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quinton1

How many people use shafts vs one pieces?

Shafts vs one pieces  

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Standard shafts, but I could probably use OPS; I've been using the same comp blade (albeit a really solid CCM pro-issue) for five years now. So as far as goalie coaching is concerned, I don't think blades going dead is an issue. Maybe it's just a magic blade-- which would be great, since I have two more!

I am noticing a scarcity of blades, though, especially woodies, which I still like to use for occasional shinny. Every time I think about selling off some of my stock, I hesitate...

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I've used a few mid to high end composite shafts and would opine that they just don't seem to feel as nice as similarly spec'd OPS.


That said, I have recently rekindled the romance with an Easton aluminum shaft that scored a lot of goals in high school but has sat in the basement for close to 20 years. With an S19 blade it just balances right somehow. As an added bonus, the other night I was the recipient of a retaliatory slash that I think was aimed at my shins but landed square on said aluminum shaft. The composite stick belonging to the gentleman who was introducing himself to me cracked in half on the impact. Sorry pal!

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I've used two piece since my first Christian Aluminum shaft back in the early 1980's... I went with KOHO Pro Fibers and Canadien 6001's one year in th elate 1980's and went through about 3 dozen sticks... Went back to the 2 piece 'cuz I liked the feel and consistency shaft to shaft... Always thought I wanted a nice stiff carbon blade until I got one... that was when I appreciated the feel of a new wooden blade.in a composite or Al shaft. Have tried OPS and just don't like them. I have several broken OPS converted to 2 piece and they are not stiff enough so when my two Pro-Kenex and my original mustard brown Easton Composite die I dunno what I'll do. Hopefully I'll be at a point of just sitting back and watching and won't need sticks anymore....

I still have one of the gold Easton Al shafts... I may stuff a blade into it and take it out for one of my daughters' practices... I've already brought out a wood\glass Lam Tackla, 16" Cooper gloves, my early 1980's Jofa shins, and an old "Butch Goring" style Cooper helmet (I hesitate to call it a helmet for what is really there)... No, I don't relish being an eccentric old coach...

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I'm going to try a Warrior EVO I found on sale with a wooden Iginla curve blade.

I am, for the most part, favouring my Montreal two piece sticks.

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Two piece sticks for me. They are basically the same concept as most (with the exception of the special taper sticks) of the OPS sticks out there. Only difference is the blades are not epoxied in. When you look at it from that angle, a two piece stick makes infinitely more sense.

Zach

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I find shaft/blade combos are no longer cheaper. Easier to find discounted high end OPS's compared to shaft/blade combos.

From what research I have done this is pretty accurate, I can find a new total one ops for $130 on a lot of websites, compared to a total one shaft that is atleast $80 plus a total one standard blade which is gonna run $50 at least also, the only difference I guess is that if you break the one piece stick in half you can't really do much with it and have to buy another $130 full stick compared to if you break a 2 piece you just gotta buy a $80 shaft

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Probably want to go with a higher-end older model. I tried some woodies in a TO shaft and it felt blade-heavy, but the AKs from a few years ago always felt great to me.

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Shaft. (aluminum)

I guess I need to try out these new fancy sticks. I just don't like paying more than $40 for a stick. I didn't have any trouble shooting in the high 90s with my aluminum stick in the mid 90s.

but I will say that trying that same technique now at age 32 is leaving my hands bruised and my arms ringing.

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I will list my compelling reasons why I am not a fan of the OPS:

1) Blade choice. How many times have I heard "I like the kick on this shaft, but the blade blows"? More than you want to know.

2) Replaceability of parts. How many of you are blade breakers? What about shafts? With the component sticks, you can replace components.

3) How many times have you wanted to try different curves? With component sticks, you can try as many curves as your heart desires. With OPS, you have to buy different sticks. For a fellow like myself who hasn't found his dream curve, this is vital (unless I want to spend the GDP of a third world country on sticks).

I understand that some OPS are engineered to work better than component sticks. Everything is a compromise, in the end.

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The thing that gets me, though, is the group of people that consider the OPS sticks that are fused in a traditional sense BETTER than the two piece version of that stick. Mind boggling to me.

Zach

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I use both. I do believe that you get superior performance from an OPS, but it's obviously not enough of a performance drop to deter me from using two-piece sticks entirely, which I find to be more durable.

