Evolution of OPS'

[DarkStar50 679]

1972 Victoriaville SOP Rick Martin model from Greer? & Mills in Burlington, Vermont. I bought a dozen. That was a great stick. Mojo, thanks for jarring the memory banks!

[nicksmission14 0]

Well I'm just turning 21 and my first shaft I can remember was one of those nice Blue Easton Aluminum shafts just like Brett Hull used to use.

My first composite shaft was a Mission... I believe it was the Dangler, Should have been somewhere between 2000-2001.

[Monty22 835]

This thread made me go down to the basement and dust of the cobwebs- came up with a few oldies: Wood Koho ProFibre,Lafontaine TPS woody, A couple Easton Alum shafts, and my first Composite shaft- Louisville Rubber. I kind of miss the aluminum shafts. When you slashed someone, they knew it.

[DamnLocust 0]

My first "good" shaft was the aluminum cyclone. I had had a low-end easton aluminum and the 8001 before, but they didn't compare. Since I played outdoor roller, the graphics chipped and peeled off until I decided to remove all of the graphics, and basically turned it into an all silver shaft. It was awesome until it cracked right where the blade tenon goes in. I now use the composite Cyclone for outdoor roller, and OPS for indoor and ice.

My brother still has an easton classic as well.

[Doctor Hook 0]

Any thoughts on why there are no more aluminum shafts being made? Yes, I know composites are all the rage, however I still think there'd be a market for AL's, just like there are for wood. Hell, I'd put myself in the AL enthusiast market.

[Guest OSTOR]

I believe that the aluminum shafts would tend to bend after a while.

[ponty 0]

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

Another old fart that recalls that out of control price stick of the Titan Turbo. Great stick for sure. I was also a fan of the Montreal 66HMP and Torspo's. Back in the day when you got three curves, two maybe three lies, and two sides :)

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Torspo's coming back.

[nummer55 10]

There was this guy on eBay that had his own Alu stick brand going on. Link was on MSH.

[Neal 41]

Does anybody remember the Jofa fiberglass one piece from the 80s? It had an oval shaft. Those were the stick of choice during the Cooperall days.

[hip check 0]

There was a black or navy blue Koho that had an oval shaft and yellow lettering on it. Anyone use it?

How about the old Wally sticks? Heavy as an oak tree, you had to be Paul Bunyan to take a slapshot.

In the mid-seventies Canadien had that fish-scale type of fibreglass on their blades. The blades were almost as thick as the shaft!

Northland, Victoriaville... the plasticy-blade Artis sticks from Czechoslovakia (maybe?)

My dad just told me about the hierarchy of sticks when he was playing:

Hespeler Practice $1.99 - one blue stripe near the hosel - low end.

Hespeler Regulation $2.99 - two red stripes, same location - a step up.

Hespeler Green Flash $3,99 - three green stripes - very good.

Hespeler MicMac $4.99 - three red and one black stripe - the pinnacle! You didn't actually use this one in case you got puck marks on it! ;)

He only ever had the Practice or the Regulation sticks. The others were too costly to buy.

[nicksmission14 0]

I remember a few years back Poti was using the old silver easton aluminum shaft same one Gretzky used to use.

[ponty 0]

Torspo's coming back.

Nooooooo??????? :) They made kick ass wood sticks back in the day. Hopefully they dont become another OPS wannabe.

Does anybody remember the Jofa fiberglass one piece from the 80s? It had an oval shaft. Those were the stick of choice during the Cooperall days.

I think you are talking about the Koho XL-1 and XL-3 no? I had three of them. Slippery as all hell and not responsive at all. They came out with a square version later that was better.

[DarkStar50 679]

Martinville and Kitchner sticks were in the mix only 5 to 7 years ago. The OPS market clobbered their business. Don't forget Chimo by Sher-Wood. I also remember Mike Bossy using the Titan Turbo in the early 80s. That stick was way ahead of its time. I forget if retail was $50 or $60 in our shop in NJ.

[ponty 0]

Martinville and Kitchner sticks were in the mix only 5 to 7 years ago. The OPS market clobbered their business. Don't forget Chimo by Sher-Wood. I also remember Mike Bossy using the Titan Turbo in the early 80s. That stick was way ahead of its time. I forget if retail was $50 or $60 in our shop in NJ.

The Titan Turbo was a kick-ass stick and I would love to get my hands on one. Yea I remember Chimo. I use to get my hands on a bunch of them from a shop that use to carry pro stock Bruins stuff. Yep I was even into that way back then. Of all the woodies my favorites were probably the Canadien 6001 and Koho Silver Fibres. I use to get a hold or Randy Burridges' Silver Fibres and Ulf Sammulesson's Canadiens :)

[Project824 0]

I remember a few years back Poti was using the old silver easton aluminum shaft same one Gretzky used to use.

Actually he still does, they're just relabeled with Z Bubble graphics. He's been using the chrome Gretzkys since prep school.

[nicksmission14 0]

Wow that's funny. Thanks for that info... It's good to add to my useless pieces of information! lol

[Jim A 4]

Titan Turbo, I could never believe it when they would show the pics of Bossy flexing that thing like a noodle..

high end Jofa stick was the Black Shot...and yes the Koho Oval sticks were super slick to say the least..

