Your favorite stick?

[ChiTownHawks]

we need a new cooler for the dressing room,does anyone know where to get a briefcase style cooler,I have seen one that looked like a first aid kit and could hold 24 cold beverages,that would be ideal

Yeah that's my favorite stick too.

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

favorite stick ive used, vapor 30 gange curve. Normally a malkin guy but that curve gives me fantastic puck control.

 

[ponder]

Thanks for the advice. The stick is an inch or two too long (above the chin) but I wanted to see how much that affected me so I could have that extra reach. I do tape the heel but if I ever get around to buying a saw I'll cut it down to the appropriate length.

Unless you're almost exclusively a defensive dman the extra reach you get is really not worth the negatives that an overly long stick brings, namely worse stick handling, worse shooting, more trouble receiving passes, etc. If you look at the NHL, or really any high level hockey, players in general use much shorter sticks than your average rec player does. You should be able to stickhandle with both hands in front of your body, like Fedorov or Sakic:

Not with your top hand trapped on one side of your body, like you see with so many low level players. Basically your stick should be roughly at the height of your collar bone when you're on skates. This will take some getting used to if you're coming from sticks that are above your chin on skates, and your shot especially will suffer at first, but once you're used to the shorter stick you'll find it significantly improves your stick handling, shooting and passing. Here's a good article on stick length:

http://www.cuthockeysticks.com/

This article is written by Howie Meeker, an old school NHL player, coach and GM. It's old school advice, but it still applies today. Keep your eye on stick length during NHL games, and often during national anthems, or when players are standing beside the bench at timeouts, etc. they will hold their sticks vertically in front of them, with the tip of the blade on the ice, and unless you're looking at someone like Willie Mitchell you'll probably notice that the stick comes up only to about shoulder height, not to somewhere between the chin and nose like most low level players use.

 

[Jarick]

The downside with that is that if you aren't bending your knees and have proper technique like all those NHL'ers, you might not be able to take advantage of the shorter stick. Also, they're way faster and in way better shape, thus can skate with the puck or to the puck a lot quicker than the rest of us. Plus, when the stick is that short, your shot is going to suffer unless you use a very whippy stick.

I'm about to test an Oggie Ergo pro stock grip which might help in using a shorter stick. It puts a flex point up at the top hand and gives a more "natural" grip on the stick. When I tried it before, I was used to holding the butt end in the middle of the palm so it hurt stickhandling and my sticks were cut to almost my nose height in skates, but now they are just below the chin and I'm curious to see how it works out.

One interesting (reassuring?) thing is that looking at those pictures, those players are holding the stick with the blade closed, rather than straight up and down like you're "supposed" to. I've been wondering about that since I hold the stick with the blade closed, I'm in good company with Sergei and Joe!

 

[ponder]

The downside with that is that if you aren't bending your knees and have proper technique like all those NHL'ers, you might not be able to take advantage of the shorter stick. Also, they're way faster and in way better shape, thus can skate with the puck or to the puck a lot quicker than the rest of us. Plus, when the stick is that short, your shot is going to suffer unless you use a very whippy stick.

I'm about to test an Oggie Ergo pro stock grip which might help in using a shorter stick. It puts a flex point up at the top hand and gives a more "natural" grip on the stick. When I tried it before, I was used to holding the butt end in the middle of the palm so it hurt stickhandling and my sticks were cut to almost my nose height in skates, but now they are just below the chin and I'm curious to see how it works out.

One interesting (reassuring?) thing is that looking at those pictures, those players are holding the stick with the blade closed, rather than straight up and down like you're "supposed" to. I've been wondering about that since I hold the stick with the blade closed, I'm in good company with Sergei and Joe!

Yeah, it helps to use a stick on the whippy side if you're gonna be cutting it down a fair bit. But you don't need to be an NHLer to get proper knee bend, any half decent skater can and should do this. As for holding the stick so that the blade is a bit closed in a neutral stance, I think that's pretty normal.

 

[jwitz04]

kind love my patty kate x20 bauer 75 flex

same here, awesome stick for $70...kane curve, mid flex

 

[Rush22*]

Easton S19 85 Flex Chara Pattern.


Easton S19 is king. I have used the TotalOne, I have a couple X60s... nothing comes close to the S19 for me.

 

[briner19]

I had been using an Easton SE16 (Sakic 85 Flex) for the past 2 years and really enjoyed it... I've been playing with that pattern for about 12 years now, so i'm used to it. Yesterday, I had the chance to grab a TotalOne (Backstrom 87 flex) for a great price so I did... and I was very impressed. My intention was to just try it out in warm-up and get a feel... but I decided to use it in the game and I'm glad I did. Shots really do jump off the stick... My only hesitation was going to a Lie6 from a 5.5 but I saw only a slight change.

Also, in terms of where to cut your stick... there is no magic code or whatever. Shorter is not better. Longer is not better. Do it all on feel... I like a long stick and stickhandling has never been an issue. It's actually my strong point...

