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masterpeice_patrice

Johnny Gaudreau's 55 flex stick..

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On 10/1/2016 at 2:55 PM, masterpeice_patrice said:

Tell me the story please lol 

I think Gretzky also didnt fair very well in one of the training camps. I read somewhere that physically he was considered as one of the weakest on the team with the Oilers.

 

 

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19 minutes ago, fatwabbit said:

I think Gretzky also didnt fair very well in one of the training camps. I read somewhere that physically he was considered as one of the weakest on the team with the Oilers.

 

 

Sam Bennett was the same too. I think he failed to do a single pull up during the NHL prospects fitness testing. Everyone said he's too weak  to be in the NHL. I saw him playing in the playoffs that year against Vancouver and he was amazing,

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5 hours ago, JR Boucicaut said:

He's on Mod approval for trolling. 

My first thought was this has to be the ultimate catfish troll.

 

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3 hours ago, Amiroo39 said:

Sam Bennett was the same too. I think he failed to do a single pull up during the NHL prospects fitness testing. Everyone said he's too weak  to be in the NHL. I saw him playing in the playoffs that year against Vancouver and he was amazing,

Ive always thought that strength was important, but over time I think form and technique would trump were paramount over strength.

 

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To quote James Neal from an article he wrote last year in Players Tribune:

Growing up, I used a stiff stick. This allows you a little bit more control with passing and stickhandling, but isn’t as good for shooting. When I switched to a whippier stick, it allowed me to bend the stick when I push down on it and get a lot of torque on my shot — even when I’m off-balance.

Think of it like a diving board. The more springy the diving board is, the higher you go, right? The same thing happens to a puck when it’s on a whippier stick. It’s like a slingshot effect.

Yep, a 6' 2" 220lb current nhl elite goal scorer talking about using a lower flex stick,.....  The OP must be smoking some good s##t

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I interviewed our pro sticks manager, Jared, about the Gaudreau switch and how he made it down to 55 flex.  

Also, he touches on some of the "more flex benefits" discussion in this thread.  Hope this helps shed some light.

 

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On 10/3/2016 at 5:12 PM, fatwabbit said:

I think Gretzky also didnt fair very well in one of the training camps. I read somewhere that physically he was considered as one of the weakest on the team with the Oilers.

 

 

I remember seeing a photo of Gretzky in the Oilers locker room from his rookie year, surrounded by these gnarly giant looking dudes; Gretzky looked like he was 12 years old by comparison.  

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On 10/3/2016 at 5:35 PM, Amiroo39 said:

Sam Bennett was the same too. I think he failed to do a single pull up during the NHL prospects fitness testing. Everyone said he's too weak  to be in the NHL. I saw him playing in the playoffs that year against Vancouver and he was amazing,

 

A single pull up. Come on. My GF can do like 20. What a sissy ;)

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On 10/7/2016 at 8:29 AM, Giraffe14 said:

I remember seeing a photo of Gretzky in the Oilers locker room from his rookie year, surrounded by these gnarly giant looking dudes; Gretzky looked like he was 12 years old by comparison.  

 

That's because he was still a kid, didn't he have his first game at 18?

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I've been saying for awhile I think kids-high schoolers use too stiff of sticks. Glad to hear Jared discuss that in the podcast, never had heard of his point of view. 

I've always thought their shots in warm ups are harder with stiffer sticks since they have time to really wind up and lean on it. When in the game its all about the release, not the velocity. If you hear from goalies they always discuss how a quick released is very much more important then the actual power of the shot. 

Just heard someone at an LHS this weekend discussing the flex should be half your body weight thing, I couldn't disagree with that rule of thumb more. It comes down to preference, but I wish more kids would at least "try" the whipper sticks.

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4 hours ago, mcne0101 said:

Just heard someone at an LHS this weekend discussing the flex should be half your body weight thing, I couldn't disagree with that rule of thumb more. It comes down to preference, but I wish more kids would at least "try" the whipper sticks.

