Interesting article on the handedness issue:
http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/...-ambidexterity
I was just last week considering whether to buy my son the opposite hand stick and see how he handles it. He's essentially ambidextrous so it was actually somewhat of a difficult decision for us. I never had any information on the issue and ultimately went with what seems to be most natural for him.
In the end, I suspect it matters way less than all of the analysis suggests. Practice makes perfect and a player's commitment to training or lack thereof is likely to trump any difference that would be made by which hand is where on the stick.