get very far until Rancourt, whose father is chairman of the board at SBK Hockey, persuaded the company to come up with some financing and equipment.

Armed with about $50,000 in private funding and government grants, McPhee’s team got rolling and now believes the sky’s the limit. They hope to create a research and development company to service the hockey equipment business.

SBK, for one, thinks they’re onto a good thing.

“I’ve been in hockey 40-something years and have gone through all the different sticks,” says SBK president and CEO George Guilbault, who played professionally in the ’60s and ’70s. “We wanted to find what is coming next.

“Where is the great stick coming from, with the right weight, better balance and durability? We think this project might help the whole industry find those answers.”

The Waterloo team believes the time is right for their invention. Rancourt says hockey is crying out for better sticks, and needs to take a more high-tech approach to product testing.

While stick manufacturers do their best to keep testing methods secret, Rancourt says most use a device similar to the one used by golf manufacturers. The problem there is that there’s no relation between the two.

“A golf swing is a lot less complicated than a slapshot,” he says.

The challenge for the team was in creating a two-armed robot that mimicked the flex, torque and release that NHL players employ. Without giving away any trade secrets, Rancourt says he believes they’ve accomplished that.

“Now we’ll be able to figure out how weight and flex affect the durability of sticks,” he says. “Sensors will help brands understand what’s going on with the stick on impact, when it breaks and why it breaks.”

There’s a possible side benefit, too. Those same sensors might also be used as teaching tools to instruct players on how to produce better slapshots, by altering blade angles, for example.

“We’re just starting to learn how these variables can affect a slapshot,” Rancourt says. “This is brand new for hockey. Hockey is about 10 years behind golf in understanding technology.”

SlapShot XT isn’t the only robot that has tried its hand at sports.

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Asimo, a humanoid robot designed by Honda, has been putting its best (soccer-playing) foot forward for years. No word on whether the latest model includes an “exaggerate injury” setting.

Murata Seisaku-kun, a bicycle-riding robot designed by Murata Manufacturing Co., can only cycle in a straight line. But at only five kilograms, at least wind resistance isn’t an issue.

RoboCup may not have the flashy skills of its mechanical brethren. But the putt-returning automaton is probably the only sports robot you’ll see in your boss’s office.