Crosby converting to OPS?

[sh0biz 0]

i dont see cros going to a ops. his trainer says his a creature of habbit so that sums it up right there.. i think that video is few years old. he was playing with a 2 piece stick last year and he had a rbk painted blade. i dont know if the blade is a sher-wood but he had that rbk logo on it. and cros knows that switching to a one piece isnt the solution for improving his shot. if it was that easy everyone would be nhl players. hes probably shooting 1000 pucks a day trying to improve on his shot other than just switching to a ops. he has tremendous work ethic so he is probably shooting pucks as we speak. remember al macInnis? he still had a one of the hardest shots in the nhl with out a ops. its all about form and how much blade speed you generate and with cros changing his blade every game, i dont see his wood blades wearing out or getting soft on him. Just shooting has changed so much. with ops now adays players let the stick do the work. But i see why cros is trying out a ops. his probably the best player in the league in terms of in close and protecting the puck. he plays with such a short stick. but his outside game is lacking that shot. his not a complete package yet interms of scoring because he lacks that shot from top of the circle. thats why when crosby creates space he dishes the puck. thats why he has alot of assists unlike players like ovy or semin who has that outside shot plus the hands. with guys like ovy on one on one there isnt really much you can do because when you give him that space his going bar down and if you challenge him his gonna beat you. thats why sometimes crosby is invisible out there because when you get a good checker like zetterberg its hard to one create that space and when he does he needs his teammates to be open for a pass cus cros doesnt have that outside shot to score. i think thats why crosby is saying his gotta work on his shooting so he can be more or a multi dimensional player in the offensive zone. Id be nice to see crosby with a good outside game as well. with his vision and with a good shot he would be a complete package.

[mack 44]

wat

[VakarLajos 5]

wat

indeed.

[epstud74 24]

A few pro stock OPS's have shown up at LHS's around here and I'd say 1/2 of them are fused wood/composite one piece sticks.

[Machinehead2k5 32]

remember al macInnis? he still had a one of the hardest shots in the nhl with out a ops. its all about form

Al MacInnis used a OPS, all wood for about 98% of his career.

[mack 44]

The point is he stuck with wood.

[Rustyhole 1]

Al Iafrate (1993) 105.2mph - KOHO wood stick - $10-20 US

...

Zdeno Chara (2009) 105.4mph - Easton Stealth S15 2-pc composite - $180 US combo US (off the Monkey)

this is to which we strive :o

[cptjeff 0]

Iafrate said in one interview that he thinks he could have gotten 5-10 mph more out of a composite, but found they broke too easily when he tried them, so he stuck with wood.

Actually, pretty much the same reason Chara uses an S15- the blade is standard, but they reinforce the hell out of his shafts, which they can't do as well with a OPS.

I think in the article on NHL.com I read on it a while back he said it brings them up to around 140 flex or so, and he had to test out sticks from a bunch of manufacturers before he found one sturdy enough.

All of which would go into the "good problems to have" category.

[epstud74 24]

I believe wood has a lot more give than composite, so it is a bit more durable for guys who have a harder shot.

I doubt Chara's issues apply to most of us anyways

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

Iafrate said in one interview that he thinks he could have gotten 5-10 mph more out of a composite, but found they broke too easily when he tried them, so he stuck with wood.

Actually, pretty much the same reason Chara uses an S15- the blade is standard, but they reinforce the hell out of his shafts, which they can't do as well with a OPS.

I think in the article on NHL.com I read on it a while back he said it brings them up to around 140 flex or so, and he had to test out sticks from a bunch of manufacturers before he found one sturdy enough.

All of which would go into the "good problems to have" category.

Weird, Al told me in person that that was not the case. He felt that composite sticks get the puck off faster but wood does a better job of spooling energy - shaft and blade lag a bit but felt like he had the harder shot then. Then of course he adds "When you have a 105mph bomb, it doesn't even matter."

With Chara, they have to make it 140 because the height has to be factored in as well. The leverage he is getting from a taller stick changes the flex characteristics.

[VakarLajos 5]

Then of course he adds "When you have a 105mph bomb, it doesn't even matter."

Sums it up for me. lol.

[cptjeff 0]

Iafrate said in one interview that he thinks he could have gotten 5-10 mph more out of a composite, but found they broke too easily when he tried them, so he stuck with wood.

Actually, pretty much the same reason Chara uses an S15- the blade is standard, but they reinforce the hell out of his shafts, which they can't do as well with a OPS.

I think in the article on NHL.com I read on it a while back he said it brings them up to around 140 flex or so, and he had to test out sticks from a bunch of manufacturers before he found one sturdy enough.

All of which would go into the "good problems to have" category.

Weird, Al told me in person that that was not the case. He felt that composite sticks get the puck off faster but wood does a better job of spooling energy - shaft and blade lag a bit but felt like he had the harder shot then. Then of course he adds "When you have a 105mph bomb, it doesn't even matter."

With Chara, they have to make it 140 because the height has to be factored in as well. The leverage he is getting from a taller stick changes the flex characteristics.

Perhaps it was somebody else then, but it was one of those guys with a crazy hard shot. I could be wrong, it's happened before.

And yeah, with Chara's height the leverage he can put on one of those things would doom most sticks. Thinking about how much energy goes into his shot is just astounding, especially when you see how much he flexes one of those suckers.

