Ballistik 45 Caliber

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Just received the stick from Joe - once again thanks for providing product for our Long-Term Review program.

Real quick -

Stick looks very solid, graphics are very understated (which is something you really don't see anymore)

Balance is good as well.

One thing I did notice is that the heel is very thick on the Modano clone. Will be interesting to see how that plays. I'll use it tomorrow and post then.

[reyno2ac 0]

A little background on the sticks I've used and what I thought of them:

-TPS Response Armor XN10 C4 = great stick wonderfully balanced and is still going strong despite some rather large gashes and cuts

-TPS Response Crome XN10 = Another amazing stick from tps.

-Innovative Megalyte = Nice stick but it felt really "plasticy"

-Warrior Dolomite Pro Stock Shaft = Really lite and very well balanced with an Easton Elite Blade

-Warrior Mac Daddy = Light well balanced stick but not durable at all for me

On to my review. I got a 90 Flex TC (toe curve) that is a Sakic Clone. I got the stick a couple days ago and straight out of the box I loved it. It feels really well balanced and the graphics on it look amazing.

The main stick I will be comparing this to is my Warrior Dolomite shaft and Easton Elite blade because they are the same curve/flex.

To get my stick ready for play I've done the following things:

-Cut the stick down about 3 inches.

-Tape from heel to toe then back to the heel

-Install a tacki mac ribbed grip

After all of that the stick feels perfectly balanced to me. After waiting for the grip to dry I finally got to hit the ice for a 2 hour drop in session.

I started out playing with the 45cal and stuck with it till drop in kinda fall apart. After drop in die I spent an hour and a half on the ice by myself just stick handling and shooting around since the rink has nothing else going on. My first reaction when skating around was that it feels just as light as any of the other sticks I'm using right now. It didn't feel at all awkward nor did I feel like there was a period needed to get used to the new stick. To make this a little easier and to avoid rambling on I will break everything down into a simple rating system on how I felt after my first use with the stick.

Looks: As I stated above the stick looks great with the chrome lettering and black background.

Weight/Balance: The stick feels great and I had no problems stick handling or carrying the puck.

Durability: After 3 and half hours on the ice the stick still looks like new.

Performance/Feel: I can easily feel the puck on my stick and had no problem catching or making passes.

Flex: I got a 90 flex and compared to my 260flex warrior it seems to be right on. The only issue I found was that it felt like the stick would torque while taking a slap shot and cause the blade face to open up. It may be my technique but I don't have this problem with the dolomite.

After my first 3 and a half hours on the ice with this stick I really like it but still feel like I'm getting more reliable performance out of my Dolomite Shaft. I'll be sure to update more after I get the opportunity to use the stick some more.

Here are some pictures I took before its first use.

[reyno2ac 0]

Well, its been quite a while since I've updated this. Part of the reason being that I was not able to make the hour drive to the closest open rink.

Anyway, I've played with the stick quite a few more times and I am really beginning to like it. I still feel as if it torques and opens the face of the blade up when I really lay into it for a slap shot. Because of this I still prefer my Dolomite two piece over the 45cal when I play defense. The extra flex in the 45cal helps my wrist shot a lot though, so I go with it whenever I'm not playing defense.

Classes started last week so I'm a little tight on time when it comes to updating this page. I will however, after a couple more trips out to the rink, since the one 5 mins down the road finally reopened, update this thread with pictures to show the very minimal cosmetic damage this stick has gotten.