Review: Montreal M60 OPS

[Jarick]

Bit the bullet. Was $55 after a 10% off coupon from Total Hockey.



Mine is a 65 flex intermediate in a Knowlzee pattern, which was pretty close to a P88. I've been wanting to try a more closed pattern but didn't like how the Forsberg felt like it was kinked off at the heel, so here's kind of a compromise with my usual P92.

Advertised weight is 455 grams for the senior stick. Feels about that light, definitely lighter than anything under $150 or so that I picked up in the store.

It's got a matte texture finish to it which feels kind of grippy but not overly so. A lot like the Miken actually. And the graphics look like the Miken too.

3k weave on the blade and a regular taper, basically it seems a lot like any OPS you would have bought five years ago.

Oddly enough there's a warranty on it and it has a Warrior warranty sticker on it because Warrior bought out Montreal a few years ago (and then absorbed the goalie stuff while killing off the excellent wood blades and sticks).

Which makes me wonder, what the hell is this stick? It's a limited run for Total Hockey. I wonder if these are leftover Dolomite shafts with a 3k blade in them? The dimensions don't seem far off as they are a boxy-ish shaft with rounded corners. Hmm...

Anyways, I'll sneak it in the house tonight and tape it up then use it for Monday's game.

Click to read more...

 

[AIREAYE]

Many whispers of Dolomites dressed as other names (Inno), perhaps this is one of them?

 

[Jarick]

It wouldn't surprise me and I didn't put 2+2 together until I made the post.

Gotta think, they ditched the Dolomite platform when they went to Evo and Covert. Even the Axy-Sym shafts in the Dynasty would be different than the Dolo. So I wouldn't be surprised if they made a run of leftover Dolo shafts with a budget blade.

I mean, you don't create a 455 gram stick and put it under a discontinued brand as a limited run for one retailer otherwise.

 

[Jarick]

Some pictures:

Overall look and color scheme. Pretty bland. Notice the stylized "M" at the heel where Warrior puts their stylized "W":

Closeup of 3k blade weave which looks very clean. Usually cheap sticks don't have a visible weave for some reason and are painted over. After the weight, this is usually the second indication of a good quality stick. Of course the weave doesn't indicate feel or durability.

Tried to get a picture of the shaft shape and the matte finish:

Just a picture of the Knowlzee curve which is their P88:

Cut it down and taped it up. Definitely stiffened up as expected, but not as much as say the Miken I've been using. Feels true to flex with a natural kick point (aka flexes below bottom hand). Only shot some street pucks but snappers felt great. If it translates to ice, this particular flex may be my favorite since my X:60. If you've read any of my other reviews, I struggle to find a stick that's got a kick point up near the hands while not being too soft or stiff.

Stickhandling with a golf ball and smart hockey ball, well...either the curve is throwing me off or the blade feel isn't great. Which totally wouldn't surprise me. My assumption was they threw a cheap 3k weave blade in some old Dolo shafts. You're not getting a Total One for $60.

 

[Jarick]

Used it last night.

I think I left it just a bit long, maybe 1/2" or so, didn't cause too many problems. Might shorten it a bit, might leave it. A little easier to catch wayward passes, a little off in terms of shooting.

Weight still felt good on ice but not as light as a top end stick. Balance is just a hair blade heavy. In context, it feels like a top end stick felt five years ago before true one piece construction was commonplace.

The matte finish isn't as grippy as I originally thought, but it didn't cause any trouble. Which is a bit surprising considering I like grippy sticks.

Puck feel seems pretty decent. It's not pingy or ceramic feeling. Granted only a couple guys on my Spring team can send a hard pass and nobody did last night, but soft passes, puckhandling, etc were all good. Again, not perfect, not that crisp yet soft feeling of today's top end stick, but more like a top end stick from five years ago. And better than a ~$100 price point for sure.

The flex actually is a bit weird to describe. It almost feels like a progressive loading, more so than a normal stick. At first it feels true to flex when you first lean on it, but it quickly gets stiff, like you can't overload the thing.

What that apparently means in terms of shooting is a LOT of kick. Better than anything else I'm using now and maybe the best I've used since my old Vapor X:60. Just a lot of pop on this thing for both wristers and snappers. To the point that several teammates remarked on it after the game which never happens, or at least hasn't happened in a long time. The stick loads up very quick on shots and releases very quick, but the loading is in the middle of the stick, not the bottom, so you don't have to lean way into the thing to get it to flex.

In warmups I took both wristers and snappers and they all came off the blade pretty quick and with some power behind them. Accuracy was pretty good but it's a pattern I haven't used in years and it's a bit long for me. In game I had a lot of great shots but ran into a really hot goalie. I probably had 6-8 shots including screened shots, goalie down and scrambling, high, low, five hole, etc. I did get a goal but on a tip so that doesn't really count in terms of shooting. But these shots came off quick.

One remarkable shot was using the defenseman as a screen then dragging the puck and snapping it off the toe. Normally this would be weak and wobble for me but this one went on net and hard and forced him to make a good blocker save. Part of this might be the pattern (P88 vs my usual P92), but I felt the stick add some kick to the shot.

