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ponder

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  1. ponder

    BASE Savoy Special

    BASE Savoy Special Flex: 75 Curve: Hossa pro Height: 6" Weight: 180 lbs Age: 25 Postition: RW Level of hockey: beer league now, highest level I've played at was HS hockey Fitting session: I didn't get the full fitting session, went in when they had a "demo days" promotion. Basically like the fitting session, but without the high speed camera, and it was totally free (no fitting charge). They let you try all sorts of flexes and curves on their artificial ice rink, even set you up with passes, took lots of time with me and explained all the options. Was a really fun experience, and the fake ice was actually pretty easy and fun to skate on. Curve: The Hossa curve is a weird curve, perfectly straight for much of it's length, then a real meat hook at the end, super open too. I wanted to try a toe curve, and it was the only one they had. Ultimately, it was not for me, used it for quite awhile but just never got the hang of it. Eventually just hacked it off, chiseled out the tenon, and have been using it as a tapered shaft ever since. Like the stick a lot more now that I've been using it with curves I'm more comfortable with (Drury and Sakic curves). Aesthetics: Plain/boring, not ugly but nothing special, 7/10 Weight/balance: Very light weight and balanced, has the weight and balance you'd expect out of a high end stick 10/10 Shaft shape: Personal preference, but I'm not a huge fan. Rounded corners, which in itself I don't mind, but it's also just a small shaft, almost like an intermediate (and no, it's not an intermediate, it says "SR" right on it). Feels very noticeably smaller in my hands than even Vapor sticks. Mark is based on personal preference, but I just wish the shaft was a bit bigger, 7/10 Blade feel: Not a big fan, pretty pingy/ceramic. Blade stayed nice and stiff, though. Didn't get the sharkskin coating, not sure whether or not that would have improved the feel, 6/10 Shooting, wrist shots: This is the whippiest 75 flex stick I've ever used, by far. Really, really whippy. People (myself included) found 77 flex one95s to feel whippier than most, but this is on a while other level. I love whippy sticks though, and my wrist/snap shots have never been better, total rockets every time (once I switched the blade to a curve I can use). 10/10 Shooting, slap shots: The huge whip helps for wrist shots, but hurts for slap shots. Just feels a bit flimsy when taking slappers, mostly because of the whip, but also a bit because of the narrow shaft dimensions (at least, I think). Still get decent power, but not as good as with some other sticks, and don't love how it feels on slappers in general. 7/10 Durability: Fantastic, I've been extremely hard on this stick, not exactly sure how long I've been using it but I wanna say about 6-8 months, a few times a week, and it's still going real strong. Kevlar wrap seems to be doing its job really well on slashes and whatnot, hasn't whipped out (very whippy, but it was like that to start with), blade stayed stiff till I chopped it off (which was just to change the curve), no complaints at all durability wise. 10/10 Value: I didn't pay for the fitting session (because of the "demo days" promotion), didn't pay for customization (don't need my name/number on there), and didn't pay for shipping (I live close to the fitting center), so it was $150.00, which is a solid deal for a light, balanced, durable stick that shoots great wristers. If you pay for the fitting session and customization it starts to get pricey, but I'm sure the full on fitting session would be pretty cool and probably worth it. Conclusion: Love this stick for wristers/snappers, not as much for slappers, be warned that it's a lot whippier than other sticks I've used rated at the same flex. Pretty good stick for the money, if they improved the blade feel and gave the shaft a bit thicker dimensions I'd buy another one for sure, as is though I'll be sticking with high end sticks from other brands when they go on clearance.
  2. Interesting, looks almost like a reverse-Drury. What I mean is that on a Drury it seems like the bottom edge has a touch of smooth mid-heel curve while the top edge is straighter, but on this curve the bottom edge seems very straight while the top edge has a bit more smooth mid-heel curve. It's all pretty subtle, but that's what I see when looking at the Drury (well, P91A actually) in my hands and comparing it to these pics. Also, from the blade profile shot, it looks to have a similar profile, but with a less rockered toe than the Drury.
  3. Flawless on my PC (using Google Chrome).
  4. White lies are your friend. "I totally got it on sale for $75!"
