2011 Warrior Dolomite

[JR Boucicaut 3799]

Open

[rachael7 1]

Product Tested: Warrior Dolomite, 75 Flex, Clear, LH, Gionta

Tale of the Tape: 5'10", 170lbs (yeah, I'm a big girl)

Skill Level: C rec league

Position: All but goal, lately playing mostly 2-way D

Usual Sticks: TPS R8 Lite Pro Stock (Rodeghiero), TPS R8 Lite Retail (Afinogenov), both Whip Flex

Other Sticks Dabbled With: Inno Maniac II, Inno Thunderdrome, NB One90, Sherwood RM19 & 5030, Easton SC6 & S3, TPS R6, R4 Int & R2

A BIG THANK YOU to Warrior and MSH for this awesome opportunity... I am very excited to be involved and seeing that big box from Warrior coming off the brown truck was quite a thrill!

First Impressions

The first thing I checked was the curve - I am not one of those players that likes to change that around much, so I was kind of worried. Fortunately, the Gionta curve turns out to be almost identical to the Rodeghiero pro stock I have been using lately, so the adjustment should be pretty easy. The Gionta strikes me as a toe hook with an open twist and a rounded toe, but I will admit I am no expert on curves. Assuming it plays like my Rodeghiero, it is the sort of curve that does some neat tricks, but is pretty unforgiving if you mess up - very easy to send a flutterball if you launch the puck from the wrong part of the blade, but awesome saucers and wristers when you get it right.

The other thing that jumped right out at me was the toned down graphics. For those of you that love the flash, this stick may disappoint. But for me, the subtle silver/grey/black/orange is a welcome change from years past. I also like the placement of the Warrior name, as the lines in the W on the back seem well positioned as guides for the bottom hand. Not that you would be looking in a game of course, but handy (ok, pun intended) in getting to know the stick.

This is a very light and well balanced stick, as you would expect, although not as light as the catalog's listed 440g. My postal scale has it at 468g without the end plug, tape, grip or any labels. Still a very light stick though and the good balance makes it feel like air in the hands. Kick point seems maybe a little higher than some, which is ok with me; although again, I am not the expert in stick tech that many on here are. With the bottom hand in the middle of the W, the stick loads very nicely and feels quite snappy. It may be a bit stiffer than my whip flex TPS sticks, but I think I will be able to get a pretty good loading on it based on the "living room feel". I do not tend to put a huge amount of preload in the stick when I shoot though, so it will likely be just fine in that respect.

I have not dressed the stick yet, so this is strictly first impressions... but as first impressions go, it feels quite positive. Even without a tape job, I had very good feel and control of my smart ball. This afternoon, I will give the stick my standard setup which is to take a few inches off the top, add a Tacki-Mac grip, and apply BladeTape. I happen to have an orange BladeTape set that will perfectly match the orange in the Warrior name, so it will look pretty sharp. And that orange BladeTape will pretty much scream out "puck here" when I am receiving a pass. Also, since I use the BladeTape product that has nothing on the top or bottom edges of the stick, I will get a real good feel for the wear. It has been my experience that the lack of tape on the bottom of the stick really does not affect wear much on most sticks, but I am notorious for getting nicks on the top and toe, so we shall see how that goes. I have two shinnies tonight, so assuming I do not have to put the stick down, I should have formed at least a preliminary opinion pretty soon. Here are a couple of pictures of the stick:

[rachael7 1]

First Play

Summer Friday nights are double-headers for me, back to back pick-up games. The first is a group of close friends and teammates, so it was very friendly. We were just tuning up a bit for the upcoming season and having a bit of a 'girls night out', and it was pretty laid back. But we had a good brisk game of 3 on 3 and while there were no tomahawk chops or anything, there were more than a few good stick battles and a lot of shooting and passing. The second hour is a co-ed, mixed level, private game which often gets pretty lively. It was a very chippy crowd tonight and the stick (and my legs) got a pretty serious workout. The Gionta curve did turn out to be ok for me, so I used the new Dolo the whole time.