Although I will agree that blade availibility is an issue, I have been relying on the secondary market for blades since Warrior discontinued the Vanek pattern. I've become a stock-piler when it comes to blades; when I find some pro patterns that I like that aren't ridiculously expensive, I'll pick them up whether I currently need them or not.

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I use both. I do believe that you get superior performance from an OPS, but it's obviously not enough of a performance drop to deter me from using two-piece sticks entirely, which I find to be more durable.

Although I will agree that blade availibility is an issue, I have been relying on the secondary market for blades since Warrior discontinued the Vanek pattern. I've become a stock-piler when it comes to blades; when I find some pro patterns that I like that aren't ridiculously expensive, I'll pick them up whether I currently need them or not.

As long as the Christian Bros. related companies still exist, you can get whatever blade pattern you wish, provided you like wood. I prefer wood, myself; you may not.

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As long as the Christian Bros. related companies still exist, you can get whatever blade pattern you wish, provided you like wood. I prefer wood, myself; you may not.

I had a batch done a year ago by Eleven Hockey in Minnesota. Jay at Eleven was really great to work with and the process of getting them made was painless, but I have been spoiled by composite. I like the puck feel with wood and I feel like my passing is just as good with wood, but my shots just have more "zip" with composites.

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I had a batch done a year ago by Eleven Hockey in Minnesota. Jay at Eleven was really great to work with and the process of getting them made was painless, but I have been spoiled by composite. I like the puck feel with wood and I feel like my passing is just as good with wood, but my shots just have more "zip" with composites.

There's a reason why there are probably all of a small hand full (if any these days) of pros still use wood blades. I just still haven't found my twig, or I just really, really like wood. And it's not like I'm stuck in the '80s with other equipment choices...

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Decided to pick up some Eric Brewer Widow shafts on a blind buy, hoping they would be standard. They're tapered so I went to a couple LHS and the selection for blades has somehow worsened from the last time I trolled them for blades. Nothing resembling a P91A to be found so now I have to hope I can find some on eBay to avoid the horrible online stores' shipping prices. I think this will be the last batch of shafts I ever buy and will stick with OPS simply for the pattern options.

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I agree that the tapered blades are way harder to find than the standard. Persistence pays off though. I just scored two new ccm shafts and two mission blades for a total of sixty bucks. I've never busted a stick playing ice hockey so I'm hoping these should last for at least the next few seasons but if anyone knows where to find a good selection of tapered blades, I'd love to hear about it.

I've been out of hockey since the nineties and just can't wrap my head around how people are dropping $200 on one stick . . . sometimes more than once a season.

The only composite sticks when I played before were the super cheap franklin plastic street hockey sticks that came in a set of two with a hockey ball and an orange puck at the local Big 5 sporting goods store.

This sport is so damned fun! I am stoked to be back on the ice.

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I'm a bit late to the party. I'm currently using a TPS R2 tapered shaft I bought a few years ago, with a cheap Easton wooden blade. I had been using one-piece sticks for the last few years, the latest being the Easton EQ50. I loved my EQ50. Such a solid stick EXCEPT for the gimmicky weight balance feature thing in the blade, where my stick actually began to crack. That was my favourite OPS since my blue Easton Stealth CNT. I haven't used a better stick than the Stealth CNT, but the EQ50 is a close second. They actually felt quite similar to me (I'm no pro though), with the edge going to the Stealth. After my EQ50, I still had a Vapor XXXX OPS I bought years before the EQ50, but I absolutely hate that stick. It feels "soft", for lack of a better term, and it's not even beat up to any great extent. So I went back to my TPS R2 tapered shaft with a wooden blade. I have to say that I forgot how much I liked the feel of a wooden blade. The R2 is a "whip" flex and it still feels more solid than my Vapor XXXX. The problem, as someone else has mentioned, is finding good tapered blades, especially wooden blades. There seems to be more of a selection for composite, but local retailers are still asking $60+ for those, while wooden blades can be had for as low as $9 (picked one up last weekend).

That's my 2 cents.

I'll just add, I'm back to the shaft/blade combo mostly for financial reasons. I'm a bit older now and have a young son so I don't splurge as much as I used to when it comes to sticks. If money were no object, I would likely go for another Easton OPS.

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