Clearly there are a lot of factors, but I think it actually isn't a bad starting point. It would put most young high schoolers in a flex in the 70's and at least based on the team I coached flexes are usually at least in the 80s. So I do agree that many would benefit from a more flexible stick, but think when kids jump up to senior sticks they just grab an 85 or 87 because that's the "standard" flex. However, the half the weight rule would put most of them in the 70s.

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When I first heard about Gaudreau's stick flex, it was like finding a kindred spirit. I'm 5'5 and I weight 180lbs. I've been as light as 165 and as heavy as 190 in the last couple of years because of health problems. Two years ago I moved from intermediate 55 flex sticks, which after being cut down were around 65-70 flex, to junior sticks. Since then, I've experimented with 40, 45, 50, and 52 flex juniors sticks, with low, mid, and variable kickpoinnts.  

The results in my game were pretty significant. Though it took a small adjustment period to be able to take slappers normally again, my snap and wrist shots improved almost immediately. In my first game using a CCM 4052 mid-kick  52 flex, I beat a defender wide and snapped a shot at the top of the circle. It beat the goalie short side, over the couple of inches of opening just over his shoulder as he came across.  I don't know who was more surprised me or the goalie, cause that's exactly where I was aiming, and I never hit what I aim for, at least not like that. I'm a disher not a shooter.

As I mentioned the most difficult part of the change was the slapshot. I was so use to having  to exert a lot of force to flex the stick that the junior sticks felt like wet noodles. But now I barely give it a second thought. Now I can get all my shots off quicker, and it feels way more natural. If you're wondering about durability, don't, because I haven't broken a single stick, and I play center, and I've had my stick chopped and chopped. I think it helps that I always put a couple of strips of hockey tape over the lower part of the shaft to mitigate chipping. 

As for shot velocity, I used my iPhone take video of me shooting at the rink at 240fps using a variety of sticks. Using that video I was able to do rough velocity calculations over sample sizes of around 50+ shots per stick. And I found some interesting trends. No matter what stick I used, the average velocity varied by only about 2mph for slap and wrists shots. So over the long run, the average wrister from a junior stick vs a intermediate stick was almost the same. 

The differences I found came when I looked at the lowest and highest velocities. The junior sticks had lower low velocities and the intermediate sticks had higher high velocities. This means I have the potential to shoot harder with the intermediate stick. But over all IMHO I shoot better with a junior stick, in terms of technique and quickness of release.

Though, I just got a CCM Speedburner, and the puck feels like it comes off that stick with a lot more pop.

On a side note, there are some nice side benefits to using junior sticks. A low end junior stick is still as light or lighter than most high end intermediate or senior sticks and they tend to be around $20 cheaper when compared to their intermediate and senior counterparts. 

 

Sorry for the long post everyone. When I saw this thread, I felt a need to share in the hopes my experiences would help anyone worried about trying really low flexes because it's not macho enough.

Cheers.

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Thats crazy, how do you even function properly in a game? What happens when you recieve a solid pass? 

 

I am taller but exaclty the same weight. I tried int. 65 flex few times, recieving hard passes was imposssible, shooting power went down, stickhandling was worst...cant imagine with a junior flex and shaft dimensions...

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On 10/4/2016 at 1:35 AM, Amiroo39 said:

Sam Bennett was the same too. I think he failed to do a single pull up during the NHL prospects fitness testing. Everyone said he's too weak  to be in the NHL. I saw him playing in the playoffs that year against Vancouver and he was amazing,

 

IIRC Bennett was recovering from a shoulder injury he received from the playoffs. It wasn't a case of him being generally weak.

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6 hours ago, icewalker_bg said:

Thats crazy, how do you even function properly in a game? What happens when you recieve a solid pass? 

Fiddled around with the stick at stick-and-puck for a bit and got used to it. 

For me, receiving passes wasn't much different. It's all about being able cushion the puck when you receive it, right?  As for stickhandling,  shorter and lighter stick made it easier for me to one-hand the stick and control the puck. I can drag pucks from behind me with one hand more easily. I can bring the stick around and across my body a lot quicker.  A decent junior stick probably weighs 400grams or less. 