Overall, my impressions were immediately positive. I liked the feel of the puck on the blade, not at all pingy, and it felt like I was shooting really well. I scored several times, including a low backhand slapshot that beat the goalie under the glove, a sharp wrister from the just above the hash marks that got over the blocker, and a worm-burner of a slapshot through a screen from the face-off dot. So I had a fun night

The shape of the shaft felt great to me, nicely rounded corners and a good concave grip. I was able to flex the shaft when I needed to, including actually feeling the stick load and release on slapshots, which is something I never feel with my TPS sticks - they probably do it, but I never felt it so clearly before.

Stickhandling was intuitive and easy - very good puck feel with this stick and a familiar curve. I initially had some trouble receiving passes, but I chalked that up to squeezing the stick too tight because I was thinking about it too much. By the end of the night, the pucks were sticking to the blade like glue.

I found myself quickly beginning to think of this as 'my stick'. In fact, it really disappeared into my hands and let me play my game. I had to make a conscious effort to remember to make mental notes about it. Warrior is the stick brand I have the least experience with, so I cannot say if this one is that much better than other Warrior sticks - maybe all Warrior sticks are da bomb - but I definitely got a great first impression and enjoyed the evening.

[rachael7 1]

Stick and Puck

Took the Dolo out for a stick and puck today... good bunch of guys, one goalie. I practiced for the first 45 minutes or so and then we had a pick-up game. I was pretty off today, for strictly personal reasons, so I can't say I did anything real spectacular. I threw some pretty nice wristers in warm-up and a bunch of really sweet saucer passes as well. But once the game got going, I was a total choke-hound. Don't ask me why, just one of those days I guess. It certainly wasn't the Dolo's fault... the puck feel continued to amaze me with this stick and the ability to catch passes was great. Several times, I caught stiff passes on my backhand, with the stick fully extended and only one hand on the stick (yeah, I was out of position), and they stuck right to the blade. I also really like the way this stick loads up, particularly on slappers. I definitely get more feel for the loading of the stick than with any other I have used. So overall, I continue to be impressed with the stick and it stayed in my hands the whole time, as I suspect it will for some time to come. Another stick/puck on Thurs, and I will see if maybe I can get my head sorted out so I can get some more useful feedback about the stick.

[rachael7 1]

Getting to Know You...

I went to another 2 hour stick/puck today, but was surprised to find I had the whole sheet almost to myself... just me, my partner, and one of the HS varsity guys. No pickup game today On the bright side, it gave me a chance to take a much needed skills session and to really play around with the stick as well.

The toe curve continues to be an interesting experience. As I said, the Gionta is very similar to the Rodeghiero I was using before, but I had not been on the Rodey that long and I am still learning the curve. The toe hook is great when I get it right... but it sure is easy to shank it when I get it just a hair off. Anyway, that has little to do with the stick itself, just background for the experience of testing out the Dolo.

Fortunately, the puck feel of the Dolomite continues to impress me and I 'got it right' rather a lot today. It continues to be very easy to tell where the puck is on the blade and my stickhandling feels better to me than it has before. It is not that obvious in toe drags or dekes - I am honestly just an average puck handler at best - but the stick shines during the little unexpected, unplanned things like when the puck takes a funny bounce or a pass comes in crazy. For example, I was receiving feeds in the slot to work on one-timers and one of the passes caught a rut and got squirrelly; so instead of taking the one-timer, I decided to catch the puck and wrist it in instead. Well the puck was up halfway on edge when it got to me, and rather than stop it, settle it and then throw, I was actually able to catch the puck flat on the blade, near the toe, and fire it flat right to the top corner in one smooth motion. Now that may or may not sound like much of a feat, depending on your skill level and how you think about these things... but it was definitely outside my regular performance envelope. And when my partner threw me a wobbly pass that came in on my backhand the puck started to skip over the blade, as often happens to me in that situation. So I instinctively pivoted around to reach out and grab the errant puck, only to find that even though the puck had indeed hopped the blade, I had actually managed to settle it just a few inches behind where it hit my stick. Any one or two of these moments I could just chalk up to a good day, but it just kept happening. That of course brought a smile to my face more than once

My saucer passes were nice too. I already threw a pretty nice forehand sauce, if I may say so, but they have been noticeably better this last week with the Dolo. I have had a lot more control and they have just been coming easier. I also seem to be getting more on my backhand sauce passes and wrist shots as well.