 

[Galvatron]

Titan ASD 2000 with the IW curve (I believe it's called the Illegal Wedge curve?). Of course, this stick hasn't been made in years, sadly.

Now, it's the Easton Pro Gold 100 flex, aluminum.

 

[iamjs]

my favorite stick growing up was a Koho Revolution Gold. Only found this stick once. It had a very noticeable oval shape to it and was lighter than any other stick I ever used, including some aluminum sticks of the mid 90s.

My favorite stick now? Easton SE16 Letang pattern. Almost flat, then kicks hard at the tip of the blade.

 

[ponder]

Also re: the stick length talk, I don't cut my stick *QUITE* as short as some of the guys in those photos, for me personally I cut my stick to about 1.5" below my chin when I'm on skates and looking straight forward, I find this is short enough to for me to pass my top hand easily to either side of my body while stick handling in a proper, bent knees stance, and short enough to handle the puck in real close to my skates in general. I'm not saying that shorter is necessarily better, but if you've always used sticks that come up to around your nose on skates you should really at least give a short stick a try. Just get a cheap woodie in your preferred curve, cut it down to about 1-2" below your chin on skates, and give it a go for a few stick and puck sessions. It'll feel weird at first, so give it at least 2-3 sessions (really focusing on being in a proper, bent knees skating stance), if you still don't like it then it's probably not for you, but if you end up really liking it then the shorter stick has the potential to really help your stick handling and even shooting.

Also, re: favorite stick, I already mentioned my now-broken 77 flex one95 as my fave for ice hockey, but for road hockey I'm all about the Koho Crossover blade in a composite shaft. It's a wood/fiber glass blade with a thick strip of ABS on the bottom, has great durability on rough surface while still keeping that nice wood feel (I can't stand the feel of pure ABS blades). Best road hockey blade bar none IMO, though it only comes in the Koho Jagr curve which is a pretty massive mid curve.

 

[blokeyhighlander]

Unless you're almost exclusively a defensive dman the extra reach you get is really not worth the negatives that an overly long stick brings, namely worse stick handling, worse shooting, more trouble receiving passes, etc. If you look at the NHL, or really any high level hockey, players in general use much shorter sticks than your average rec player does. You should be able to stickhandle with both hands in front of your body, like Fedorov or Sakic:

Not with your top hand trapped on one side of your body, like you see with so many low level players. Basically your stick should be roughly at the height of your collar bone when you're on skates. This will take some getting used to if you're coming from sticks that are above your chin on skates, and your shot especially will suffer at first, but once you're used to the shorter stick you'll find it significantly improves your stick handling, shooting and passing. Here's a good article on stick length:

http://www.cuthockeysticks.com/

This article is written by Howie Meeker, an old school NHL player, coach and GM. It's old school advice, but it still applies today. Keep your eye on stick length during NHL games, and often during national anthems, or when players are standing beside the bench at timeouts, etc. they will hold their sticks vertically in front of them, with the tip of the blade on the ice, and unless you're looking at someone like Willie Mitchell you'll probably notice that the stick comes up only to about shoulder height, not to somewhere between the chin and nose like most low level players use.

I took your advice and cut down my sticks to about my chin. While it was awkward initially I noticed the benefits immediately. My stick handling and shot were MUCH better right away and it just took a few minutes to adjust to defending and receiving loose pucks with a shorter stick.

Thanks again.

 

[ponder]

I took your advice and cut down my sticks to about my chin. While it was awkward initially I noticed the benefits immediately. My stick handling and shot were MUCH better right away and it just took a few minutes to adjust to defending and receiving loose pucks with a shorter stick.

Thanks again.

Glad you like it! Short sticks are not for everyone, but they work great for a lot of players (especially forwards), and can really help your stick handling and shooting once you get used to them.

Another side benefit is that using a shorter stick encourages you to take a nice low, knees/ankles bent hockey stance, which is the best stance for skating anyways, while a longer stick can encourage you to be overly upright, which sucks.

I wouldn't suggest to anyone to cut down their most expensive stick without first making sure they actually like short sticks, but I think anyone who has never tried a short stick should at least give it a go. Cut an old woodie down to somewhere between your lips and chin in socks, which is about you adams apple to collar bone in skates, give it a go for a couple stick and puck sessions, if you don't like it then don't use it, but a lot of people will love it.

 

[blokeyhighlander]

Glad you like it! Short sticks are not for everyone, but they work great for a lot of players (especially forwards), and can really help your stick handling and shooting once you get used to them.

Another side benefit is that using a shorter stick encourages you to take a nice low, knees/ankles bent hockey stance, which is the best stance for skating anyways, while a longer stick can encourage you to be overly upright, which sucks.

I wouldn't suggest to anyone to cut down their most expensive stick without first making sure they actually like short sticks, but I think anyone who has never tried a short stick should at least give it a go. Cut an old woodie down to somewhere between your lips and chin in socks, which is about you adams apple to collar bone in skates, give it a go for a couple stick and puck sessions, if you don't like it then don't use it, but a lot of people will love it.

