Miken Zero Limit stick

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I think that definitely helped them get into shops, as most LHS in these parts are combination hockey/lacrosse stores. There was probably a bit of strongarming getting done to get plenty of Warrior sticks on the shelves.

"You want our lacrosse gear, well, you can have all you want........just as long as you take 300 of these hockey sticks."

Or at the very least qualify for bulk discounts that make margins better for retailers. In the end it was a package deal: a known name, bold graphics and marketing, and NHL recognition. Miken will have a challenge but they are trying to get a toe hold. They don't expect 20% market share over night. Its a long term investment for them and over time hopefully their market share will grow. They appear to be well capitalized so perhaps they are in this for the long haul and we have a new player in the market.

[mojo122 530]

6 games and a couple of pick up sessions with the ZL now. Continues to impress. I've noticed just a few small paint chips on the shaft and a small nick on the toe from a skate. Rating it over the S19 I had been using.

[bolt91 31]

When does the ZL come out in stores? I'm looking forward to picking one up with all the great reviews!

[wrangler 157]

September 15 is the release date that I saw.

[lennyboi 9]

jdksaves, any idea on what the Canadian retail price on this zero limit will be? I am going to ask if my LHS will order one for me.

thanks in advance

[hrbekroenick 0]

I have been a Miken softball fan for years, plus they are made in Minnesota. I agree that it will be hard to enter the market with the high price. If I worked with Miken I'd work the Wild and Gophers to get their sticks on benches, since they are from Caledonia MN. If I had the $ to buy a stick Miken would be the next one I'd try for sure.

Ask any softball rube what the Ultra bat did for softball. Looks like they are trying to do it for hockey, and I hope they succeed.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Re: Warrior NHL penetration...biggest factor was the ability to get players custom patterns in a quick timeframe. When a company tells you that you'll get a batch of sticks in your pattern in x amount of days vs weeks from the competition...you just might give them a shot.

I think that definitely helped them get into shops, as most LHS in these parts are combination hockey/lacrosse stores. There was probably a bit of strongarming getting done to get plenty of Warrior sticks on the shelves.

"You want our lacrosse gear, well, you can have all you want........just as long as you take 300 of these hockey sticks."

Not true; initially they were extremely selective of their dealers. As a buyer of a store that stocked Warrior lacrosse, they wouldn't give us hockey. Things have changed, but that's how it was in the beginning.

That all being said, back to discussing the ZL.

[jdksaves 56]

jdksaves, any idea on what the Canadian retail price on this zero limit will be? I am going to ask if my LHS will order one for me.

thanks in advance

They should be done at the $229 price in canada as well

I have been a Miken softball fan for years, plus they are made in Minnesota. I agree that it will be hard to enter the market with the high price. If I worked with Miken I'd work the Wild and Gophers to get their sticks on benches, since they are from Caledonia MN. If I had the $ to buy a stick Miken would be the next one I'd try for sure.

Ask any softball rube what the Ultra bat did for softball. Looks like they are trying to do it for hockey, and I hope they succeed.

We are trying to get players on the Wild locked down, but now that they are even more prime time it has been difficult. As for the Gophers, trying that too, but they are locked down with Bauer with high percentages needed. We have been able to back into St Cloud State, because of no percentages needed

[jds 20]

@jdksaves I am still loving my Z9 however, it's toe is being held together by Bondo fiberglass repair (still has tons of pop). Is there a list of retailers in the GTA that carry Miken so I know where to go for a replacement?

[Vulcan7905 88]

I will be handing out the rest of the catalogs I got from Jason come Saturday before my play off game. I have about 20 left and I really want the LHS to get them and start selling them as well. They all have the ZL ad in it as well. I'm counting the days till I can ue my ZL. I just took a good 40 minutes taping it up slowly. One thing I noticed was just one paint chip. I just put electrical tape on it till I can get some Epoxy.

[lennyboi 9]

They should be done at the $229 price in canada as well

We are trying to get players on the Wild locked down, but now that they are even more prime time it has been difficult. As for the Gophers, trying that too, but they are locked down with Bauer with high percentages needed. We have been able to back into St Cloud State, because of no percentages needed

Thanks jdksaves. Appreciate it. Judging by all the positive responses I'm sure the ZL will be my new go to.

[orion2284 7]

From what I have researched so far with Miken; they are offering everything that I feel has been missing with some of the other top of the line sticks. Love the fact that Miken offers a 70 flex (and the flex options in general)!! Not to mention some solid blade patterns. Zero limit will definitely be my next buy. Can anyone comment on the differences between the BP40 blade pattern and Bauer PM9...if there are any?

