brdhockey

My Colt 2 hockey stick finally broke after a year of fairly intense use and I thought is deserved a review. I will compare it to the Easton Mako II stick I was using before the Colt when possible. Stick info: Colt 2 intermediate, 65 flex, c28 curve, no grip, one inch cut off. I bought the stick on sale at 169$ CDN. Usage: 1 year of rec. league, 2-3 games a week over 12 months. I play center 60% of the time, so I take a lot of face offs. Personal details: male, 5'7", 150lbs. I take a lot of wrist shots and I love whippy sticks and my last 3 have been intermediate sticks (65 flex). The fact that I only have to cut off one inch off the end of intermediate-sized sticks is a nice bonus as well. I usually buy top of the line sticks on sale for half the price (+/- 150$ CDN) so I'm accustomed to good quality sticks. About the stick: Curve: I still haven't found the perfect curve and the c28 is far from it (my fault, not the stick's). That curve is an easton e28 clone, with a good toe curve, but not as much as the pro stock Hossa I used before that. It's a great curve for wrist shots, not ideal for passes and awful for backhand shots (which I use A LOT). Flex: Felt a bit stiffer than other 65 flex I have used before. The flex seemed to come from the middle of the compared to the low kick point of my previous sticks. Weight: The Colt is heavier than the Easton I was using before. Not by a large margin and I wouldn't consider the Colt 2 to be a heavy stick, but it's heavier than the mako 2 was for sure. Performance: I'd say the performance is up to par with a "normal" stick that is in the 150$ to 200$ CDN range, good, but not excellent. The feel of the blade is a bit odd and as mentioned earlier, the flex seemed to be located further up the shaft due to the metal coating. Some people may enjoy the higher kick point (bigger guys or those who like to take slap shots or one-timers) but for a guy like me who prefers quick wristers, I prefer a low kick point. After a few tests, I noticed that I had a much more powerful shot with the Easton than with the Colt. It could be due to the Colt being a bit stiffer, the different kick point or just my technique... Durability: Colt's strongest point. I usually go through 3 to 5 sticks a year while being careful on face offs. I managed to keep the Colt for a full year and went in full-on attack mode at the face off dot. It could be the placebo effect, but I wasn't afraid to break the Colt and it showed during face offs and battles along the boards. The Colt did end up with a few cracks and dents along the way, but nothing too crazy until its final game. Most of the the damage that was done to the metal coating was originally done by skate blades, the metal eventually peeled off and made the stick more vulnerable. The area that had the most damage on my stick was the top of the blade, above the heel. I lift sticks a lot to take away pucks and that section of the blade became an empty shell over time (I could actually see inside the blade). Funny thing is, the stick didn't even break in this location. One minor downside: the metal has a kind of frosty look and feel to it and tape doesn't stay up very long and is easily ripped off. Verdict: I ordered a new Colt 2 while they are still available (and affordable)... with the right curve this time. The durability of that stick outweigh its small performance issues. At 169$ CDN for an intermediate stick that lasts as longs as my last one did, it's a no brainer. The Colt 3 will be released soon and promises to address most the issues I had with the Colt 2 but if I'm lucky I won't test it until next year (fingers crossed).