mike_o

Did you try the Mako 2? SE16 was also my favorite stick for many years. I even managed to find a brand new one last summer on a rack in San Jose in my flex and profile. To me, the Mako 2 has been the closest thing to the SE16. I had a couple EQ50's and Mako 1s, and I hated both of them. The Mako 2 has been the closest. I currently have that last SE16 and the Mako2 as my two main sticks, and I can transition between them with no issue. True, there are some subtle differences, but nothing too major. Since the Mako 2 was the last stick for the E9/Heatley, and I actually like it, I'll probably start stocking up on them soon.

I would ask to have your edges checked to make sure they are even. Half inch is a pretty standard ROH, and at 170 lbs you shouldn't dull out an edge in 30 minutes to the point of slipping. How long have you played hockey for? For me, I normally get my skates sharpened every three skates (three hours skating roughly), but that's because I really like the feel of recently sharpened steel. I've gone much longer than that without a sharpening, it's really mental for me....I will say overall Step Steel seems to hold a sharpening longer than the LS2 that came on my last two pairs of skates, and I like the feel of them on the ice better, too.

Oh, Step Steel is great. I get mine through noicingsports and highly recommend them. I have a real good sharpener where I live now (SF Bay area) so I don't have to do the sharpen by mail, but for my initial steel purchase I've been going through noicing for a while now. The point I was trying to make is that no matter what steel or what fashion you have your steel sharpened, you are going to be susceptible to losing an edge. Maybe you stepped on someones stick, or your blade hit a goal post, or you slid feet foot into the boards, or maybe you stepped on something on the way to/from the ice....it's going to happen to everyone. I believe the better the steel, the more the steel can withstand abuse...but it's still steel and if you slide feet first into a goal post, you are going to lose an edge. And I was surprised I could stand because I lost probably six inches worth of an edge one game a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what happened during the game to cause it, I didn't notice it until after I got back into the locker room. When you lose an edge, there's no edge on the blade to bite into the ice....no bite=your leg slides out from underneath you=you can't stand up :-)

Ah, when I lived in the Pitt area I'd get my skates sharpened at Perani's since it was close to Bethel Park and Ice Castle which I skated at pretty often. I didn't switch to FBV until after I moved away. I always thought they did a decent job until I went to a sharpener here in the Bay area and they showed me my edges were completely uneven (which in hind sight made sense given signs I had during skating). For the nick, I wouldn't blame that on FBV, that will happen to your blades from time to time no matter how you have your skates sharpened. There's no way to control that throughout the course of play. I will say the level of quality in steel you have can help with how often it occurs. Good steel will hold up better than cheap steel, but even good steel will lose an edge (should post a pic of my Step steel after a recent game, amazed I could even stand up at the end of the game).

When did Total Hockey open in Robinson? That would have been convenient when I lived in Moon....

JR, I apologize if this a repeated question but I didn't find much in the searching I did. For the Mako II M5 stick, you state it is built to CHL/European stronger built spec, can you elaborate specifically on what their specs are? And by CHL, are you referring to the Canadian Hockey League? I see many CHL teams using what appear to be RSII's, Mako's and even EQ50's....would this imply the sticks they are using are built to this spec and differently than say, pro stock or retail versions of the same stick?

Have you tried the Datsyuk pattern? I really think that's the closest I've ever seen to a P10 (assuming it hasn't changed in the past couple of years, it's been about two/three years since I've used it myself).

I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes neutral mid curves, and am disappointed that the two Easton curves I like (Iggy and Heatley) are either being tweaked or removed altogether. Does anyone know if the Iggy curve will be tweaked for the initial release of the Mako 2 or will the first batches have the OG curve? And I’m assuming once this tweak takes place it will fall into all of Easton’s sticks, right? Just trying to gauge when I should stock up…. And I have a close friend who loves the Heatley (and is an Easton stick die-hard, particularly the Stealth line), does anyone know when this curve will officially be discontinued? I used Bure’s P10 for years before it eventually went away (starting with wood then moving to Bauer blades on Easton UltraLites). I recall going a couple of years without an adequate replacement….tried a Sakic for a while but could never get use to the open face. Then I discovered Datsyuk’s P38 and it really is the closest thing I think I’ve found to the P10. When I finally transitioned to one piece and I wanted to stick to Easton (SE16 was my first dive into the 1piece world, and I wish I stocked up on the darned things), that’s when I found the Iggy curve being most similar (definitely some differences, size of blade, square vs. round toe, but it was still a moderate mid curve with a closed face and I transitioned to it quickly)…and I’ve been using it since. The P88 is obviously similar, but I have never liked the lie so if that’s where the Iggy is going, and the Heatley is gone, I won’t have any Easton options left…