wristshot19

No, and I would kindly ask that you never show me skates like those again.

Not sure but maybe the Mission L7. Haven't tried them myself but have been told that they fit pretty deep. Not sure how they compare to the XX though. My other guess would be CCM Vectors. Others (shop workers) would know better than I.

The new X series gloves makes it appear as if they copied the look of the Mission Heliums. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I guess.

Definitely love the fit on them, don't like the fact that I've had em for 2.5 months on the ice about once a week and the palms are starting to show wear. They will show wear but they shouldn't get any holes in them for a while.

These aren't exactly custom but these are gloves that I just purchased that aren't exactly standard issue... Branches Gloves I had a pair of these gloves in natural cowhide leather that I loved before so I had to buy these ones when I saw them.

Helmet - Jofa 690 Visor - Itech HX50 Elbow Pads - Some older CCM with neoprene to hold them in place. Model number has been worn away so don't know what model they were. Shoulder Pads - Sher-Wood 5030 Tradition Pants - Sher-Wood 7500 from about 8 years ago. They will have to pry these things from my cold dead hands. Shin Pads - Hespeler Classics - Built like tanks with a lot of movement Gloves - CB Nylon Mission M-1 Pros Skates - Nike V12 Sticks - Hespeler Alpha Nem. and Jofa 8045 (Soon to be another Hesp when I can get up to see JR).

It was probably more b/c he wanted the equipment to distract people away from his crappy game! I have heard the same type of stories from many players and they all end up the same. I have yet to meet a person who wears outrageous equipment and has more game than he knows what to do with. They should spend the time practicing instead of modifying their crap.

The color pink should be banned at all ice rinks! It should especially banned when it comes to equipment! I'd throw the keys to the camper at a guy wearing those

Product: Hespeler Alpha Nemesis / Smyth pattern / 260 Flex / left-handed Reviewer: 6', about 185 lb. Have played for over 20 years. I play where I am needed. Aesthetics - Probably one of the best looking pieces of equipment out there. A lot of shine but not over done. Many people have asked me about it based on looks alone. 10/10 Blade - Very nice blade. The rubber piece embedded in the blade definitely helps dampen vibrations. The blade has great feel and the toe is perfect for doing drags. Have used the stick about 15 times now and seems as solid now as it did on day one. The blade is also faily thin so you can get underneath the puck quite easily to put the peanut butter on the top shelf. 9.5/10 Flex - Being about a 90 flex I thought it would be a little too soft for my liking. I have an 85 flex Mission M-1 that is has way too much flex for me but this Hespeler was quite surprising. The stick does flex but it feels a lot more solid than a 90 flex stick. The flex only comes in to play when taking shots but even then its responsiveness kicks in and keeps the stick from feeling like a wet noodle 10/10 Stickhandling/receiving passes - This is by far the best composite stick I have used for stickhandling hands down! As I have already mentioned, the insert in the blade provides great feel and does exactly as promised (unlike some gimmicks I have seen/used before). This composite blade is as close to wood as you can get right now without actually being wood. With this blade you can always feel where the puck is located. 10/10 Shooting - It took me a couple of skates to adjust my shot using this stick but once I figured it out it has not let me down. The Smyth curve is great for my style of shooting and lets me put the puck where I need it. Again, the insert comes in to play here because it allows you to feel the puck when you are pulling back for a wristshot or quick snapshot. My wristshots are definitely improved with this stick. 10/10 Weight and balance - Perfect balance. There is some weight but its perfect. You don't want the stick to feel like nothing, but you don't want it to feel like a crowbar either. This one is just right. 9.5/10 Durability - I have used the stick regularly for 3 weeks now and have not had a single problem with it. I can't say that it is going to last me forever but it shows no signs of weakness as of yet. 9.0/10 (9 only b/c of the length of time I have had this stick). Intangibles - The stick does have paint chipping problems. The paint does chip pretty easily and still exposes the gray primer just like JR noted in a previous review. As far as I know, this is not a demo model so if it was rectified then I wouldn't have wanted to see how it chipped before. This does not seem to effect the performance of the stick, but it does make it look beat up too early in its life. The only other thing I worry about is the rubber insert causing the blade to wear sooner than other composite blades. Currently I have not had a single issue with the blade so I am keeping my fingers crossed here. 9 (-1 for chipping paint)/10 Conclusion: (Total Score 77/80) This stick has completely exceeded my expectations so far. I was holding on to an aging Vector 110 because I could not find a stick (besides possibly another 110) that could replace it. I tried a M-1 Grip, a buddy's Xn10, a Vapor XX and even some various different wood sticks before this Hespeler and none of them could match up. The stick's performance far exceeds any stick I have used recently and I would not hesitate to pick up another one if the opportunity presented itself. The biggest problem I have had with the stick's performance is the paint chipping issue. The only other thing that I could complain about with this stick is its availability. I picked this one up at the Ice Den in Orlando, FL (HUGE thanks to JR on recommending this stick) but even they only have a couple left. JR has told me that he is not sure if they are going to get any more of them once his current stock is sold out. Hespeler needs to step up to the plate and start getting this stick out to the shops (and some of their other great products). If this stick breaks then I will probably "up chocolate creek without a Popsicle stick". I need to get back up to Orlando to see JR before the last ones are gone!!!