Suffice it to say, I am enjoying this review quite a bit. At this point, I do not think I would be totally heartbroken if I had to give up the Dolo and go back to my R8 Lite, but I can safely say that I would definitely miss it.

[rachael7 1]

Friday Night Frenzy

Last night was my Friday double-header pickup night again. We were the last group on the ice and the rink manager was having fun watching our game, so he gave us an extra 30 minutes of ice... we played two and a half hours! I think typing is about all I can do at this point... lol

After Thursday's practice, I noticed some chips starting along the bottom edge of the blade, near the heel. I have gotten bottom edge chips before when I shanked slapshots, so I wasn't entirely surprised; but I was a bit disappointed by how many of them appeared. At this point, there don't appear to be any structural weaknesses, but the outer layer of resin along the bottom edge of the blade has definitely taken a beating. I will be monitoring this closely for further damage and if it becomes necessary, I will apply a bit of epoxy to points where fibers are exposed.

I also noticed the bottom edge chips were concentrated at the heel, so I re-checked the lie/length, and I think the stick was just slightly too long for me with the lie it has. I took off another 2cm or so before last night's games and I that seems to have brought it in just about perfect. The stick performed excellent for me, with the puck continuing to stick to the blade whenever it touched. I am very impressed with the pass reception and stick handling - people even commented on the improvement in my game.

My highlight reel moment last night was a wicked wrister from out above the top of the circles. The opposing forwards had collapsed down with their D under intense pressure from our forwards, leaving me to roam the blueline uncontested. The puck popped loose and came right up the slot, about even with the left goalpost. I came down off the blueline and in one smooth motion, grabbed the puck and wristed a bomb high blocker side. Unfortunately for me, my highlight reel moment was bested by the tender's highlight reel moment as he made an incredible reflex save and robbed me blind I did get on the board with a couple of assists though and my defensive play was pretty solid. It was a great night!

[rachael7 1]

Another day, another ice time...

Spent another couple hours on the ice practicing today. I did a lot of shooting and passing and the stick continued to feel great. I'm really starting to like the way this stick whips and it kicks hard too. The great puck feel is making me more consistent about finding the sweet spot on the blade for my wrist shots - I can just hang the puck in that toe hook and fire away - it works really well with my shooting style. The chipping along the bottom edge looks pretty ugly, but it seems relatively stable for now. I didn't see any new damage today, but I will definitely continue to monitor it closely. Other than that, the stick is holding up well, with very little chipping of the paint on the shaft and no signs of losing its pop at this point. Still impressed. I didn't think I'd ever get away from my TPS, but it's looking more likely by the day.

[rachael7 1]

Is this better? Or This?

Yesterday was just another long, mostly empty, stick and puck. It looked to be shaping up as mainly a skating workout, so I wasn't going to bother writing about the stick - just not much new to say. But then I decided I should try a test. I have been using the Dolo exclusively since the start of this LTR, so I figured I should switch back to my prostock R8 just to refresh my memory and get a direct comparison. Honestly, I expected to love the R8... like putting on an old favorite shoe. But, and this is no exaggeration, the very first thought I had when I started to play with the R8 was "holy crap this thing is heavy". In fact, it surprised me so much with this feeling of heaviness that I weighed both sticks as soon as I got home. Oddly enough, the R8 was only about 20g heavier than the Dolo, and a good amount of that 20g was in the bigger grip I have on the R8. So I can only conclude that this difference in the way they feel is a matter of balance and not actual weight. I guess the R8 is just much more blade-heavy than the Dolo. Comparing the two, the Dolo just did what I wanted it to - it gives me a feeling of control, like twirling your katana in a slow circle as you eye up your prey. The R8 did not give me the sweet saucers that I've been throwing all week with the Dolo and my wrist shots with the R8 were weak by comparison, although I did have better aim with my old familiar stick. The R8 also bangs off a nice slapshot, at least as nice as you can expect for a wicked toe curve. But the kickpoint on the R8 is so low that it is really hard to feel the load and release. I definitely prefer the higher kick point of the Dolo. I find myself looking forward to the fall when these things come out in stores and hoping my demo stick lasts that long...

