Christian Hockey making a comeback?

[Ital79 0]

I've been buying Harrow shafts until Christian makes composite ones. I saw demo ones at the Lets Play Hockey show and see they have them on their new site now and I'm still not impressed. Shaft looks cool being all black but the greyish "tribal" graphics and logo are TERRIBLE. They need to do it up old school with the original logo and graphics....

What's not impressive? The overall engineering of the the carbon shaft or the cosmetics?

[Rustyhole 1]

i agree, the new logo looks amaturish. and the minimalist graphics say 'meh' to me. not impressed with the looks of the sticks (both wood & comp), however if the quality is still there i may look at getting some blades next time i need some if they're still around

[sarmalidu 1]

Yea, looks are pretty much the only thing that matters in a hockey stick.....

[MLSman 22]

heh...speaking of comeback....

Last night one of the guys I play pickup with decided to whip out a spankin' new Christian pro 3000 woodie. Brought me back to high school with that "lumber".

[greech 4]

whoa. I thought you guys were being overly critical about the graphics, but damn. That may be the ugliest branding on a big-name sporting good, ever. I know appearance isn't everything, but I'll take me a Sher-Wood please.

[Rustyhole 1]

+1 for Sher-Wood... fantastic performance & classic good looks

aaaahhh, ZZ Top's 'La Grange' came on the radio, perfecto

[Neal 41]

It seems like an odd branding model too. The website uses the Christian logo with the Olympic flame as the first "i" in the traditional Christian red and blue, but then the sticks have this new logo that is completely different.

Not a good move in my opinion. Either you think the Christian brand has value and you work with at least something similar to the old brand or you go completely new. Not both.

Even worse, as I snoop around on the website, I notice that some of the goalie sticks use the old logo and others use the new logo. Jeez make up your mind.

[acqant 0]

Yeah, I may cancel my order of cutom sticks whereby I selected

a 4.5 lie ( which I can't find anywhere )

the depth curve I want

the face profile I want

the color I want

all because the font LOOKS bad.

[Jarick 5]

The Christian logo with the flaming I is really cool, especially on the blade. But that scribble logo looks so 1995, it's just awful.

I have a Christian wood blade and it seems very light and durable, but it's so light feeling that I can't use it. The feel is so soft that it just doesn't feel like a solid blade to me. Maybe I'm spoiled with the stiffness of composite.

The Harrow composite blades are still some of my favorites though, and I'll order them if and when my stash of blades ever goes out. I'll be popping out my Mission pro stock for a #1 composite that I picked up for $10 (!) last month.

[OldNSlow 3]

(See my review later in this thread)

[sarmalidu 1]

"I have a Christian wood blade...but it's so light feeling that I can't use it. The feel is so soft that it just doesn't feel like a solid blade to me."

Wood blades do have a more dampened feel than composites (particularly thin, stiff composites that have a more "brittle" feel and transfer more vibration). It sounds like you are either just more used to the composites, prefer the composite feel, or some combo of both. These blades are definitely not lighter than high-end composite blades but they are probably close to or on par with cheaper / heavier composite blades in terms of weight. So, I think it's probably the feel more than the weight that's getting you.

[woodstick 0]

In regard to the question on whether they offer 80-90 flex custom or stock sticks. Go the to "ACV" sticks on the Website - as they are in that flex range. The ACV veneer stick is similar in flex/feel as the Sher-Wood 5030.

do they do custom blades in that model? it looks like they'll only do custom patterns on the 100 flex stick?

Yes, I believe that they do custom blades/curves on the ACV (Aircraft Veneer) sticks. Go to the Custom Sticks link and then select "ACV" in the Model/Flex dropdown box. I believe their custom ACV sticks are $39.99 if you go with the minimum order quantity. The price changes when you select the different type (100 flex, 115 flex, ACV, etc) or different quantities (better price per unit with larger order size).

Yeah, I may cancel my order of cutom sticks whereby I selected

a 4.5 lie ( which I can't find anywhere )

the depth curve I want

the face profile I want

the color I want

all because the font LOOKS bad.

You probably could make an additional note or contact them if you want a different looking font. The last custom order I did (in January) I asked them for the old school 1980 graphics on part of the shaft and the old school 1990 graphics (Super Stick 2000) on the other part of the shaft.

The company stick catalogue that I grabbed from the St. Paul Hockey Expo stated that most products come in a choice of either the "traditional" logo (e.g. with the flame/torch on the "i") or in the new "Shiver" graphics. Just tell them what kind of logo/printscreening you want. You should be able to get what you want if you're doing Custom.

[woodstick 0]

i agree, the new logo looks amaturish. and the minimalist graphics say 'meh' to me. not impressed with the looks of the sticks (both wood & comp), however if the quality is still there i may look at getting some blades next time i need some if they're still around

I was disappointed when I first saw the new "Shiver" graphics (the kind that someone called "tribal").

I hoped/expected to see more old school offerings. Christian could probably do well just by selling a vintage line -- e.g. North Star/Blackhawk/Winnipeg Jet/Team USA colors with some old school stickers and stamping. They could probably stamp the defunct team name or a players name on the product.

