Easton Stealth S11

[Hooah4 12]

Stick reviewer:40yr old beer league player.

Play in 2 leagues: one general men's league, one over 35. Play D and Wing.

Player specs: height 6ft, weight 218.

Experience level: 8 yrs of moderately competitive hockey.

Stick: Easton S11, non grip, 85 flex Zetterberg curve. Stick used approx 40 games/open hockey sessions.

Brief background: I caught this one on the giant for $70 US. Wanted to try one of these for a while as they are popular in the 35 and over league and figured I wanted to go down in flex to experiment. I flop between curves like Zetterberg, Vanek, and Drury types, depending on the situation. For D more of the Zet/Vanek, and forward using the Drury wedges.

Blade: good enough, not bad feeling imo. no problem with putting the puck where it needs to go, etc..Zetteberg still the nice mid/heel that it has been. Nice and stiff without having a harsh feedback through the shaft. I tape from the heel all the way to and including the toe. After about 10 games in things didn't feel right so I undid the tape and was missing a 1x2 cm part of the underside of the toe. Gorilla glue to the rescue! Fed some in (allow for expansion!) and sanded it down. No more problems. 9/10 initial score, post surgery - 8/10.

Shaft/flex: Nice graphics, and rack appeal. smooth and very nice with a clear coat covering up the decals. Shaft had a decent kick on wrist shots and snap shots, but slap shots were non existent. The 85 did indeed play lower (close to 77 imo) than advertised even after cutting to the 85 mark on the shaft. Shaft got scuffed up and such as is normal in league play, etc...but has held up. I think it may be about done though as it's feeling "noodley". 6/10 for being playing way lower in flex than listed.

Stickhandling/Passes - passes are right on the money, but stickhandling felt like it had abit of lag due to the low flex, kind of like using a broom with very loose bristles. I'll give 7/10 though as it was my mistake in getting too low of a flex in the first place.

Shooting: As said before wristers were good and snaps were OK, but slap shots were not for this flex and my strength combined. 7/10 again.

Weight and balance: This stick is light and no complaints. 10/10

Durabillty: Shaft, good no problems here. I play in two hacking leagues (unfortuntely)and it's taken its hafe of bumps and bruises. Blade, other than the home remedy, pretty darn durable imo. 9/10

Intangibles: I had heard about the stealths being way whippier than listed but had hoped it was not the case for the S11. I was wrong. My fault in choosing lower than I normally used (90-100) but caveat emptor.

Summary. Good stick. I like to buy a stick that's one below the top of the line as I feel you get 80-90% of the tech at sometimes 50-60% of the price. In this case I got my money's worth but I also take good care of my sticks and don't slam them on the ice or hit crossbars when mad (OK, once). Your mileage may vary. I'd but another one if they changed the flex issues which is something they seem to have done on the latest series. I'll use my one70 for the next year and wait for the next stealth line to go to clearance and try the S13(?) when it gets more price friendly.