[rachael7 1]

Another fresh sheet...

It's that time of year when the kids go back to school, the non-entrepreneur grown-ups are stuck at work somewhere, and my partner and I often get a whole sheet to ourselves in the afternoon. Today was one of those days, just us and one young defenseman sharing an afternoon ice.

With time to kill after getting my skating drills out of the way, I decided to work on my wrist shot. I usually throw a pretty big wrister, with a long windup, that hits hard and reasonably accurate. I like throwing it a lot and this Dolo has been great for it. But I am sick and tired of goalies reading it like a comic book when I'm further out, which they usually do because of the long windup. So I spent some time today working on pre-loading the stick more and shortening the windup so I can get a faster release. I choked a bit, as you would imagine, making such a significant alteration to my throw. But I was surprised to find that I didn't choke near as much as I expected to and several of them came off real nice - sharp lasers with no real windup that would be much harder to read in a game. It will take quite a bit more work before that shot is game-ready, but I'm definitely looking forward to adding it to my arsenal. I also played with my drag snapshot a bit... fun, but it will probably be a good while before I get accurate enough to be real useful with that one. No fault of the stick though, just something I'm not that good at.

Later in the session, we had a little 3 way game of catch... or whatever you want to call it when three people skate around randomly throwing the puck back and forth having fun - the young defenseman (HS freshman) had that kind of kid energy that makes everything exciting. Anyway, we were mostly just throwing long bombs and I couldn't help but notice that my saucer passes were landing especially nicely today... thank you Dolomite

[rachael7 1]

Free Hockey Friday!

Due to a quirk of rounding errors, our regular Friday pickup group had extra money in the budget... so it was free this week! Whoohoo! Damn few things in the world better than free ice time! The only bummer was that the other open hockey I used to do the hour before has ended for the season, so it was only a 60 minute game with 2+ lines on each bench and more than a few marathon shifters... so not really as much skating as I like in a session. But it was a fun night and the stick performed just fine. I connected on a couple of real nice breakout passes and caught one of the wingers with a beautiful stretch pass to send him on a breakaway straight to the goal, where he buried it for my lone assist of the night.

It was a very chippy game though, including at least 4 of the group who thought we were playing full contact (we weren't, in theory), so things got pretty interesting. I had to lay the shoulder on a couple of guys and I seemed to keep drawing double coverage most of the night (I take that as flattery ). There was more than a little stick work too, let me tell you. It was a regular fencing convention out there and it seemed like I spent half the game either getting hacked or chopping the puck off of someone's stick. So I was not too awful surprised to find a bit of new damage on the stick when I got back to the room.

I was pretty concerned about it, since from past experience, I would expect this stick to be nearing the end of its life and it is way too early for me to feel ok about that. But I have been assured by experts here on MSH (thanks, JR!) that this is not at all uncommon for Warrior blades and they will take a lot more abuse than this before I need to worry.... something about the construction being different from other blades, closer to solid rather than the thin wall around a foam core. I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of the construction details, but it is great to have people on MSH to ask. The rest of the stick still likes fine - no major damage on the shaft or top of the blade. So for now, I will continue on as usual, keep an eye on the wear and damage, and save my worrying for my skating technique

[rachael7 1]

Just a Short Update

It's getting to the point here where there isn't too much new to say about the stick, so I may begin making my updates slightly less frequently. But I did have one kind of noteworthy event yesterday at stick and puck. We never got enough people to get a game, so it was mostly edge work and such for me. But we did have a goalie, so I took several opportunities to practice shooting also. Well this young hot-hand was on his game and he was stopping all my best stuff. I'd get him moving laterally, make him open up the 5 hole, let it rip, and BAM - he'd snap those pads together like a Venus fly trap. I'd pick a top corner and POW, up pops the glove. Anyway, I was actually starting to get a little frustrated... I'm not like a super-scorer or anything, but I can usually get more than a few by a practicing goalie at a stick and puck, and this guy never even looked challenged. So finally I decided to try out the quick release wrister that I've been working on the last week or two. I have to say that this Dolo is really helping me do some things I didn't do that well before. So I circled up lazily around the blueline and skated straight in on him. Up at the top of the circles, I gave a little wiggle and settled into a shooting stance with the puck right on my hip... he tensed up into his stance. Then I just looked him right in the eye, glided up to the hash marks leaning hard on my stick, and let it snap. I mean to tell you, I ripped off one of my sharpest wristers ever and it was between his pad and glove before he could even flinch. Now to see if I can ever work that into a game...

