Composite sticks, flex, etc for new skater

[Phantom 19]

I've been playing goal for years, but only skated out occasionally. I recently joined a novice team to learn to play D and wing, and now that I'll be skating up more regularly, it looks like I might need to update my player sticks. I'm playing on a couple of eight (?) year old, low-end Easton wood sticks, because I never skated out enough to justify the cost of the (then) newer one-piece composites. I shoot right and like a mid-curve. And I'm totally lost beyond that.

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to composites, flex, etc. I'm 5'6", 145lbs and have an ok wrist and snap shot, but not much of a slapshot. Are composites even where I should be looking, or do people still play on aluminum sticks w/replaceable blades? Admittedly, I've not had the best luck with composites in goal. I had four goal sticks, and three of them snapped in six months after taking a single shot to the shaft, so I went back to foamcore goal sticks.

I'm up to looking at composites, but I don't know which ones are good for some novice hockey and will hold up/be the best bang for my buck. I'd like to keep it around $75-80/stick if possible for now. I was looking at the Warrior AX5 Dynasty LT because it's marketed toward rec level skaters, and is probably an improvement from what I'm currently skating on even though it's very low end itself. Or is that stick just a complete waste of money? Or the Warrior AX3 Dynasty as that looks like it's a step up from the AX5, or the Graf Supra G45. Very open to suggestions about brands, sticks, flex, etc. Not sure if I should go more or less flex. I'm going to try to get to a pro shop, but I don't have a lot of places to actually try sticks unfortunately. Or maybe I'm overthinking this?

[rawkstar 45]

If you're just playing novice it may not really matter. If anything I would just make sure you have a stick that fits you and has the right length and the correct lie. At your height and weight you should probably look into intermediate sticks, anything in senior will be too long and once you cut it down they'll be way too stiff. I try to get my sticks to be not any higher than my chin without skates on, its not like a hard rule, but it works for me. Beyond that depending on how you skate you should get a blade with an appropriate lie, so if you're skating more upright you want higher lie, if you're lower to the ground you may want to use a lower lie so the blade is flush against the ice. Look at intermediate sticks, and then make sure the length and the blade fits you. You should be able to find something decent in the low end for about 40-50 bux. Durability wise they should be fine, they've come a very long way, I very rarely break sticks nowadays.

[Vet88 673]

I doubt you would get much from a pro shop. You are really looking for an intermediate stick in the 55 - 70 flex range. Personally I'd suggest you start with a 70 flex and then drop down if you think it is too stiff. If you get a stick that has too much flex it screws with your shooting and passing until you readjust your technique.

You can get some really decent sticks on clearance from the online stores. For example Hockey Monkey have the ax3 (which is a great stick) on clearance. Or if you don't hit a lot of slap shots the Widow is a previous model top end stick with great feel (durability wise on slap shots it's poor). For a curve I suggest you look at something like a savard - mid curve, slight depth, slightly open, mid lie. A good all rounder that doesn't specialize in any one area.