Stick

[Kirschdaddy]

Hi guys,

I just found this forum and was reading around and thought you guys pretty much know your hockey stuff. Either that or your good at faking it =). Well anyway, I need a new stick, what I've got just doesn't cut it. I play inline indoors at a local place here in Iowa. I was wondering first of all whether I should get a shaft or a 1 piece. Is there much of an advantage from a 1 piece that warrants not being able to switch blades? I've been reading lots on sticks but I have no idea what I should buy. I am a 6'1" center, I'm pretty aggresive with stick play, and I have an exceptionally good slapshot that I like to utilize from time to time. So what should I get?

Also if you could please include where I can purchase the stick (money not being an issue) that would be great. i.e. someone mentioned that the Mission flyweight was the best tappered shaft but I cant find one anywhere online for the life of me.

The help is very much appreciated =)

[Colby39]

If you can deal with the relative lack of feel with full composite sticks, I personally would still recommend getting a good shaft with an Innovative blade; teh feel of this blade is somewhere in between most other composite blades and any given wood blade... I use a TPS rubber with an Inno Mogilny blade, both of which you can get at Epuck.com, but their rubbers are pro radius, which a 6'1" guy probably wouldn't want. For shafts, hockeymonkey.com and kempshockey.com have pretty good selections and good prices, and I've only seen Innovative blades on Epuck and hockeyandskateoutlet.com. As a centerman, you might want to go all composite just because of how intense faceoffs and cornerwork are on your sticks, not to mention the rest of you... I'd say you couldn't go wrong with an Easton Ultralite or Griplite and an Inno blade; those shafts are good feeling tanks, I dont hesitate to say teh Inno blade is the best in the business. If you want to go tapered, look around for old T-Flex's or the newer R2's, cuz they have better reputations than Easton's Synthesis... Innovative also makes tapered top end shafts in the 1100 and Novius, which I've heard feel great and last pretty well. Check them out. hockeyandskateoutlet has evrything Innovative, and my other recommendations are pretty readily available elsewhere... Good luck.

Lemieux fan 4 life

[MDE3]

This is such a personal feel thing that I even hesitate to say anything....my son and I just had a knock down drag out battle over whether it was better to use a Synergy OPS with a Modano curve, or go with a Modano blade and a Synergy shaft left over from a broken OPS. He has been using the cut Synergy shaft and the Z Carbon Focus Flex blades for about 6 months, but has gone through so many of these blades, that he(we) were looking for a better alternative. He actually prefers the shaft blade combination to the OPS now, having used both, but buying an OPS like the Synergy allows you to cut it down if you break it at the blade, and then re-use the stick as a two piece...

He just tried the Easton Ultra Graphite blade and found it as much or more to his liking than the Z Carbon..we will see what the durability issues are.

There are so many combinations out there, it is difficult to make a decision based on usage as it is so expensive to try out many of these alternatives...buying an OPS may be the best way to start, and then when it breaks you have the less expensive alternative of trying different blades in the cut down shaft. They(Synergy) seem to break in the blades about 80% of the time so the chances of having a usable "shaft" seem pretty good.

I know you said "money was not an issue" but we spent over $1400 in less than a year on sticks, and that does become an "issue" for us.

[DannyG]

To the original inquiry:

...as a user of one of the first Synergies that came out, I will echo Mike's sentiments on the fact that you can cut into the shaft and replace the blade...you sound like a big guy that will break a twig with regular occassion, but my experience also is parrallel to Simon's in that it is the blades that go, not the shaft...my synergy is on it's sixth blade, and all the first five were worn out, not broken, so I am perhaps not a good comparison for you. I do like to tell people, however, that I now own "a $400 stick" what, with six blades and the original $160 4 years ago...

Just got a CCM vector, and the bottom edge of the blade seems to be wearing after only five hours of use..hope it's my paranoid imagination at work. But I do like the balance of the thing, and my slapshot has improved over the Synergy...(like 60 mph vs 50 mph, so again, not a good comparison to yourself)...

<font color=purple>DannyG</font color=purple>

[kt_13]

The vector one piece has been fantastic for me....i obviously wont b comparable in terms of strength etc but it turned my average slapshot into a pretty damn fast one....and my technique is all over the shop...so if urs is good already ud b sorted. its great for stickhandling too the feel of the puck on the blade is second to none i feel. only problem i had is when i came to cut it down a senior blade did not fit directly into the shaft, the plug bit had to b shaved down somewhat which is a little inconvenient. also my second vector stick only lasted 4wks altho i am hopefully gonna get warrenty on that. my 1st lasted 2 months.

i would recommend the vector to any1...it seriously does improve your game!

[defencegirl22]

well, one piece sticks are easier to replace (just with a new replacement blade) but if a one-piece stick breaks, you will have to buy whole new stick. you can replace the blade on a one piece stick, but it doesn't work as well as before.

[MDE3]

actually my son likes his conversion of his Synergy better than the original