The chips on the blade did not advance any yesterday, despite one time when I lost my cool and smacked the heel of the stick hard against the boards in frustration. It's been suggested that I apply some epoxy to the chips to increase the life of the stick and I almost certainly would do that by now if this was a purchased stick. But since this is a review, I'm inclined to let it go a bit longer and see how it progresses naturally. If it gets much worse, I will reinforce it at some point to keep the review going. But for now, I'm still in wait and see mode - I get the sense that with this blade, it looks worse than it really is.

[rachael7 1]

Another Quick Update

The Dolomite is definitely my primary stick now. My R8 pro stock rides in the bag in case the Dolo gives out on me, but that poor R8 hasn't seen any ice time in weeks now. I play 4 times a week most weeks, so I've had a good bit more ice since my last update. No change in any of the bottom edge chips at this point, despite a day of heavy shooting practice and a chippy game, so that's definitely good. I have not added any epoxy or other sort of reinforcement at this point and based on current wear, I do not expect to. Puck feel and loading continue to be this stick's strong points. I love the feel of the puck on the blade and I think the extra feedback from this stick has really made my play better.

I found twine Friday night when I was able to grab a rebound in the slot and rip it far post before the tender could get across. The puck feel contributed significantly there, since I did not need to take any time to settle the puck and could just grab it and rip it into the net. Nice to be able to feel the puck that well instead of just whacking at the rebound and hoping for luck.

I'm starting to get some nice snap shots with this stick now too, as I get more familiar with the curve. I like the way I can catch the puck with the toe hook, give a little flick to pull it in and just bang off the snapper. Wristers and saucer passes continue to be great and I'm getting more preloading on the wristers by the day. Loving it. The only thing still giving me a bit of trouble are slap shots. The load and release on the stick is great, so I don't think that is the problem. I just seem to be having a hard time finding the sweet spot for the slappers, which I attribute mainly to the toe curve, rather than the characteristics of the stick. That's ok though really, since wrist shots and stiff breakout passes are the mainstay of my game. But I will continue to work on the slap shot, if only to impress the boys

[rachael7 1]

Hockey Season Finally!

Last night was my team's first practice of the season... yay! Looks like we will have a pretty good team this year, so I am totally psyched. At last, that damn summer is coming to an end. Anyway, not a lot of stick work last night, as it was only the first practice and we did mostly skating drills. But during warm-ups, I was banging off a few slappers (ok, maybe I was showing off just a little) and I became very aware of the flex in the stick. What originally struck me as great feedback about the load and release, felt more like a soft stick last night. I don't know if the stick is whipping out a bit, or I'm getting stronger (I am healing up a shoulder, so that could be), or maybe my technique is just improving (certainly has room to!). At any rate, it was the first time I ever really felt like the stick was too whippy - might have been a fluke, but I'll have it in the back of my mind going forward. Nothing else to report - chips still holding steady and stickhandling/passing/wristers still awesome.

[rachael7 1]

Yup, It Was a Fluke

Yesterday I had a workout with a goalie friend of mine and just a couple other folks. I had promised my tender friend a workout, and with only 3 skaters there, I ended up doing a lot of shooting. It's been a little while since she and I worked out together (she's not on my regular team) and she was absolutely amazed by how much my shots have improved. Some of that is undoubtedly due to practice - I've been working hard this summer - but the Dolo definitely deserves some of the credit. The feedback from this stick has made my wrister absolutely lethal inside of 25 feet or so and I even threw a few stiff wrist shots over the blocker from clear out at the point. It felt great to be in such control that with each shot I decided whether I was going to let her stop it or not, and I could put it wherever I wanted.