  5. Good to know a little "window shopping" type looking around (at bigger items, when buying smaller items) is no biggie, and I definitely make sure to just keep to myself while doing so, not wasting anyone's time. I'd feel like quite a dbag using a shop as a fitting service for skates only to buy them online, but definitely not surprised it happens, a lot of people have no shame. Also, agreed on good service being key, there are a lot of hockey shops in Vancouver, the one I always try to go to is actually one of the furthest from me (takes over an hour to get their by public transit), but I always try to make the trip because their service (and their selection) is excellent. Shops full of snobs and/or ignorant kids on cell phones get my business once, at most, and only for small ticket items, but the quality shops get my business again and again. It's a bit different in Canada though, there are essentially no budget online retailers here, so no reason to order online, and once you know you're going to a brick and mortar shop, may as well go to a good one.
  6. In a similar vein, re: tire kickers vs. legit customers, I've got a question, just as a curiosity for LHS workers/owners. When I go in to make small purchases at my LHS (like tape, wax, pucks, socks, etc.), if I have some spare time, I enjoy cruising around, trying on gloves, picking up sticks (though not flexing them), etc., even though I'm not going to buy them at that point in time, I'm there for other minor things. I make sure not to take up the time of any sales people, never try on skates, etc., but could easily spend 15 mins or so just checking out what's new in the gear world for fun/curiosity/window shopping before buying whatever I'm there for. Is this considered an annoyance/bad form, or totally fine? I make my big purchases at these same few LHSs, but just less often obviously, I need new tape/wax/pucks/socks/underarmour/end plugs/etc. more often than I need new sticks, skates, etc.
  7. Interesting, looks very Drury-ish, though it's always hard to compare blade length, lie, etc. from pictures like this.
  8. Yeah, that Versteeg definitely looks quite Draper/Sakic/P92-esque, though obviously a bit different. Sounds like the Zetterberg pro is a heel wedge with a round toe, but I'm guessing it's not identical to a Kovalev/Drury/P91A, how is it different? Someone mentioned it has a touch of mid curve to it as well, maybe more like a Bauer P106? My dream curve is a P106 with less rocker (to be exact, with more of a Drury type lie and rocker), if the Zetterberg pro is anything like that I'd be in heaven :)
  9. In terms of the current Warrior curves, yes. Sounds like their new Zetterberg retail might be even a bit closer, but it's not out yet. The Kovalchuk curve starts a bit more towards the mid blade (for a mid curve, the P88 is fairly heel-like), and the Kovalchuk is a bit more drastic (as in tighter radius circle, the actual depth is similar though because the on the Kovalchuk the curve really gets going further from the heel), but they're fairly similar curves.
  10. 80 flex fused here I come! I've always wanted to try an 80 flex, I feel my slapers suffer a bit with a 75, but my quick release snapper (off inside foot) suffer a bit with an 85, hoping the 80 is the best of both worlds :) Pro curves sound cool too. Was always a mid curve guy, experimented with toe curves recently but didn't like em (so the Hossa and Ovechkin are out), recently I gave the retail Drury another shot though and love it this time, so pretty curious/excited to see what the Zetterberg and Versteeg curves look like.
  11. Stick - Bauer Supreme one95 grip (blue/silver, not NBH, 2009 I believe) Pattern/flex - P88 77 flex User Background - 6'0", 180 pounds, played high school hockey in Toronto, current beer leaguer Use - 2ish months, roughly 1 game and 1 stick and puck per week Other sticks I've owned - Easton ST, TPS Rubber, numerous low end Easton/TPS OPS sticks, MANY woodies Blade Super damp feel but still stiff for shots, gets cut easily by skate blades though 9/10 Weight and Balance Very light (maybe not quite totalone light, but damn light regardless) and perfectly balanced 10/10 Shaft/Flex I absolutely loved how this thing flexed, just felt so easy and natural to flex, and a very responsive/snappy feel. Also loved the shape of the shaft (concave walls, but not overly rounded corners), and the grip is just perfect, not too much but not too little. I normally don't like grip sticks, but the grip on this one is GREAT 10/10 Stickhandling/recieving passes Great feel to the blade, damp on passes, light stick for stickhandling, definitely a great stickhandling/passing stick 10/10 Shooting Kicks hard and flexed just how I wanted it to, my shots have never been as good with any other stick, especially slappers and snappers 10/10 Durability Blade sliced deep by a skate blade early on, had to patch it with epoxy. Shaft snapped on a slapper in less than 2 months. Durability was not good for me, definitely a much faster than average break. 5/10 Aesthetics I think this stick is stunning, love how it looks 9/10 Conclusions/overall Best performance I've ever had from a stick, easily. But also some of the worst durability, though I may have got unlucky as others seem to feel that it's a fairly durable stick. 8.5/10
  12. ponder