I know the term wet-noodle gets thrown around, but, still, it takes 50lbs of pressure to bend the stick one inch. I'm not sure a hard pass generates enough force to even do that, so from my perspective, it's not that much different that using a stiffer stick.  I was thinking it might even help to receive the pass, because if it does flex a little while receiving the pass, it's like the stick cushions it a little for you.

But like I said, I did have a small adjustment period for things like slappers. But once I committed to it, it just got easier and easier to use. 

If you look at pictures of NHL players taking their shots, notice how much their sticks bend when they shoot. Even with a junior stick I don't think I get as much bend. I think I come close, but with an intermediate or senior forget it. 

IMHO, a lot of it comes down to comfort. When you're used to using really stiff sticks, of course something in the low flex area is going to feel really weird. For me, this was a gradual process. Over the years I went from around 100+ flex, cut-down senior sticks to 65-75 intermediates that I cut very little. Then I went to 55flex intermediate that I didn't cut at all at first, and eventually went to juniors. I was getting tired of using the long sticks and not being able to stickhandle well enough.

Honestly, I think 55 flex is my ideal flex, but nobody makes a stick short enough in that flex, especially Warrior, who's sticks I love. I use a 52" stick, and that's the tallest junior I can get. But 50 flex works, and with the newer tech, like the stuff CCM is doing, things are coming around to fit me better. Now if only Warrior made longer junior sticks, things would be even more peachy. :p

 

 

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1 hour ago, puckpilot said:

Fiddled around with the stick at stick-and-puck for a bit and got used to it. 

For me, receiving passes wasn't much different. It's all about being able cushion the puck when you receive it, right?  As for stickhandling,  shorter and lighter stick made it easier for me to one-hand the stick and control the puck. I can drag pucks from behind me with one hand more easily. I can bring the stick around and across my body a lot quicker.  A decent junior stick probably weighs 400grams or less. 

I know the term wet-noodle gets thrown around, but, still, it takes 50lbs of pressure to bend the stick one inch. I'm not sure a hard pass generates enough force to even do that, so from my perspective, it's not that much different that using a stiffer stick.  I was thinking it might even help to receive the pass, because if it does flex a little while receiving the pass, it's like the stick cushions it a little for you.

But like I said, I did have a small adjustment period for things like slappers. But once I committed to it, it just got easier and easier to use. 

If you look at pictures of NHL players taking their shots, notice how much their sticks bend when they shoot. Even with a junior stick I don't think I get as much bend. I think I come close, but with an intermediate or senior forget it. 

IMHO, a lot of it comes down to comfort. When you're used to using really stiff sticks, of course something in the low flex area is going to feel really weird. For me, this was a gradual process. Over the years I went from around 100+ flex, cut-down senior sticks to 65-75 intermediates that I cut very little. Then I went to 55flex intermediate that I didn't cut at all at first, and eventually went to juniors. I was getting tired of using the long sticks and not being able to stickhandle well enough.

Honestly, I think 55 flex is my ideal flex, but nobody makes a stick short enough in that flex, especially Warrior, who's sticks I love. I use a 52" stick, and that's the tallest junior I can get. But 50 flex works, and with the newer tech, like the stuff CCM is doing, things are coming around to fit me better. Now if only Warrior made longer junior sticks, things would be even more peachy. :p

 

 

Is that 52" from the end of the shaft to the heel? BASE makes 45 flex intermediate sticks. They measure around 54-55" from the end of the shaft to the heel. Cutting off 3" should get you to around 55 flex. And you would have an intermediate sized shaft which would probably fit your hands better than a junior shaft. I'm using a 55 flex BASE stick cut to around 50-51" from the end of the shaft to the heel. I'm thinking of trying the 45 flex.