There was only so much I could do with 4 colors (yellow, black, white and gray). I tried changing the yellow to a different shade but it didn't stand out as well or it just looked off (kind of like JR's explanation of the Atlanta yellow). The one part I forgot to change was the piping by the pinky finger. Its color should have been changed to gray instead of yellow to match the rest of the piping. Again, just an exercise b/c I am not even in the market for new gloves just yet (still using the CB M-1s).

Hey, I switched up the colors for you;-) Your gloves looked great so who wouldn't start with those first and work from there? I did them as more of an exercise anyways. I doubt they would ever get ordered like this.

What about these as an alternative to JR's? These are in the same glove line as JR's with the same hues, but the colors have been relocated along with the MSH logo. A glove for the masses;-)

I thought the glove you showed was your proposal for another group order. My fault.

I'd say to keep the TPS logo on the gloves all one color. To many color changes so close together makes them look too random.

Product: Mission M-1 Grip / Rafalski pattern / 85 Flex / left-handed Grip: This is the first grip OPS that I have ever used so I can't compare it to anything but I will try to review the grip the best I can. The grip is nice and doesn't peel like other sticks that I have frequently heard about. It's sticky enough to add a litle extra something to the stick but it doesn't stick too much. It seems to be the right balance with great durability. 10/10 Blade: I was using a CCM Vector 110 prior to purchasing this stick so I was used to a thin blade stick. The blade thickness would have to be my biggest gripe with the stick. The blade seems to be overly large for a composite blade and it has taken quite a bit of time to get used to. When I use this stick I have to change my stickhandling a bit and wristshots seem to be a little harder to get underneath. The blade does have a solid response and it hasn't broken yet so I guess I could give it hirgher marks in these areas. Overall I would rank the blade as a 6/10. Flex: I am used to a stiff flex stick but wanted to try shaft with more flex so I picked this one up. The flex in the stick is nice, but my wristshots are still dead due to the forementioned blade problem. Also, I haven't been able to get used to the bounce of the stick due to this lower flex rating so catching passes is still something I am tying to figure out with this thing. My hands are almost too soft for a flex like this. It does have a great kick at the end of slap and snap shots but it tends to send shots way too high but this may also be due to the shape of the curve and not exactly a fault of the flex. 8/10 Stickhandling/receiving passes: I have already mentioned my problems with the shaft and the blade so you can see that I wouldn't rate this stick high in this area. The stick is also a little on the heavy side for a OPS so it is a harder to get it going left to right. Mostly I have problems in the blade area due to the blade thickness. I applaud them for not sacrificing durability just for a thin blade, but this blade is a bit too much for a OPS. 6/10 Shooting: As I mentioned before, the stick does have a great kick but it is probably has a little too much flex for me. I like a solid strike when I hit the puck and this stick almost has too much flex for me. I drive shots more than I lean in to them so I like to have the blade right there with me when I am letting a shot go. With the regular flex the blade tends to trail and then the kick just sends the shots to the moon. Tell the people behind the net to watch out! 7/10 Weight and balance: Good balance but as I mentioned before but this is a heavy stick for a OPS. I have used a Vapor XX, Vector 110, XN10, and a Hespeler Alpha (just got the Hespeler) and all of these other sticks are much lighter than the M-1. Does weight equal performance? Not exactly but the weight does factor in when you are used to something lighter. The one thing that weight does seem to buy you is it seems to dampen the impact of some passes and or shots. I could have probably saved some weight by trimming the wooden end of the stick instead of cutting away part of the shaft, but it is too late for that now. 7/10 Durability: I don't really break a whole lot of sticks. Not sure why, but I have managed to keep even wood sticks around longer than expected. This stick seems to be well built and shows no sign of significant damage yet. The only thing I have seen is that the coating on the blade has come off a bit after removing old tape from the stick. 9/10 Intangibles: As has been mentioned in other posts on this message board, the paint around the fuse point of the blade did crack very easily. Has it had a direct effect on performance? Over a 3 month usage period, it doesn't appear to have changed the behavior of the stick at all. Could it be pointing out a potential future problem? Not sure, but I would have expected the problem to have occured by now if something was going to happen. The only other annoyance I have had with this stick is that glue tends to break off and rattles around in the shaft quite often. It hasn't harmed anything yet but it does get quite annoying. I just adjusted this the other night and some blue/gray glue fell out of the shaft. I wasn't expecting the glue to be this color so I am not sure if there is another potential problem here. Could the shaft be breaking down internally? Doubtful but possible. 8/10 Conclusion: This OPS is nice, but I wouldn't say that it is my favorite. After having it over 3 months now it has not won me over as being a great stick. The last stick that I had that failed to win me over went up for auction on eBay (Vapor XX). I can't get over the feel of the blade, and the flex of the shaft enough to make this stick my starter. Currently it sits as a backup to my quickly fading Vector 110 and new Hespeler Alpha Nemesis. This is an expensive backup stick even if I did get a great deal on it. 7/10