    Easton SyNergy ST

    Stick - Easton Synergy ST, blue/white/silver model (2009?) Pattern/flex - Iginla 85 flex User Background - 6'0", 180 pounds, played high school hockey in Toronto, current beer leaguer Use - 10ish months, roughly 1 game and 1 stick and puck per week Other sticks I've owned - Bauer one95, TPS Rubber, numerous low end Easton/TPS OPS sticks, MANY woodies Blade Real nice blade, pretty damp feeling on passes but still very stiff, maintains it's stiffness very well, and seems to be basically indestructible. Easton blades are known to go soft or break easily, but that's definitely not the case with my ST. 9/10 Weight and Balance It's a stick made to be durable, not light, it's noticeable heavier than top of the line performance sticks, but still not that heavy. Balance is pretty good, a touch blade heavy but only just slightly. 8/10 Shaft/Flex Flexes like a stick that has quite a bit of fiberglass in it, doesn't have that really lively/responsive kick that you get out of a (albeit much more fragile) top of the line stick. I still flex it well, but it just doesn't give me the feedback I like, if that makes sense. Shaft shape is nice, traditional/boxy. 6/10 Stickhandling/recieving passes Very damp blade as I mentioned before, don't even really need to cradle passes, they'll stick even if your hands suck. Stick handling is good in all regards except weight, as it is a touch on the heavier side. 9/10 Shooting I know this is known as a slapshot stick, but for whatever reason my slapshot is mediocre with it. My snapper is great with this stick, my wrister also mediocre. I shoot better with sticks that have a more snappy/responsive feel, but still shoot reasonably well with this stick. 8/10 Durability This thing has taken massive abuse with nothing bad to show for it. The blade and the shaft have taken only minor cosmetic damage from even the most vicious slashes or encounters with skate blades, and the performance is still quite similar to the day I got it. The most durable stick I've ever used, period. Has definitely lived up to the hype in terms of durability for me. 10++++/10 Aesthetics The paint job is crazy cheap, I put a candy cane wrap on it for a bit and when I peeled the wrap off the graphics came off like a sticker (especially all the silver parts). Before that it was a reasonably good looking stick, though I prefer a more understated black look personally. 7/10 Conclusions/overall A stick that performs decently, like a mid range stick, but with phenomenal durability. Love the blade and and how well its held up, but just not a fan of the way the shaft flexes/kicks. Happy with my purchase overall, especially since I got it on sale 8.5/10
  13. You got custom TOs and they didn't even give you fusion steel? Isn't that one of the bigger selling points of the TOs? I'd DEFINTIELY complain like crazy and get them to send you the proper steel. People seem to like the grip liner so you should be fine there, but still weird that they got it wrong.
  14. I already do this (I actually have a pad sewn on to velcro, so I can remove it to dry after skating), but a shorter toe cap would be nice. Not that I have the money for custom skates at the moment anyways, but some day :)
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