Minnesota Wild Article

[steve66 45]

Nothing particularly ground breaking, just an interesting insight I thought some of you might like to read.

http://wild.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page...rticleid=414077

[raygunpk 0]

'Washington Capitals super snipers Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin -- two players that shoot constantly -- use sticks with so much whip they may as well be using wet noodles."

Thought somebody said here Semin used a super stiff flex?

[numberthirteen 0]

Zidlicky's 'serious curve' is exactly the same as a Mission Rafalski (which differs a little from the Sakic before i get jumped on for saying it)

[sitzlejd 0]

Wow, it seems NHLers are almost as particular about their sticks as MSHers are ;)

[interpathway 9]

Thought somebody said here Semin used a super stiff flex?

Semin's sticks are very stiff. Factor in that he is NHL strong and uses quite a long twig for his height and I'm sure he whips that puppy like there is no tomorrow.

[minwookie 0]

Thought somebody said here Semin used a super stiff flex?

Semin's sticks are very stiff. Factor in that he is NHL strong and uses quite a long twig for his height and I'm sure he whips that puppy like there is no tomorrow.

The flex rating on his one95 says "112". But he cuts it down to about chin height on me (6'1" on shoes) then puts in what looks like a 3" wooden endplug.

[raygunpk 0]

I wonder if how long the average NHLers stick is. Do most of them have it up to their chin? It's hard to tell by them standing around at the face-off dot, but there are noticeably long ones like Hossa and Bobby Ryan.

[interpathway 9]

There are also notably short ones, like AO. I believe it is about up to his chin when he is in shoes. Kovalchuk seems to have a bit longer twig, and Sidney's appears pretty short too. To each their own.

[Jarick 5]

From what I saw at the Xcel stick rack, pretty much everyone uses between 85 and 95 flex, with a couple guys using stiffer sticks. The one that jumped out at me was Stephane Veilleux with a 77 flex One90 (and a kinked toe curve with a bit of loft twist at the heel).

[raygunpk 0]

Interesting, you'd think Bergeron would have a stiff ass flex, or at least some of the defensemen.

[Flo Hockey 7 0]

Zidlicky's 'serious curve' is exactly the same as a Mission Rafalski (which differs a little from the Sakic before i get jumped on for saying it)

I've seen Zidlicky's stick on T.V. a couple times and he has a serious banana like curve. Not exactly a Sakic.

[Jarick 5]

Interesting, you'd think Bergeron would have a stiff ass flex, or at least some of the defensemen.

Keep in mind he's 5'7" MAX. Even Pouliot who's 6'3" used a 9k with a regular flex.

Zidlicky's 'serious curve' is exactly the same as a Mission Rafalski (which differs a little from the Sakic before i get jumped on for saying it)

I've seen Zidlicky's stick on T.V. a couple times and he has a serious banana like curve. Not exactly a Sakic.

I've seen it at the Hockey Lodge, it's a banana kind of near the toe. He might have used different sticks.

Sheppard has about 20 sticks for sale, many of them have wood blades and different brands.

Oh and Bouchard has a fun curve, like a longer Forsberg with a bit of curve near the toe and a bit more loft. And he does the weird tape job from mid over the toe with the piece of horizontal tape on the forehand from heel to mid.

[mrusse01 0]

From what I saw at the Xcel stick rack, pretty much everyone uses between 85 and 95 flex, with a couple guys using stiffer sticks. The one that jumped out at me was Stephane Veilleux with a 77 flex One90 (and a kinked toe curve with a bit of loft twist at the heel).

That's odd to hear, from what I've seen of the Toronto sticks, it seems most of those guys start at around a 100 flex and go up from there. I know most pro stock sales and such I have a tough time finding sticks around an 85 flex.

[raygunpk 0]

There are also notably short ones, like AO. I believe it is about up to his chin when he is in shoes. Kovalchuk seems to have a bit longer twig, and Sidney's appears pretty short too. To each their own.

I was looking at some recent getty images pictures of Semin, and it appears he has a green colored and a red colored One95. The green one, which looks like it probably goes under his chin, is a lot shorter than the red one.

[interpathway 9]

Very possible one is for the PP, one for even strength.

Or one could have an illegal curve and the other could be legal.

Too many different things to guesstimate at, but one of those two is my best guess.

[ZINC 8]

Zidlicky's 'serious curve' is exactly the same as a Mission Rafalski (which differs a little from the Sakic before i get jumped on for saying it)

I've seen Zidlicky's stick on T.V. a couple times and he has a serious banana like curve. Not exactly a Sakic.

They have a bunch of his sticks at the X and at the Mall of America and I've almost bought one to use a few times. Its nothing at all like a Sakic or Raf. Mission.

Zid's blade is shaped like Hemsky / Samsonov's blade, somewhat tapers down to the toe (not as much as Spezza's though). The curve is a pretty basic mid w/ a nice toe kink.