Slapshots, on the other hand... well that's another story. My slapshot has really never been all that, I just don't use it much. So I don't expect the world by any means. But I had worried last week that I might be feeling the stick go soft during my slappers. After yesterday, I don't think that's the case. I think that when I really catch the sweet spot, I feel a lot of loading in the stick; and at just that one moment, I would actually like a stiffer flex. But the rest of the time, the 75 flex works really well for me, so I'm accepting that trade-off for the time being. I'm still thinking about it though, and if I gain any further insights about my slap shot with the Dolo, I will certainly post them here.

No change in any of the wear/appearance issues at this point. The bottom edge chips still look like hell, but aren't progressing any further. And if I hadn't initially left the stick a bit long and caught way too much ice one day, they probably never would have gotten to that point in the first place. At any rate, it makes me a bit nervous to look at, but there is no sign of it giving way.

[rachael7 1]

Still Going Strong

I'm still playing 3-4 times a week and the Dolo is still my primary stick. And I still love it. The heel chips are still there, plus a few more, but no signs of structural weakness yet. The paint is starting to accumulate its fair share of battle scars... losing a bit here, gaining a bit from other sticks there... but all in all, it still looks sharp and performs well. It is a whippy stick at 75 flex - it kicks like a pissed off mule, but it has a lot of flex to it. I would say it definitely plays no stiffer than rated, and probably a bit softer than its rated 75. That makes it about right for me, since I'm not the strongest player and I don't take a lot of slappers. But if you are real heavy on the stick or like your big slappers, you would definitely want something stiffer. There was a slight change in flex after the break-in period in my estimation. I debated for a while, since I'm still rehabing my shoulder and I thought it might just be me getting stronger. But I'm pretty sure it got maybe 5 points softer or so after the first month - not a major loss of stiffness or anything, just a little 'working in'. Puck feel and pass reception continue to be top notch and I am still very impressed with this stick. I plan to buy another when my LHS gets them in stock.

[rachael7 1]

Changing Gears...

It's been a little over two months now, and the Dolomite has been my primary stick for the duration of that time. The stick is still going strong, with no meaningful changes, and there isn't a lot new to report. The stick is still holding up just fine and I am still enjoying playing with it. I've recently come into possession of an 85 flex, grip, Draper curve version of the same stick that I have just tried out a couple times so far. The curve is a big change, but the stiffness and flex are quite intriguing. It has the same great puck feel as the original Dolo I have been testing, so I'm going to give it a try for a while. I'll add updates about that one here as well, since they are so closely related; but in terms of the original stick, I'll be winding down my review and writing a wrap-up pretty soon.

[rachael7 1]

Nearing the End...

After trying the 85 flex Draper for a while, I just couldn't make the change in curve. I like the 85 flex and I think I would like the grip texture, but I've fallen in love with the Gionta curve and I just can't let it go. So, it's back to the original tester stick for the duration of this LTR...

As far as feedback to add, there really isn't too much new at this point. I'm finally starting to find the sweet spot on this stick for taking slappers, and they are landing pretty hard; but other than that, there are really only durability issues to consider. And consider I must, as I believe this stick is finally nearing end of life. The shaft is holding up fine, but the blade has gone noticeably soft and makes some icky crunchy noises when you flex it by hand. The blade also flexes quite a bit without too much effort, so it is definitely close to failure. Fortunately, I have been able to acquire another stick just like it, so I won't have to deal with a different stick anytime soon. And since I'm safely backed up, I feel comfortable playing the original tester stick until the bitter end. I've been using it 4 times per week for about 3 months now, so I can't feel too bad about the lifespan. I also shanked an awful lot of slappers early on, before I got the length dialed in, and I'm sure that adversely affected the durability. I've got a game this afternoon, so if the forwards will ever send it back to the point and let me take some slappers, we might just see the end of this review today. We'll see...

[rachael7 1]

I'm Not Quite Dead Yet...

Ok yeah, so I've watched a few Monty Python movies. Sue me. Anyway, the quote is apropos, as this Dolo just won't seem to die. Despite a healthy spate of recent slappers (I've taken to practicing them rather a lot lately), there is no apparent change in the breakdown of the blade. It definitely softened up some time ago from the stiffness it had when new , but it seems to have reached a point where it is not progressing further in any great hurry. So, the LTR continues for a while longer yet and I'll report back again when I manage to break the thing (or just plain give up trying).

