hockey stick Filter

October 24, 2008 1:56 PM

Can anyone personally recommend a one piece hockey stick that they had good luck with?

I am 6'3 and every bit of 280. I am not easy on sticks. In fact, I still use aluminum shafts sleeved in carbon fiber (Easton A\C). I play a couple nights a week in a friendly but competative situation. I don't take too many slapshots anymore, as I don't want to kill my friends and fellow players. I really want to try one out, but I don't want to waste the money on something that I may not like, or break in a month.

I tried a wood one, and it feels like a club. so I am not asking for that.

posted by Amby72 to sports, hobbies, & recreation (3 comments total)

wow, wrong Audience I guess.
posted by Amby72 at 6:29 AM on October 26, 2008

Sad. If you get an answer somewhere, I'd be interested to know.
posted by DyRE at 10:44 AM on October 26, 2008

Interestingly enough, some of us do play hockey. I played up in Canada for about two years in the semi-pros before accepting the fact that busing around Alberta and Ontario wasn't for me. I do have some insight on stick selection, but I'm definitely smaller than you.

I'm 5'11", 190 lbs. and played mainly center/wing. For the finesse playmakers, one piecers that are fairly light were the standard. Of course, I did happen to go through sticks like crazy, and I happen to have a 95-96 mph slapshot to boot. Probably why I'm still being scouted at some big tournaments.

I was using, for years, the Easton T-Flex, Sakic style. Very very durable stick. In fact, since they are not made anymore, I'm a bit disappointed in where the hockey companies have gone with their sticks. Lighter = better in their eyes, and for many companies, lighter, faster sticks produce harder shots, more zip. I've always been an advocate of form over power, and it shows. I'm not the strongest person at the recreational league rink on weekends, but I still manage to outslap everyone by 10 mph.

I switched to Easton Synergy sticks during my stint in Quebec. I broke one of them in 6 months, but then again, if you are playing defense in which your stick is your vital piece in stopping the puck, wood is the way to go.

To be perfectly honest, if you are setting up on defense and have the upper body strength to move the club around, wood still has a definite advantage. It's tougher for opposing players to get away from your wood as opposed to a lighter weight stick. There are happy medians, but I haven't bought sticks in quite some time. Carbon fiber sleeved or Kevlar sleeved sticks seem to last and have a little extra weight. If you are generally worried about breakages, composite sticks with blade inserts may be the way to go. Generally, you'll break the blades most of the time over the actual shaft. My T-Flex was composite insert stick, and I used it for well over two years until they stopped making the inserts.
posted by MMALR at 6:58 AM on October 27, 2008