And just to clarify - I'm only using wood sticks and for you short guys out there but have strength and are fed up with the flex on their intermediate sticks cutting it down a few inches certainly helps.

 

[Jarick]

I just chopped another 3/4" off one of my sticks...it was below the chin but I couldn't make the moves I could in tight with my other stick. Not sure if it's the blade (similar but square toe) or the weight (wood blade and slightly heavier overall) but everything felt sluggish with it.

 

[Jarick]

I was watching a Gretzky special and noticed Coffey's sticks were amazingly short. He could grab both ends of the stick without stretching his arms too far.

 

[ponder]

I just chopped another 3/4" off one of my sticks...it was below the chin but I couldn't make the moves I could in tight with my other stick. Not sure if it's the blade (similar but square toe) or the weight (wood blade and slightly heavier overall) but everything felt sluggish with it.

Probably a mix of the blade/weight, you not being used to it, and of course it may just be that a short stick doesn't suit your style. There is certainly no hard and fast rule that applies to everyone, for example Joe Sakic had arguably the greatest wrister of all time, and he used a real short stick:
http://www.life.com/image/83481712

But Stamkos has arguably the best shot in the game today, and he apparently uses a full length senior stick, pretty long for someone who's 6'1'".

I was watching a Gretzky special and noticed Coffey's sticks were amazingly short. He could grab both ends of the stick without stretching his arms too far.

Yeah, he did all sorts of stuff really weird, heard he would sometimes use a 2" hollow on his skates too, no idea how he ever held an edge!

 

[Jarick]

Oh I meant my stickhandling was off, so I cut 3/4" off it. I've found with one of my sticks I can handle very well (better than normal), and playing around with a few others I might end up going a bit shorter still (maybe up to 2" below the chin). Weight seems to play a part in it, so with this heavier stick (the Reebok 8k shaft), it might need to be a bit shorter.

Coffey also supposedly skated in skates two sizes too small. Hey, it worked for him.

 

[GLG]

1. TITAN ASD 10000 SHAFT
w/SHERWOOD 950 WOOD BLADE (BOUCHARD ½" HEEL CURVE - identical to the Tkachuk)

2. LOUISVILLE TPS RESPONSE (TKACHUK ½" HEEL CURVE)

 

[Dinoz]

CCM U+CL, Ovi curve, 75 flex. Amazing stick.

 

[hattrick3518]

Of the sticks I can remember having my favorites have always been Easton's. In particular I loved my original Stealth, as well as the original Synergy ST Grip (the lime green one) I broke my ST, but it was just the blade so I've still got it, put an old Si-Core blade in it.

As for curves, I've pretty much exclusively used the Easton Forsberg/Modano, I've got an original TPS Response with the Tkachuk curve but I don't like it as much, its a little too much of a straight bend rather than the more contoured Forsberg. Both are heel curves though, which I do prefer.

 

[ponder]

Oh I meant my stickhandling was off, so I cut 3/4" off it. I've found with one of my sticks I can handle very well (better than normal), and playing around with a few others I might end up going a bit shorter still (maybe up to 2" below the chin). Weight seems to play a part in it, so with this heavier stick (the Reebok 8k shaft), it might need to be a bit shorter.

Coffey also supposedly skated in skates two sizes too small. Hey, it worked for him.

Ah never mind, totally misinterpreted your post! When you say 2" below the chin, I assume you're talking about when in skates? So like roughly shoulder height? That's about where I cut my sticks to, wouldn't want them any shorter than that, but for the way I play (plenty of knee/ankle bend almost all the time, like an infinitely sh1ttier version of Taylor Hall) it's the perfect length.

CCM U+CL, Ovi curve, 75 flex. Amazing stick.

No matter how many times I see that curve I just cannot get over how ridiculous it is. Wouldn't it be tough to keep shots down? I always use pretty closed face curves (mostly just the Bauer P88/Easton Iginla), so I'm sure it'd be quite the transition for me! I'd love to try out a serious toe hook like that though, either this one (Ovie pro curve) or the retail Warrior Gionta (which seems similar, but much less open/wedged).

 

[Velociraptor]

I cracked a Hedman Curve 10K, sent it off an received an 8.0.8 in return, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it since acquiring it.

 

[Dinoz]

No matter how many times I see that curve I just cannot get over how ridiculous it is. Wouldn't it be tough to keep shots down? I always use pretty closed face curves (mostly just the Bauer P88/Easton Iginla), so I'm sure it'd be quite the transition for me! I'd love to try out a serious toe hook like that though, either this one (Ovie pro curve) or the retail Warrior Gionta (which seems similar, but much less open/wedged).

When you get used to it its not that hard to keep the shots down.

The guy that works in the store were i bought the stick said " I would not be able to shoot with that curve"

But i guess you have to get used to it.

 

[Hacker10]

I like my Bauer One60. Pretty good stick for the price.