[rachael7 1]

All Good Things Must Come to an End...

Well, it seems this review is winding toward a close. Maybe I jinxed it with my last update... maybe I shanked a slapper... or maybe the stick just took one too many knocks. But one way or the other, the blade on this Dolo has had it. It is still technically intact and I played a full practice on it today; I will probably even keep it as a back-up or practice stick for a while longer. But the blade obviously distorts quite significantly under hand pressure (its not like I have the world's strongest hands, either), so it is pretty well toast. The break is just a bit on the heel side of center, in the lower portion of the blade - the top half of the blade seems fine, and is probably why it is still playable. The shaft is also still going strong, so I hopefully I can pull the blade when it finally fails and make it into a two piece.

I'm not at all disappointed in the life of the stick; it really lasted quite well all in all. It has had about 100 hours of game/practice time and has been my only stick for the last 15 weeks. I also gave it a bunch of tough knocks early on when I had the length a bit too long - I shanked a bunch of slappers one afternoon because of the length and that left a lot of bad chips on the bottom edge of the blade. I never reinforced those chips with any epoxy or anything either, so I really can't complain that it finally broke there.

I absolutely loved playing with this stick. My initial good feelings about it never wore off and I am a convert. I love the Gionta pattern and the puck feel of this stick is just fantastic. I will continue to use this model/pattern even when I have to buy them (reinforcements are already on the way), so I feel confident in saying that it wasn't the "free stuff is great" dynamic... I just really like the feel of the puck on the blade and the way the shaft kicks.

So that's about it for this long term review. I want to do one more entry as soon as I get a practice day, just to compare the used up stick to its new replacement... kind of a memory refresh for how it felt when new. And then a final wrap-up. Thanks once again to JR and the MSH crew for giving me this opportunity - it was a great experience!

[rachael7 1]

The Postscript, aka Return of the Dolo

As promised, I return for a final post, comparing the well worn Dolo of the LTR to a new, presumably identical, replacement. I cut and taped the replacement stick exactly the same, since I was quite happy with how the first stick performed. And having gone through the whole length-finding process on the first stick, I was happy to go straight to the correct setup.

I expected a pretty big change in stiffness, having grown accustomed to the well worn stick, and I was not disappointed. Over the course of the LTR, the original stick got MUCH softer, both in the shaft and blade. The blade was the primary source of the change, having suffered some unusual brutality due to the stick being too long during one of my early slap shot practice sessions and getting repeatedly shanked into the ice. I must have started some pretty bad stress cracks that day which negatively affected the stiffness of the blade. That early damage also eventually led to the failure of the blade, as documented previously.

The shaft also changed slightly - breaking in, as it were - but the change was small, nothing like what the blade went through because of my abuse. The softer shaft was in fact slightly too soft for my size and style - I immediately picked up a bit of zip on all my shots and passes as soon as I switched to the new stick. But strangely enough, the blade went through a long period where it hadn't yet failed, but was softened in a way that I just loved. As I said, I believe the bulk of this change was due to abuse, so I would not expect it to happen this way for most players, or at least not anywhere near as soon. But during this period, the softness of the blade made absolutely every puck that touched it just stick there like it had landed in a pile of sand. I didn't realize how much I had come to depend on that feel, until I switched to the new stick. The first few hot passes I received bounced right off my blade, just like they did when the stick was new (or like they did when I was considerably more noob-like). Of course, that was not any failing on the part of the stick, just me having been lazy about my soft hands technique and letting the stick do the work for me. Once I woke my hands out of their leaden laziness, everything went right back to where it should be.

Having that extra zip back in my shot is awesome of course, and it brought back a ton of confidence for me. In one of my recent games, I had to fill in on right wing (I usually play D) and I used that extra pop to score a beautiful snapper over the glove from the high slot... a shot that might well have been caught without the extra mustard. I am quite curious to see how the stick ages this time, having skipped the too long thing I did last time. We'll see. Maybe I'll even post another review in the regular review section at some future date. But that's about all she wrote for this LTR. Once again, I'd like to thank Warrior, MSH, and JR for making this review happen - it has been a pleasure and a privilege!