Another note on the pattern, it felt pretty good coming from a P92 guy. I haven't used the P88 in years. A while back I changed my shooting technique from a heel-to-toe puck roll/sweep wrist shot to a cup the puck, lean and fire wrist/snap shot. I had found open curves add some velocity to these shots but of course tend to go high and make passing tricky. I still had plenty of pop on shots with the P88 but was able to keep them lower and more on net as well as make MUCH better passes. I mean dramatically better. Usually I get under passes too much which makes it pretty much impossible for most guys to catch, but I was able to give nice touch passes without flipping the puck. I realize that's very much a technique issue, but thought I'd throw that out there. And the more closed toe as I said above seemed to really help in shooting from the toe when I needed to.


So, longwinded for only using it once (although played every other shift plus warmups). But no game next week due to the holiday. Then two more games and the season is done.

 

[yan]

are the intermediate shaft dimensions on the bigger side like bauer intermediates?

 

[Jarick]

The Nexus and Supreme intermediates are a little bigger shafts but the Vapor should be a little slimmer. I would say the Montreal is similar to the Vapor shafts in terms of diameter.

 

[Jarick]

Had a coached practice last night, which was interesting, hopefully productive too.


PASSES:

Did some hard cross-ice passes in warmups. My passes were much more on target and stayed on the ice better, which I'm attributing to the closed curve. I'm not a great passer, but I was able to throw a little sauce and get the puck maybe a half foot off the ice and land flat.

Catching these passes was no problem. I wouldn't say the blade helped knock them down but they didn't bounce off at all. "Solid" would be how I describe them. But the guy was sending good passes, not knucklers.

On the other hand, when we were doing breakout drills, I was getting a lot of bad passes from the D (we're a low level team), and I found that wobbly passes were jumping over my blade quite a bit. Even when I was square to the passer with the blade on the ice. I've definitely had sticks with blades that helped knock those pucks down a bit more.

We also worked on one-time / touch passes quite a bit. With these, if the pass was slightly off, it was a bit tough to corral the puck and it had a bit of a tendency to jump or bounce off the blade and into skates, etc. But with solid passes, I could one-time them back anywhere without a problem.

So basically, the blade felt solid and somewhat lively but didn't cushion or deaden the puck like a top end stick or wood blade.


SHOOTING

Didn't shoot during practice but had a long warmup where I got to take quite a few shots. I really feel like this stick has more pop and kick than anything I've used since the X:60. Quick release, puck flies flat, lots of power on them. My stick still felt a little long though, and I was hitting more pipes or missing the net more than I wanted.

I'll have to see if that's just the stick feeling like it's too long or just user error. It's not the stick's fault though, the puck is going where I'm sending it.


Tonight I'll have another game and will chop the stick down about 1/2" beforehand to see how that changes things.

 

[Jarick]

Cut down the stick maybe a little more than 1/2" and used it again last night. Of course, now it feels a hair short! But still more comfortable than a bit long.

Accuracy is better in shooting now. Still a little different with the closed mid, I sometimes feel like I've got to get a bit of heel-toe spin on the puck (not the whole blade but just a tiny bit). But my quick shots are much more on target and much less missing the net wide and ringing around out of the zone.

Outside of that, it was a pretty terrible game for the most part so not a lot to add.

Love how it shoots, wish the puck feel were a little better.

 

[Pajicz]

I think I had four yellow nano Montreal Nitros about 5-6 years ago, great sticks for way less money than the top line Bauer's or Easton's. Found one from ebay but it's right-handed;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Montreal-Nitro-Lite-Rt-Hand-70-Flex-/300904563647

Also, the goalie sticks were great, my friend always used to have those. Once tried a composite Bauer stick, which lasted maybe for a week, and then changed back to Montreal.

 

[Jarick]

Two more games with the M60.

There's some clear coat peeling at the heel and it MIGHT be starting to crack there. Could be from chopping the ice hard, highly doubt it would be from shooting. Can't really tell right now. Blade is still stiff though.

Still shoots great, puck feel is still mediocre. The lie I think is messing me up a bit as I'm used to a bit more upright blade and a bit shorter stick. I'll cut it a bit more before I use it again.

Shots are staying low which is making me focus on shooting low. Maybe too much as I used to be able to get some good top shelf goals but all my goals are bottom half of the net now.

Passing is good though, still easier than the P92.

Still pretty happy with it, but I hope if/when the blade goes, I can salvage the shaft and throw something better in there.

 

[Jarick]

Cut the stick down 1/2" before pickup yesterday and of course now it feels too short. But my passing is much better with the closed curve.

I will say this, I picked up the closed curve as an experiment to see about shooting low vs high and how that would impact my scoring. I've always had a great shot relative to my level of play (aka my skating sucks) and LOVE to shoot high, but my goalie told me to try shooting lower.

