Evolution of OPS'

[ponty 0]

Just finished up using one of my older pro stock 1100's from Inno. It use to be my favorite sticks a while back before I put it aside. Lots of other sticks have been used since I took if for a whirl over the last month and I gotta say I think its a dog now.

Heavy, relatively speaking, though it was very responsive for shooting.

Point is its always wild going back in time to what was the "great" technology. I just finished up using an SL and a Stealth before I went to the 1100 again. Man has performance gotten even better for OPS' (though I was not a big fan of the SL's durability). Cant wait to try one of my old woodies again :)

[DarkStar50 679]

I tend to be a garbage collector of my old sticks as well. I have a lot of Sher-wood 5030 and 7000 SOPs from the 80s still in my garage. The curve has remained the same but slowly my stick has gotten longer. I can't use most of those old sticks since they are too short. I do have one of my last 7000 SOP that came from the factory in the exact length I use now. And I used to order the sticks shorter than stock anyway. I still have a few Easton Synergy Grip Gold 100 Flex Modano. They have the standard blade fractures. I can't believe I used 100 flex. That grip still feels the best but the weight is there. Yes, things have changed. The part that sucks for me is NBH no longer makes the P02 Lidstrom blade. All the other vendor OPS don't feel as good for me as the Vapor XXX OPS. Oh well.....

[sdcopp 1]

I wish I still had my old Easton Aluminum shaft sitting out in the garage. That in and of itself is scary enough when you start looking at shafts and ops. I remember not ever breaking the alum's, just bending them so bad they became unusable.

[mack 44]

Easton A/Cs for life.

[SickLife 2]

I tend to be a grabage collector of my old sticks as well. I have a lot of Sher-wood 5030 and 7000 SOPs from the 80s still in my garage.

me too, actually. i like to keep them for nostalgia. curves of old players who are retired & such. even if the curve is still around in a different name.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Just finished up using one of my older pro stock 1100's from Inno. It use to be my favorite sticks a while back before I put it aside. Lots of other sticks have been used since I took if for a whirl over the last month and I gotta say I think its a dog now.

Heavy, relatively speaking, though it was very responsive for shooting.

Point is its always wild going back in time to what was the "great" technology. I just finished up using an SL and a Stealth before I went to the 1100 again. Man has performance gotten even better for OPS' (though I was not a big fan of the SL's durability). Cant wait to try one of my old woodies again :)

I've found woodies that are okay as fillers, like my Christian 1000s and Nike Quest, but had alot of trouble going back to some older sticks like my brown UL and even Vector 120 shaft.

[Rustpot 1]

I've been wanting to get an older Easton Aluminum, as well as trying to find older Synergies that are unusable and even some older timber from the 80's.

I've got one of my dad's sticks from the 70's that came straight and had to be curved with a torch and brute force. I think it's Canadian brand. I could never imagine making my own curve, but if there was a way companies could sell soft composite blades that you could customize and heat-cure it would give non-pros so much more ability to change lie/curve/shape to how they want.

My buddy has 2 of the original silver/orange Synergies, a Sher-Wood 7000 with a Bourque curve, and a nasty teal aluminum Easton.

[jmiro 55]

i still got my first easton, another one, and a titan aluminum. I bought an ops but dont like it as much as my woody.

[ponty 0]

Didnt realize this would turn into an antique kinda thread.

Dont make me bring up my Canadien 9001 Aluminum shaft that I still own :) One of the orginals.

[mack 44]

I like how the original Synergy is referenced here like it's old.

[DarkStar50 679]

My old sticks include a Titan TPM 2020 Gretzky model(white shaft with red lettering, of course), Koho 221 Custom all wood, Canadien 6001 with Cournoyer name on shaft, numerous Northland Custom Pros,some with paper labels on the shafts, old Sher-Woods from the 50s, and my favorite: a Spalding Lester Patrick(his name is on the blade) that is a single piece of wood. This stick is from the 30s and I bought it an antique show for $70. I'm not sure about the durability or 30 day warranty on this stick, though.

[Petey21 1]

My collection include a couple Titan TPM (red with white lettering) from the early 80s, a Titan ASD 2000 (from the early 90s, game used by Markus Naslund) and a Christian Patriot aluminum shaft. All of these are used. The gem of my collection is however a Montreal 66 Superlam (from around 1983 I believe) in mint condition, it has never seen a puck or ice, and isn't even taped up or anything.

