Easton S17

[Chadd 916]

A big thanks to Mike and the guys at Easton for sending out the stick. It just arrived while I was in Detroit for the show and I'm looking forward to putting it through a workout.

Initial impressions:

As with all Easton sticks, it looks fantastic. They have always done a better job than most other manufacturers on the look of their sticks and this is certainly no exception.

The top six inches are marked off and the flex is noted at the 55 and 58 inch marks. It's interesting to note that the stick only gets slightly stiffer according to the marks on the stick. 58" = 100 flex, while 55" = 105. That seems more accurate to me than many of the other numbers, concerning a tapered stick. That also means that at full length (61") the stick is sub-100 flex, something I prefer anyway.

[Chadd 916]

Got a chance to get out and play around with it for a while at lunch time today. The blade is very stiff and very hard, a big change for me from the TPS R2 blades I normally use. Passes were a bit difficult to handle at first, especially hard ones but things improved as I played with it more. The stick is a bit stiffer than I prefer but shot velocity seemed to be pretty good despite the stiffer flex.

My issues are simply with transitioning between the brands, no problem with the stick at all.

[Chadd 916]

I skipped using this for my game last week because I wasn't comfortable enough with it yet, but I played in a pickup game with it tonight. I was a lot more comfortable catching passes this time and even made a move or two with the puck on my stick.

Passes were right on the money every time, no problems at all with that. Wristers and snappers were also very accurate. I was making the goalies water bottle dance in warmups and almost broke it before I decided to start shooting at other parts of the net.

Slappers weren't all that impressive with the stick and even on the other shots, my velocity appeared to be down. I am convinced that this is just a result of using a stiffer stick than usual and not an indictment of the stick in any way.

I did notice that the chrome "S17" stickers are starting to peel off already. I knocked down a soft clearing attempt and a big chunk was missing from the S. Not a structural issue in any way, merely a note on the aesthetics.

[Chadd 916]

I didn't post an update after my game last week because I didn't use the stick outside of a few minutes in warmups. I have been back on defense due to some guys missing games and I can't afford to use a stick that has a negative impact on my slapshot.

Tonight I had almost half an hour before the game to really give it a workout and try to get comfortable with it, but it didn't help. I did everything I could to change technique from really laying into my slappers more, to taking more/less ice but nothing helped at all. Several players commented on how much my shot suffers with this stick. To me, that says a lot.

It's quite possible that the stick sent to me was out of spec because it is much stiffer than other brand-new 100 flex sticks that I have tried lately in an effort to make sure I'm not weaker than I thought. Hearing reports of others saying how much more whip they get out of their sticks makes me wonder about the one I have been using.

Given the fact that I don't like the feel of the harder, hotter blade and the adverse impact on my shooting I don't expect to use this in any of my games in the near term future. I will still try to give it a workout in pickup games and open hockey as much as I can but updates will be coming much less frequently from now on.

[Chadd 916]

Armed with a little more inside knowledge about the stick I took it out on the ice again yesterday. I was wrong about the stiffness of my stick, my issues were because the S17 just has very little kick for the flex.

I'm used to sticks powering through the puck after the stored energy is released and I just don't feel that with the S17. No matter what I do or how I shoot, I am unable to feel the natural load and release of the shaft. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the stick.

UMWhockey has agreed to take over reviewing this product and I will be shipping the stick to him.

[UMWhockey 0]

Got the stick today in the mail. Will be coaching my squirt team as well as playing a beer league game tonight with the stick and will post my inital reviews soon

[UMWhockey 0]

So, got out there yesterday for a practice and a game. First overall impression is that I like the SE better. I do agree with Chadd when he says the puck just doesn't really jump off the stick. Part of the problem might be in how soft the blade is. It was very easy to bend the blade and I noticed that the soft blade gave little forgivness. The stick also felt much more hollow then the SE did. I guess i am wired, but i think it is easier to recieve a pass with a stiff blade and this was far from that. The stick just seemed to give when trying to recieve hard passes and made it hard to control. For a "100" flex stick it just didn't give me the stiffness I needed in situations and I use 85 flex sticks.

May be a little harsh for the first night out with the stick, and it was used before i got it, but I will keep using it and see if I can adjust to the stick and make it work for me.

[UMWhockey 0]

so I am starting to understand what Chadd was talking about. I had a goalie come up to me today that I shoot on a lot and he asked what was up with the stick. He said the puck doesn't seem to fire off it like he is used to me shooting. I would have to agree, this is not what I would call a "hot" stick by any means

[UMWhockey 0]

so i have been using this stick for a month now and really would have to say that I like the SE much better. I am getting used to the stick a little more and finding the hot spots on it, but really i feel like the blade is a little too soft for my liking. The stick is also cracked in multiple places, but I am not really looking at durability since Chadd was using the stick first.

[UMWhockey 0]

The stick is dead. Now since I didn't get this stick new, you can take this for what it is, but the one disapoitment with the stick was the blade. It was soft from the day I got it and only got softer. The last couple skates really showed it too with a lack of control over my shots because of all the flex and give in the blade. It is not my favorite Easton stick, but not the worst I have used as well.