[Ahriman 1]

Generally (and in idealized theoretically) speaking, the characteristics of a wood stick allow the flex to naturally happen across the entire shaft length giving ideal loading as a player takes a shot. Any synthetic stick flexes as it is designed to and does not have the same natural bend to it, this gives a natural stick an advantage over some OPS sticks or shafts who's flex zones are not well designed.

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

Iafrate said in one interview that he thinks he could have gotten 5-10 mph more out of a composite, but found they broke too easily when he tried them, so he stuck with wood.

Actually, pretty much the same reason Chara uses an S15- the blade is standard, but they reinforce the hell out of his shafts, which they can't do as well with a OPS.

I think in the article on NHL.com I read on it a while back he said it brings them up to around 140 flex or so, and he had to test out sticks from a bunch of manufacturers before he found one sturdy enough.

All of which would go into the "good problems to have" category.

Weird, Al told me in person that that was not the case. He felt that composite sticks get the puck off faster but wood does a better job of spooling energy - shaft and blade lag a bit but felt like he had the harder shot then. Then of course he adds "When you have a 105mph bomb, it doesn't even matter."

With Chara, they have to make it 140 because the height has to be factored in as well. The leverage he is getting from a taller stick changes the flex characteristics.

Perhaps it was somebody else then, but it was one of those guys with a crazy hard shot. I could be wrong, it's happened before.

And yeah, with Chara's height the leverage he can put on one of those things would doom most sticks. Thinking about how much energy goes into his shot is just astounding, especially when you see how much he flexes one of those suckers.

Al was done in 98, and that's about two years before SyNergy came out. Might've been MacInnis you've been thinking of.

[Chadd 916]

Al Mac had some Responses that had ( I believe) aluminum reinforcements in the hosel to try and strengthen the area. He tried composite a few times but always returned to wood.

[bednarz877 0]

macinnis also tried the sher-wood eclipse for awhile. i think thats what it was called, the one that was orangish on the shaft

[cptjeff 0]

Iafrate said in one interview that he thinks he could have gotten 5-10 mph more out of a composite, but found they broke too easily when he tried them, so he stuck with wood.

Actually, pretty much the same reason Chara uses an S15- the blade is standard, but they reinforce the hell out of his shafts, which they can't do as well with a OPS.

I think in the article on NHL.com I read on it a while back he said it brings them up to around 140 flex or so, and he had to test out sticks from a bunch of manufacturers before he found one sturdy enough.

All of which would go into the "good problems to have" category.

Weird, Al told me in person that that was not the case. He felt that composite sticks get the puck off faster but wood does a better job of spooling energy - shaft and blade lag a bit but felt like he had the harder shot then. Then of course he adds "When you have a 105mph bomb, it doesn't even matter."

With Chara, they have to make it 140 because the height has to be factored in as well. The leverage he is getting from a taller stick changes the flex characteristics.

Perhaps it was somebody else then, but it was one of those guys with a crazy hard shot. I could be wrong, it's happened before.

And yeah, with Chara's height the leverage he can put on one of those things would doom most sticks. Thinking about how much energy goes into his shot is just astounding, especially when you see how much he flexes one of those suckers.

Al was done in 98, and that's about two years before SyNergy came out. Might've been MacInnis you've been thinking of.

That sounds right.

[TBLfan 25]

I'm pretty sure it was Iafrate that said it while promoting Warrior.

[Scotty 8]

Yep, I'm here in St. Louis and followed MacInnis' change of equipment over the years. He did indeed try the Eclipse and some other OPS for a while, but always went back to his white Sher-Wood. If you guys never saw the wedge on that thing, it was simply ridiculous.

[Buzz_LightBeer 969]

http://www.patterndb.org/main.php?g2_view=..._serialNumber=7

for reference

[Scotty 8]

http://www.patterndb.org/main.php?g2_view=..._serialNumber=7

for reference

Yup, that's the one. Looks like it was just jammed under a door and yanked or something!

[fastmiele 59]

http://www.patterndb.org/main.php?g2_view=..._serialNumber=7

for reference

for reference.

http://img30.imageshack.us/i/macinniscurve.jpg/

http://img199.imageshack.us/i/macinnisprofile.jpg/

this stick is almost unusable for most players. Never mind about the curve, the lie is almost off the charts. If you have the middle of the blade touching the ground, I would estimate a 7 lie.

[Scotty 8]

http://www.patterndb.org/main.php?g2_view=..._serialNumber=7

for reference

for reference.

http://img30.imageshack.us/i/macinniscurve.jpg/

http://img199.imageshack.us/i/macinnisprofile.jpg/

this stick is almost unusable for most players. Never mind about the curve, the lie is almost off the charts. If you have the middle of the blade touching the ground, I would estimate a 7 lie.

Yeah, the guy takes his shots very close to his body. And you're right about it being unplayable. I can see maybe a gritty power forward who plants himself in front of the net using it, but a defenseman who always launched shots from the point? Screw the follow through, I don't know how he ever kept it down.

[cptjeff 0]

Looking at a video, looks like he hits the puck a little behind his body- which makes that blade make more sense, the loft will keep it fairly straight if you contact the puck at that point, and the contact further back gives you more time to accelerate the puck.