[jcmagna 0]

Hmm... since there was mention of Al shafts ... I missed the Al shaft era. How were they? Other then heavier than today's, are there other detractors? Reason I ask is that while I like the composites performance, durability (aka $$$)just is not there. Unfortunately there are smart guys who know right where to lumberjack it, let alone normal wear and tear. So.. I have been giving serious though to picking up a Al shaft, but having never had one don't know how far a step back it is... if at all.

Thank in advance,

John

[G60 0]

i USED to have an old Fontaine Graphite Pro shaft. (TPS bought Fontaine) i liked it, it was heavy as all hell, they didn't completely cover it with resin (a couple tiny spots were bare CF weave) and the graphics came off with your fingernail, but it was $20, and simple, no stupid graphics.

i left it at my friend's house for a while, and some dumbass tweaker who was living with his mom decided to use it as a rake. he freaking nailed a rake head onto the damn thing and ruined it. oh well we bashed his bronco in with a baseball bat so all's even.

[kovalchuk71 212]

It flexes and eventually doesnt flex back

[AnthonyJTa 0]

I too, have had some doozies... I had an Easton A/C, a horrible gold PowerFlite aluminum shaft, a Canadian (forget the model) then I was "woo'ed" by the composite shafts... I got the first Easton Ultralite, and a Koho (I believe it was a Koho Vector... Claude Lemiuex used 'em). My mom always used to get pissed b/c I'd use the electric stove to chance my blades..

[Doctor Hook 0]

I'm using a Bauer Supreme aluminum that somebody left behind on a hockey tourney shuttle bus. It'll make a solid backup to my Bauer Endure.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

I'm using a Bauer Supreme aluminum that somebody left behind on a hockey tourney shuttle bus. It'll make a solid backup to my Bauer Endure.

I had one of those too... along with an Easton "Shark Skin" composite shaft, a Bauer Vapor 4 comp shaft..man, I think I still have some of them in storage. I played dekhockey with them though, so they would all be too short.

[mack 44]

he freaking nailed a rake head onto the damn thing and ruined it. oh well we bashed his bronco in with a baseball bat so all's even.

STREET JUSTICE

[topshelf11 0]

I have an old Easton Pro Axis aluminum that I used for roller hockey. That thing weighs a ton, but I remember shooting cannon shots with that bad boy.

Also in the garage:

Easton 8001-my first composite shaft. Instead of an OPS it was a POS. B)

Sherwood 7000 Bondra-sweet curve.

Some old Bauer woody-Supreme 3030 maybe? It gave off fiberglass splinters if you grabbed it bare handed.

I have a game-used, autographed Mike Keane Montreal woody.

Anybody remember the Titan Turbo? My center had one in 1982. Kinda like the very first OPS.

[stick9 903]

I'm using a Bauer Supreme aluminum that somebody left behind on a hockey tourney shuttle bus. It'll make a solid backup to my Bauer Endure.

I had one of those too... along with an Easton "Shark Skin" composite shaft, a Bauer Vapor 4 comp shaft..man, I think I still have some of them in storage. I played dekhockey with them though, so they would all be too short.

I still have one of those Easton Shark Skin shafts. I took the plug out and used it as a street hockey stick. It was my first composite shaft.

[TCsnipes9 0]

I'm using a Bauer Supreme aluminum that somebody left behind on a hockey tourney shuttle bus. It'll make a solid backup to my Bauer Endure.

I had one of those too... along with an Easton "Shark Skin" composite shaft, a Bauer Vapor 4 comp shaft..man, I think I still have some of them in storage. I played dekhockey with them though, so they would all be too short.

im trying to remember what those looked like. i just remember being a little guy and the store owner telling me to wait cuz the shark skin was coming out.

[mack 44]

It was the Ultra Composite. It looked like a black Ultra Lite.

[Jim A 4]

wow..a good skate down memory lane..

my first Aluminum was a Christian Team USA shaft ('84) with 3 blades for $50..I was a Canadian and then SherWood freak before moving onto such "expensive sticks" as Jofa Black Shot and Titan Turbo..$50..imagine that...

agree with DarkStar...right now the only OPS that works for me is the XXX ..otherwise its a traditional 2pc combo...I go back to wood when I lose feel..a nice SherWood 7000 with a LeClair curve (or lack of) is a good reminder..

I may go old school in my old man roller league...flat chassis, wood stick. just need to dig out the SK2000 helmet and BDP gloves!

[mojo122 541]

Having had many SherWood SOP's over the years, I still think the 7000 was their best. Since we're reminiscing, how about the Hespeler Superlight, the one’s with straight blades. That's right kids, no curve whatsoever. Back when Northland was big Victoriaville made a great stick