So far I've scored basically all my goals five hole or just above the pad. A couple times I've aimed low and scored (one of them in a shootout), and a couple times I've tried to shoot high but, because I'm used to the Sakic blade lie, I kind of flubbed the shot and it went in low anyway.

Focusing on shooting low, I'm seeing that nearly all the goalies I've faced are weaker in the five hole than anywhere else. It makes sense, because you play goal standing up and your eyes are up top. Shooting high must be easier for goalies to track and they don't have to move, just react to the shot and get in the way. But shooting low, they have to react to the shot AND they can't track the puck as easy AND they have to cover up the five hole.

 

[Jarick]

Been having some real trouble with the lie of the curve. I'm used to the P92 which has a rockered toe that I like to shoot from. So I may go back to using my P14 Miken for a bit. I'm just flubbing a LOT of shots with this stick.

 

[yan]

I purchased the Senior 924 howitzer stick and used it for 4 times so far. The curve is a toe curve slightly open. This stick is a little blade heavy which hopefully means it's more durable. Shots come off pretty strong and the puck feel is decent.

I got the stick in 75 flex and had to cut it down 2" which now makes the stick a little stiff for me. I'll probably give the intermediate sticks a try. Hopefully the shaft dimensions aren't too skinny. I'll probably try the Numminen curve since it looks like it's got a big blade which would help in catching passes/blocking shots...

 

[AcidJazz]

I bought this stick a week ago when I was down in the USA. They didn't have my curve (hall clone), so I went with the 65 flex Numminen curve. The stick is a bit blade heavy. Not as well balanced as my T100. That being said... I don't notice it on the ice and the stick itself is quite light. I really can't judge fairly anything else because I am not used to this curve at all. It's hard to shoot off the toe with this curve. Wristers also wobble so much because it's not staying in the pocket. I can't get much lift on it. That being said... This is an adjustment I have to make. When I wrist the old way (roll heel to toe), the shots rocket pretty nicely. Flex is nice. Shaft is a bit thinner which I am not sure if I like or not. Anyways I will keep working with this stick and give a solid review at a later time.

 

[hockeyviking]

Bit the bullet. Was $55 after a 10% off coupon from Total Hockey.



Mine is a 65 flex intermediate in a Knowlzee pattern, which was pretty close to a P88. I've been wanting to try a more closed pattern but didn't like how the Forsberg felt like it was kinked off at the heel, so here's kind of a compromise with my usual P92.

Advertised weight is 455 grams for the senior stick. Feels about that light, definitely lighter than anything under $150 or so that I picked up in the store.

It's got a matte texture finish to it which feels kind of grippy but not overly so. A lot like the Miken actually. And the graphics look like the Miken too.

3k weave on the blade and a regular taper, basically it seems a lot like any OPS you would have bought five years ago.

Oddly enough there's a warranty on it and it has a Warrior warranty sticker on it because Warrior bought out Montreal a few years ago (and then absorbed the goalie stuff while killing off the excellent wood blades and sticks).

Which makes me wonder, what the hell is this stick? It's a limited run for Total Hockey. I wonder if these are leftover Dolomite shafts with a 3k blade in them? The dimensions don't seem far off as they are a boxy-ish shaft with rounded corners. Hmm...

Anyways, I'll sneak it in the house tonight and tape it up then use it for Monday's game.

They only bought the factory for Goalie sticks, if i remember correct i bought Montreal sticks from Sherwood when i was working in a hockeystore.
The warranty says nothing since they probobly are made in the same factory in Asia.

 

[Jarick]

Yes, they only bought the brand for the goalie stuff, but I think they were using the Montreal brand to dump some old stock. Just speculation. It's a shame they didn't continue to produce the Montreal wood sticks as those were awesome.

 

[AcidJazz]

I bought this stick a week ago when I was down in the USA. They didn't have my curve (hall clone), so I went with the 65 flex Numminen curve. The stick is a bit blade heavy. Not as well balanced as my T100. That being said... I don't notice it on the ice and the stick itself is quite light. I really can't judge fairly anything else because I am not used to this curve at all. It's hard to shoot off the toe with this curve. Wristers also wobble so much because it's not staying in the pocket. I can't get much lift on it. That being said... This is an adjustment I have to make. When I wrist the old way (roll heel to toe), the shots rocket pretty nicely. Flex is nice. Shaft is a bit thinner which I am not sure if I like or not. Anyways I will keep working with this stick and give a solid review at a later time.

Well, I was doing some one-timers in practice, and this stick finally broke on me after 3 and half seasons. Such fantastic longevity. I grew to absolutely love this stick. I adjusted to the curve (it was similar to a Burrows curve) and could put shots any where I wanted. I loved how the slappers would stay low and hard. I loved the ultra low kick on this thing which kept the shots super accurate. What I learned most from this stick is that I like closed curves with a low kick. Going back to my p92 curve, the shots sail high and are not as hard. I wish I could buy another one of these (especially for $80), but sadly, this stick is now nowhere to be found.

RIP Montreal M60

 

[Jarick]

Mine is still going but the heel of the blade is cracked.