Nevertheless, the new Shiver graphics are growing on me -- at least on the wood sticks/blades. It kinda' has a graphetti look to it - definitely not classic Christian. Maybe the new graphics are targeted to a new breed or younger generation of Christian stick users. I don't imagine a lot of the diehard/lifelong Christian users getting too attached to the new Shiver graphics.

[Rustyhole 1]

Maybe the new graphics are targeted to a new breed or younger generation of Christian stick users. I don't imagine a lot of the diehard/lifelong Christian users getting too attached to the new Shiver graphics.

most of the new breed are buying composite and if they don't see it in a local store, aren't going to buy it, so IMO that's poor targeted marketing. i also would think that most of the new players would not have their curve/flex nailed down to the point that they or their parents would consider customs. they'd rather convince mom/dad to go the BauerID route. as for going custom with older graphics styles, they don't make it known you could do that on their website and most people would assume that the pics with older graphics reflect old/outdated stock.

i LOL'd when you called it the 'shiver' graphics as they make me do exactly that

[aal 3]

Anyone know if you can get the Christian custom sticks to custom length, or at least a standard intermediate length?

[sarmalidu 1]

They make intermediate sized retail offerings so I can't imagine why you couldn't get intermediate customs

[acqant 0]

Yeah, I may cancel my order of cutom sticks whereby I selected

a 4.5 lie ( which I can't find anywhere )

the depth curve I want

the face profile I want

the color I want

all because the font LOOKS bad.

You probably could make an additional note or contact them if you want a different looking font. The last custom order I did (in January) I asked them for the old school 1980 graphics on part of the shaft and the old school 1990 graphics (Super Stick 2000) on the other part of the shaft.

The company stick catalogue that I grabbed from the St. Paul Hockey Expo stated that most products come in a choice of either the "traditional" logo (e.g. with the flame/torch on the "i") or in the new "Shiver" graphics. Just tell them what kind of logo/printscreening you want. You should be able to get what you want if you're doing Custom.

I'm being sarcastic and making a point that I prefer performance and choice over style.

They did contact me about a shipping question and I can't seem to get a hold of them. I'll probably still choose the new look if given the choice if only to get people to ask me about the stick and where I got it.

[The Stranger 0]

Will they still do short hosel standards?

[acqant 0]

Got my sticks this week. Playe.d with them last night.

They are pretty heavy. I got the extra glass. They are 2oz heavier than my sher-woods which is 1 oz heaver than one of my composites.

They look nice.

No real performance review yet. I had the stick cut too high so it wouldn't be a fair assessment.

BTW, how big is an oz or two when it comes to hockey sticks? I was shocked when I saw that my sher-wood was only 1 oz heaver than a composite that feels super lite.

[mack 44]

~28g/oz, so enough to make some weight queens shudder in horror.

[hckydrew 0]

i got mine not long ago and forgot to post on here, but ive only used them once and ill be using them again tonight so ill have a better idea how they perfrom, since the first time i used them i was just out on some open ice by myself. also im sure its been discussed but if someone could tell me how to post a pic it would be greatly appreciated and ill throw some pics up here. BTW mine are custom pattern, everything including lie and depth are modano/fedorov/forsberg clone, except the curve and face is a drury

[ndlancer95 0]

I love my team's old gloves. They are the Christian branded torch gloves. My rink keeps getting new loads of them in every month.

[Jarick 5]

I played with my Christian wood blade last night (tapered blade in a Synergy II shaft), and it was pretty solid. It started out as a really flat Forsberg, but I added about 1/2" or so of toe and just a hair of mid curving to it, and it is slightly opened up. Even with all that bending, it didn't torque open on slap shots and stayed stiff enough.

It's very light, possibly lighter than some composite blades. The feel is soft, passes stick to it, which is a very weird feeling compared to my Dolomite blade (very stiff, thin, and pingy). It's something I'll have to get used to, since I haven't used a wood blade in a couple years. But if it does work well, I might be tempted to order up a few customs.

We'll see how long the blade lasts. If it goes for a good long time, maybe I'll scavenge for some more clearance wood blades and curve them myself ($10 a piece versus $40 is a much nicer price).

[woodstick 0]

Got my sticks this week. Playe.d with them last night.

They are pretty heavy. I got the extra glass. They are 2oz heavier than my sher-woods which is 1 oz heaver than one of my composites.

They look nice.

No real performance review yet. I had the stick cut too high so it wouldn't be a fair assessment.

BTW, how big is an oz or two when it comes to hockey sticks? I was shocked when I saw that my sher-wood was only 1 oz heaver than a composite that feels super lite.

Did you get the custom 100 flexes? I just got 2 of the stock 100 flexes, which didn't come with a shaved/routed handle (upper shaft). I took some course sandpaper to the handle region to make it feel lighter/more balanced. I left the other one in its more boxy form. Sometimes I like a boxy feel (defensive) and sometimes I like shaved edges for a different feel. Did they shave the handle for you? If not, it may be worth a try for you.

[Goalieboy#1 1]

http://www.cbhockey.com/home.php?cat=11

Anybody used these? I saw them in a Scheels, and they looked amazing. Were pretty light too.