Sherwood RM-9 Composite Goal Stick

[Netminder32 32]

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[hamstercaster 2]

First off:

Height and Weight: I'm 6'1, 280 pounds

Experience: Started goaltending again last July after a 12-13 year break. All in all, have played nights for most of my childhood/teens/early adulthood. Played college in-house league but mostly a beer league/pick up hockey type of goalie

Caliber: A bit above intermediate. Capable of the most spectacular saves as well as the most horrid let ins ;-)

Stick: Sherwood RM9 Composite Stick

Blade: I'm using the Thibault pattern. The blade was very stiff when I first got the stick and is still as stiff as it was with about after playing around 20-25 games.

Paddle: It's a 27 inch paddle. Both paddle and shaft are also very stiff. Can't say anything about the flex as it's not indicated and probably does not apply to goal sticks... but it's stiff

Stick Handling/Shooting/Rebound control: I find that the stiff blade gives me better shooting as I'm able to shoot harder and higher with more consistency than with all my previous wood sticks. I'm not a good puck handler by any stretch of the imagination, but for the times I need to clear the puck or pass it to a teamate, I find I achieve better results than with any of the wood sticks I have used in the past. As for puck handling, when intercepting icings, the puck seems to bounce of the blade a bit more than on a wood stick. That being said, it is quite decent in the rebound control category. A stick save will keep the puck right in front within reachable distance so I can either clear the puck or freeze it. When laying the stick on the ice to cover as much as the lower net as possible in close quarters, the paddle is also pretty good rebound wise and it handles pretty much the same way as a wood stick paddle.

Weight and Balance: IMO this stick is very well balanced and it is also pretty light. It easily compares to the Sherwood 5030 Featherlight.

Durability: Since I started goaltending back in July I have used a Sherwood 5030 Featherlight, a Sherwood 530 and a Sherwood 9950. All these three sticks pale in comparison with the RM9 in terms of durability. On all three wood sticks, the blade started getting soft rather quickly. It still stopped the puck but was next to useless handling and shooting the puck. The worst was the 9950 whose blade split at the heel something like 3 games in. I have been using the RM9 for roughly 25 games so far and it's still going strong. It does have many paint chips, some composit chunks have come off here and there but nothing major. The stick also shows an inch crack on the paddle from the many shots I get there when going down and putting the stick flat on the ice, but it does not affect the stiffness or performance and still feels very solid. If you take into account that a 9950 will cost around 80 to 90$ CDN and the RM9 a 140$ CDN, so far I feel I'm getting much more out of my 140$ than I did with my 90$ on a wood stick.

Intengibles: One thing I like very much with Composite sticks is how gentle they are on my blocker. Everything is smooth so nothing to really rub on the blocker palm and fingers so it greatly helps with wear and tear. As it's nice and smooth, I find it easier to slide my hands up and down when trying to play the puck or poke check.

Conclusion: I am very happy with my purchase and will definitly by another RM9 whenever it ends up breaking. It's been holding up great and at that price, which to me seems quite affordable for a one piece composite goal stick, it's a no brainer. Another reason why it's a no brainer is the paddle lenght. I recently discovered something when I purchased a TPS Response Plus Composite Goal Stick. I was told that it was a 26.5 inch paddle when in fact it was a 25 inch paddle.. by Sherwood's standards. I sold it as it was too short. A trip to my LHS thought me a valuable lesson. Not all goal stick are measured the same. For exemple, a Montreal stick with a 28 inch paddle was the equivalent to a 25 inch Sherwood and a 26.5 inch TPS.

To me, the stick is a 9/10 as it meets everything that I ask for in a goal stick. I give it a 9 as it could possibly be a bit lighter even though it is already quite light but I've seen other composite sticks that were a bit lighter.

[hamstercaster 2]

Well, last week the stick finally broke and it can't be blamed on the stick or a hard slapper or anything like that. Turns at that after 4 months and something like 35-40 games, most of them being an hour and a half long, someone fell on it and it broke in the paddle. I actually did not see or feel anyone fall on it but someone told me he did lol. There was a scramble in front of my net and my stick must have ended up on top of someone and then another someone must a fell on the stick and on that someone hence the fact I did not see or feel that person fall on the stick. After a whistle and as they were lining up for a face off at the other end, the stick felt flimsy and I realized it was broken so I called for someone to fetch my spare stick.

Before that game I checked it and it was still very stiff and felt very solid so I think it would have been good for another while still. I purchased another RM9 and have used it for about 10 hours or so already and it's as solid as when I bought it. Will update everyone when that one breaks, when it breaks and how it broke.

thanks