jokerit1967

Hey Man - he was asking for experiences - I gave him mine. No need to piss on my neck and tell me it's raining, ok? Instead of spending time trying to debunk someone else's experiences to make yourself seem like a hockey svengali, why don't you simply state YOUR experiences? By the way, I actually play hockey. I know someone that insists on flexing OPS of the same model/flex to try to determine which in a certain batch feels stiffer in comparison to the others. (he also did this for wood sticks...because of their wider variation in manufacturing...) I haven't bothered because I am probably too weak to make anything but a junior stick flex. I assume that there is some differences within a batch because I have seen slight lie angle differences in composite replacement blades that are supposed to be the same model...so depending on how picky someone is as to feel (not necessarily determinative of actual performance of the person or shaft/stick) there are possibly reasons to flex a given stick, etc. for comparison. Ability to detect differences is not necessarily indicative of ability to peform/play hockey... a person might just be sensitive to the inherent manufacturing differences that are present... although this sounds extreme... composite hockey sticks just aren't expensive enough for a batch of the same model and flex of stick to feel or spec. exactly the same (cf. golf club shafts where $300 plus graphite shafts also suffer from differences in frequency (a way of measuring flex), weight, and seam differences.) Relatively speaking composite hockey sticks and blades would cost a bit more if the tolerances were all that tight... Since the hockey buying public isn't as picky as they think they are... (no frequency analyzers and actual scientific comparisons of the different stick/shaft properties in shops or done by major retailers--> see Golfsmith and Golfworks catalogs)... Ok - to summarize the incoherent ramblings - there are reasons to flex OPS, and just because 5 sticks in the same manufacturing batch say 85 flex doesn't mean that they are all the same; just because You or I can't tell the difference doesn't mean someone else can't. Also, just because they can tell the difference doesn't mean it actually makes a measurable or discernable performance difference to them -- and this has nothing at all whatsoever to do with their hockey skill or experience -- although a person with such traits will probably be more of a pain in the ass as their experience or skill increases. I hate being in a pro shop when a skate lil' employee (younger inexperienced staff only there because of budget constraints) lies to customers in the shop here are a couple I've heard in the past few months: Ex.1 "Yeah those Graf 735's are great... Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky wore them most of their careers... they started wearing them in Canada Cup '87" or Ex.2 "All the pros are using that pattern..." or Ex.3 "Owen Nolan plays for the other team; he is a flamer..." (Note - I don't know anything about the truth of Ex.#3) Anyhow - I wondered if the kids were on a commission structure or a SPIF program? or do the skate lil' employees just like lying? or do they just talk out their ass when they don't know something? Lying to customers is evil.