[chippa13 1844]

They should be done at the $229 price in canada as well

We are trying to get players on the Wild locked down, but now that they are even more prime time it has been difficult. As for the Gophers, trying that too, but they are locked down with Bauer with high percentages needed. We have been able to back into St Cloud State, because of no percentages needed

Any efforts in maybe hitting teams in the Junior A circuits or US based leagues like the EJ?

[jdksaves 56]

From what I have researched so far with Miken; they are offering everything that I feel has been missing with some of the other top of the line sticks. Love the fact that Miken offers a 70 flex (and the flex options in general)!! Not to mention some solid blade patterns. Zero limit will definitely be my next buy. Can anyone comment on the differences between the BP40 blade pattern and Bauer PM9...if there are any?

PM9, BP40 used to be my patterns of choice and I didn't notice any differences between those

Any efforts in maybe hitting teams in the Junior A circuits or US based leagues like the EJ?

Made some contacts with some junior leagues and I set up a fairly aggressive pricing structure for team and league deals. Not a lot of response yet, but any interested can definitely contact me if you know of any or if anyone here is affiliated

[Zylos45 118]

Just saw the tweet from the miken account, Jason. That testimonials ad looks cool ....

my tweet made the left, upper corner. Power spot if there ever was one.

Here is to a successful ZL launch on 9/15!

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Jason... that might be the extent of my 15 minutes of fame. Thanks.

[Vulcan7905 88]

Wow Jason. Didn't think mine would make it front and center. I'm flabbergasted! Now I have to win tomorrow Nights game so I can take some awesome pictures with it on top of the trophy!

[Vulcan7905 88]

Well, I had a good hour to play with the stick last night and let me tell you, I'm even more amazed by it. I know I'm a beer leaguer and I look down a lot at the puck, but with the stick I think I only looked down twice and that was to see the puck between my feet. This stick is amazing with the puck feel. Shoot a couple slap shots,snap shots and wristers and like I said before, just consistent. A lot of my friends were extremely impressed with the stick as well at the weight and puck feel. Miken hit a Grand Slam with this stick. I can't wait to see what they come up with next honestly. Even my one friend who is a stick snob said that the stick was amazing and once it releases, he plans on buying one. That's a huge thing for him as he is into ONLY Warrior sticks. Also, it was such a big hit last night I actually gave out the rest of the 29 Catalogs I had. I hope people look more into Miken now!

[stick9 881]

I got to use my ZL a couple of times now. Noticable lighter and better balanced than my other sticks (X:60 & Dolomite). Better puck feel than the Warrior, about even with the X:60. The biggest difference is shooting wristers fly of this thing and slappers have more pop. Accuracy is on par with the X:60, maybe a touch better.

The other I have noticed is hard passes dont bounce of the blade like they sometimes do with other sticks.

I have older sticks in my bag so thats what I compare it to on a nightly basis. However, the ZL was my stick of choice at SJ over the Ai9 and RS. The only stick I liked as much as the Miken was the Nexus 1000, which I only took a few shots with. The biggest test for me will be over the next few months, how will it stack up to my durability wise.

[chippa13 1844]

Found a nice little chunk out of the inside of the hosel as I was taping the stick last night for tonight's game. I'm pretty sure it happened off of a shot deflection in my last game. It looks like just a thick chunk of paint was taken out but we'll keep on eye on it to see how it progresses. The blade and shaft are still fine but it seems like the paint in the hosel area has a tough time.

[mojo122 530]

Anything like this?

This happened to mine last week when blocking a shot. Have used it 3 times since without any loss of performance. This stick continues to impress me.

[hockeymass 11]

I've got a few paint chips down low, but nothing that seems to be worth worrying about. The underlying material seems to be fine.

[IniNew 51]

I've got a few paint chips down low, but nothing that seems to be worth worrying about. The underlying material seems to be fine.

Yeah, all the paint chips I've seen on my and other sticks are right near the kick point. Appears the graphics package they are using isn't flexible enough for the stick. I've also noticed that, down there near the kick, the paint is quite thick. Maybe thinning it out would improve that? No need to hide the taper, IMO.

[chikinpotpie 132]

Finally used mine last night. Being used to using grip sticks, I wont count that against the stick at all. I think that it is a quality stick that, once it is in someone's hands, will be able to compete with offerings from the major manufactures. I also have noticed after one skate that the paint is mostly gone from the stick just above the blade into the shaft. I was kind of worried when I looked at the stick and saw a rather large piece of material coming off of my stick during the first use. It ended up being paint, which is pretty thick around the hosel, and I didn't need to have a heart attack. I'll give the stick a few more uses and see if I can get used to the non grip then I'll be able to really see how it performs.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Should've said you used grip sticks. ;)