I was more of a Canadian 7001 fan loved the look of the all black..Koho's never worked for me..the lie was just all wrong..

that is what made places like hockey1.com (South Windsor Arena) so great in the late 80s' you could go and just sort through dozens of sticks in the same model to find the exact ones you wanted..they even had some Pro Stock woodies at times...the stick room was the size of the neutral zone

[DarkStar50 679]

Ponty,

Thanks for the Koho Silverfibre reminder. When the Devils moved here in 82, that was all they used. We used to go to their practice rink, Totowa Ice World. The pro shop had tons of those Koho Silverfibres from the Devils. I still have one with Dave Cameron's name on it. During this time, Rennie Amendola was repping Koho out of Long Island. He used to hook us up at O'Shea with all kinds of Silverfibre player patterns. Gillies, Nystrom, Trottier, Denis Potvin(a f'n huge blade, you could paddle a canoe with that thing) from the Isles were easy to get. Rangers were LaRouche, Ruotslainen, Beck, Maloney, Johnstone, and Fotiu. A lot of these Kohos were all wood, too, no fibreglass in the shaft. Its amazing what you remember when somebody says the word that brings it all back- Silverfibre.

[ponty 0]

Ponty,

Thanks for the Koho Silverfibre reminder. When the Devils moved here in 82, that was all they used. We used to go to their practice rink, Totowa Ice World. The pro shop had tons of those Koho Silverfibres from the Devils. I still have one with Dave Cameron's name on it. During this time, Rennie Amendola was repping Koho out of Long Island. He used to hook us up at O'Shea with all kinds of Silverfibre player patterns. Gillies, Nystrom, Trottier, Denis Potvin(a f'n huge blade, you could paddle a canoe with that thing) from the Isles were easy to get. Rangers were LaRouche, Ruotslainen, Beck, Maloney, Johnstone, and Fotiu. A lot of these Kohos were all wood, too, no fibreglass in the shaft. Its amazing what you remember when somebody says the word that brings it all back- Silverfibre.

I remember the Potvin blade. A buddy of mine bought one of his Titan's for laughs and it was HUGE! The Bruins were a Sher-wood team at the time and I hate to think of all the Ray Bourque Feather Glass 7030's I used and broke. How dumb am I? Dont answer that :0

[Neal 41]

Does anybody remember the Jofa fiberglass one piece from the 80s? It had an oval shaft. Those were the stick of choice during the Cooperall days.

I think you are talking about the Koho XL-1 and XL-3 no? I had three of them. Slippery as all hell and not responsive at all. They came out with a square version later that was better.

Thats the one! Black with yellow graphics, IIRC. I never owned one, just borrowed one for awhile. I recall liking it a lot, but we're talking 20 years ago now.

[jofa-blackshot 0]

HI!

I'm a Norwegian guy born in 1972.

I read some of you used Black shot.

I'm from the city Hamar, 60 kilometres from Lillehammer Olympic '94)

It was the Madshus (located between Hamar and Lillehammer) ski factory who made Jofa Black shot, and I had the opportunity to buy from the factory after they ended the production of these sticks. I believe it was the first ''one piece'' or 100% synthetic stick ever-agree?

(Titan turbo and Koho XL 4 was later and Turbo had a wooden core, Koho XL was available with wood or abs blade, attached to the shaft afterwards. I believe the shafts were made by-or at least develeoped in cooperation with ski-pole manufacturer Excel)

After 88 (I think ) I got the rest of the sticks for free, after a flood. The factory is located near Norways largest lake -Mjøsa. They also produced glassfibre/carbon shafts, sold by Sher-Wood around '99-'00 but I dont think it was a succes, I have a few of them. American ski producer K2 owns Madshus, and when the shafts were developed they had K2 logo.

Are you bored ? To the point..... When did you have Black shot 'over there' ?? Was it the first version with stripes, and all edges only rounded at the backhand side, leaving a 'flat' forehand of the blade, or the second version designed with squares printed on the shaft -and a symmetrical rounded blade? The latter version also available in white fiberglass/black printing.

Did any of the NHL stars use Black-Shot?

You have any ad or catalogue from the '80's ?

I got some Koho, DR, Jofa-Titan, Micron...and a couple of ad's showing Jofa Black shot. If anyone are interested I can scan some of them.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

I use to get a hold or Randy Burridges' Silver Fibres and Ulf Sammulesson's Canadiens :)

I would like to think if I touched anything bearing the Ulf Sammulesson name, a lightning bolt would come down from the sky and clobber me.

[bobjr 0]

Check this out:

http://www.journalism.ryerson.ca/online/wa...rage/ahuras.htm

I don't remember the Titan Turbo, but do Remember that Koho XL that was oval. Some other kids had that stick and I couldn't figure it out.

I used red Titan 3020's at the time. The ultimate stick in terms of versatility. Once it was used up a bit, you could play road hockey with it and because there was some sort of plastic on the bottom of the blade, it wouldn't wear like regular wood sticks. I remember we used to call sticks toothpicks when they were well worn on the blade.

I also had a Louisville graphite stick from the early-mid nineties. I think it was NOT composite, just graphite. It didn't hold up that well at all and was gone in a few weeks.

I still have an Easton A/C (Aluminum/Carbon) stick around somewhere. It was a nice one.