Bauer Total One .520 Tapered

[Cosmic 178]

Bauer Total One .520 Tapered Shaft

-Height - 6'2"

-Weight - 215 lbs

-Level of play: Beer Leaguer (ice and inline)

-Position: "Center Lite" (I play right on front of the net on both ends, with as little puck carrying responsibilities as I can get away with. Sort of like a Center in basketball, but nothing like a traditional center in hockey. So on D, I just try to clear out the area in front of the net the best I can. On O, I suck the D in and free up space on the perimeter for my line mates to cycle the puck around, and occasionally bury a rebound of theirs.)

-Blades used- Warrior AXT1 Kopitar & Zetterberg; and Easton Mako II Iginla

-Flex- 102 and 87. I used 102 for the first 20 sessions or so, and 87 for the last one. The 102 rips slapshots at insane speeds. However, I rarely seem to ever find myself in position to ever take slapshots (even when I am assigned to play D). In warm ups tho, this thing blasts rockets. I have not taken any slapshots with the 87 flex yet. I switched to 87 just last game because I was feeling like it took too much time and effort to load the 102 for wristshots. I often find myself in position for wristshots, and wanted something I could snap a little easier, still getting decent speed and power on my shots.

-Shaft Shape/Grip- Boxy shaft, Tac Spiral Grip, no sticky stuff (none needed). My gloves are pretty grippy as well (Vapor APX), so my hand does not slide as easily up and down the shaft as I would like, but my grip is always strong. Shaft feels nice in my hands. Score: 9.5/10

-Stickhandling/receiving passes- My stickhandling is the weakest part of my game, so I just created a position for myself where I camp the net on D until the puck clears the zone, then beeline it for the goal we are shooting at as the puck carrier leaves our end, often dragging 2 guys with me. So, cannot really comment on the stickhandling for this stick. It feels good when I am just practicing and warming up, but in games, forget it, that is not my thing. This stick does feel nice receiving & sending passes, but I think that is really more the blade than the stick. FWIW, I love stickchecking too with this stick, it wields similarly to how I would imagine a fencer feels about his sword, and I am pretty good at knocking pucks off guys's sticks. Not sure if the stick has anything to do with this, or if any stick would work when I find myself in proper position with the right angle to knock pucks away. I guess balance might come into play here, and if this is the case, them this stick is right. Score: 9.5/10

Shooting- It is my understanding that this shaft was designed to harness the power of TotalOne with the tapered release. It does cover all 3 shots nicely, as I can rip off rockets on all three. I definitely feel a nicer wristshot with the 87 flex than with the 102. The release is not quick though- maybe it is my poor technique, or maybe it is the stick. I am curious to try a Warrior Covert or Easton Mako/V9 to see if I can get off quicker releases on my wristshots. Score: 9.5/10

Weight and balance- I think that this shaft weighs in around 300 grams, so throw a 125 gram blade on it, and I imagine that I am coming in around 425 grams + the tape that I use to shim the blade. Not a Sherwood Wrecker sub 400g stick, but they were not out when this stick released. Balance wise, feels right. Score: 9.5/10

Durability- This is where this stick shines. I fired off tons of slapshots as hard as I can, as it has been a long layoff, and I want my body to balance itself out with the force dynamics of shooting. So, the 102 flex probably has about 100 slapshots on it, plus all the stickchecking, and is showing no signs of abuse whatsoever, with full pop still intact as from the first day I got it. Score: 10/10

Intangibles- Perfect combination of durability and performance. For me, the durability is key, as I am far from an LHS. I am pretty well stocked on these (they are on clearance right now), so I have been intentionally hard on the 102 flex, just to see what these can do. Score: 9.5/10

Conclusion- Great all-around shaft, especially at $67 after coupon code (EMAILME is the coupon code for 5% off, at the only vendor who is still selling these sticks). Hard to find anything wrong with this shaft. I am pretty sure that all struggles that I am having are related to my own skill set liability issues, except the seemingly slow release, which I think is a combo of stick+ me. Even so, when Bauer made this stick, they could have gone for a lower/more taper for a quicker release, but they seemed to want to retain the T1 power, which they certainly have done. Total Score: 57.5/60

Edited November 25, 2013 by Cosmic