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5 hours ago, Larry54 said:

Is that 52" from the end of the shaft to the heel? BASE makes 45 flex intermediate sticks. They measure around 54-55" from the end of the shaft to the heel. Cutting off 3" should get you to around 55 flex. And you would have an intermediate sized shaft which would probably fit your hands better than a junior shaft. I'm using a 55 flex BASE stick cut to around 50-51" from the end of the shaft to the heel. I'm thinking of trying the 45 flex.

The 52" is from heal to end of shaft. Funny thing, I do have a Base 45 flex intermediate Nasty. (Got to meet and talk to Cliff Ronning when I got it. He is not 5'8. :p ) Took an inch off. Tried it for a while but it didn't work for me. In my hands, it feels a little stiffer than what it says on the shaft, and I didn't like the weight of it.

My sort of gold standard for how a stick feels when I shoot is the 55 flex Warrior Diablo that I have. It hasn't been cut down. The closest I've come so far to matching that feel comes from junior sticks. I'd be using the Warrior juniors, but I tried and they're too short. 

As for the size of shaft, ummm... I have really small hands. :S Everyone feel free to insert obvious jokes. :D  

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10 hours ago, puckpilot said:

The 52" is from heal to end of shaft. Funny thing, I do have a Base 45 flex intermediate Nasty. (Got to meet and talk to Cliff Ronning when I got it. He is not 5'8. :p ) Took an inch off. Tried it for a while but it didn't work for me. In my hands, it feels a little stiffer than what it says on the shaft, and I didn't like the weight of it.

My sort of gold standard for how a stick feels when I shoot is the 55 flex Warrior Diablo that I have. It hasn't been cut down. The closest I've come so far to matching that feel comes from junior sticks. I'd be using the Warrior juniors, but I tried and they're too short. 

As for the size of shaft, ummm... I have really small hands. :S Everyone feel free to insert obvious jokes. :D  

So you prefer everything about a junior shaft except length. Have you tried adding an extension to a junior stick?

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3 hours ago, Larry54 said:

So you prefer everything about a junior shaft except length. Have you tried adding an extension to a junior stick?

Yep. I added an inch to a junior Warrior Qr4, and didn't like the change in feel. 

I don't know if prefer would be the word I'd use in regards to the junior shaft. It's more of it's the closest to the bulls-eye I've found. Because if they made an intermediate 55flex Warrior at 52"-53" in height, I'd be on that in a second. Gaudreau's 55 flex uses a senior shaft from what I heard. If only I could get customization like that. 

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On 9/29/2016 at 11:07 AM, JR Boucicaut said:

For a guy his size and weight, 55 does not seem like a huge stretch at all.  Someone like Brett Hull who had at least 50 listed lb more than Gaudreau (if not more, in his later years) using a stick 7 flex higher is a bigger story.

Shooting-wise it makes sense.  However, receiving NHL-caliber passes with that low flex would mean that he has some really soft hands.  

But I think it is because he's a NHLer, the shock value is there because you associate a stick like that with a 13 year old kid.

JR, even me, who is still too young to legally drive, can't use a 55 flex stick. It's too stiff.

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My friend actually has a Warrior HD1 Dressed QR1 from Gaudreau. The stick is stamped "65" "T3QR" and is 62.3 inches standing. The stick has been cut and I've flexed it out. It feels like an 80-85 flex and thats coming from someone who's gone through 20 sticks in the past year. Could I be off? Yep but not by much. The stick is WAY stiffer than any 65-67 flex stick and no wayyy he's in a 55 flex.

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A lot of times you'll see pro returns show up in different flex increments and with slight tweaks to the curve- i.e as a heel user I see Pavelski pro stocks floating around in 75-80-85 all the time. Presumably that stems from the player looking to get their stick dialed in by trying out minor adjustments.

Just because a stick "came from someone" or has their name on it doesn't guarantee that it is their exact current game spec. 

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Yep. once again i am going with the manufacturer on this one. theres absolutely no reason for them to make up this story, as there is financial gain in people flexing up to a senior stick. guys try stuff out all the time.

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