Most popular kick point in nhl

[Sniper9 530]

There's tonnes of hype over low kick sticks especially by warrior, but I've noticed majority of NHL players use a mid kick and or variable/custom kick point. Even the vast majority of the warrior pro stocks are hd1s dressed as coverts.

Is this low kick thing more of a retail thing just like how they try to make people thing lighter is better when NHL players rarely ever use retail spec skates and sticks?

I find low kick sticks, especially warrior ones not very versatile.  Great for snappers yes, but my slappers really suffer.. especially when I try to lean in hard. Almost have to do a 75% power slapper with really low kick sticks to get a decent slapshot off. 

[stick9 890]

Hard to say cuz you never know what they are actually using. Those guys can play with just about anything and play well. That's why they are where they are. I try to ignore what the pro use and focus on what works for me. But I admit, seeing a bunch of guys using the Jetspeed prompted me to try them at MSH events. 

[puckpilot 312]

There's data for who uses what at the geargeek website, and they do a breakdown of percentages by brand.

https://www.geargeek.com/

 

From the data on that site, there isn't a whole lot of difference in terms of one kickpoint being overwhelmingly popular than another. For example, Bauer is used by 37.8% of players. Of that 37.8%, 12.7% use Nexus, 14.5% use Vapor, and 10.6 use Supreme. A cursory glance at CCM and it seems the breakdown is similar. 

 

As for low kick stick, especially Warrior, not being versatile, isn't that sort of the whole point? I mean, there's no free lunch as they say. In order to specialize in one thing, eg quick release, something has to be sacrificed at least a little. I can't find the video for this, but I remember hearing from a product rep that the Warrior Alpha was developed to address the issues with the Covert line in terms of the blade opening up with big slappers. 

The best of both worlds/versitle sticks are the Nexus and Jetspeeds, mid kicks, and the ones meant for power are the AS1 and Supreme lines, high kick sticks. So if you're looking for versatility, a low kick stick is definitely not the answer.  

Edited December 31, 2018 by puckpilot

[ParabolicActivity 48]

Geargeek is sweet. I love it. But it's important to remember that they are only noting who is using what wrap when it comes to sticks. And even if they are using the same stick as the wrap, customization goes far beyond just the pattern. Other members can fill in the details here I am sure.

[puckpilot 312]

18 minutes ago, ParabolicActivity said:

But it's important to remember that they are only noting who is using what wrap when it comes to sticks.

Gahhhh, I didn't notice that until now. There goes the usefulness of that.

[VegasHockey 1280]

5 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

There's tonnes of hype over low kick sticks especially by warrior, but I've noticed majority of NHL players use a mid kick and or variable/custom kick point. Even the vast majority of the warrior pro stocks are hd1s dressed as coverts.

Is this low kick thing more of a retail thing just like how they try to make people thing lighter is better when NHL players rarely ever use retail spec skates and sticks?

I find low kick sticks, especially warrior ones not very versatile.  Great for snappers yes, but my slappers really suffer.. especially when I try to lean in hard. Almost have to do a 75% power slapper with really low kick sticks to get a decent slapshot off. 

I would say its pretty mixed but players are seeming to gravitate slowly to more of a variable kick point sticks such as the True SBP/XC, Jet Speed, and Nexus. 

[Sniper9 530]

Thanks for the discussion guys. 

What got my attention was all the warriors being sold on prostockhockey and similar sites, where all the warriors were pretty much hd1 dressed as qrls etc.  Also lots of older one90 and one95s being dressed as vapors etc. 

The last time I tried a vapor was an apx2 pro stock. Which I'm not even sure was a true apx but I think it was as it had very good kick on snappers. It shot very well for slappers as well though 

My 1n I liked bc it's the best of both worlds but haven't seen any good deals on the newer generations.

I've been primarily using my true 5.2 which feels very similar to my first gen 1n so that's my go to stick right now. 

I just got a 1s on sale and used it for the first time tonight during warmup.  u can def feel the lag and lack of kick in wristers and snap shots, but still feels decent. I wonder how much of it is mental where you think the pop off blade equates to a faster shot but really it may not. 

[puckpilot 312]

24 minutes ago, Sniper9 said:

I wonder how much of it is mental where you think the pop off blade equates to a faster shot but really it may not. 

Honestly if you think about it, the differences are probably in the hundredths of a second. That might matter to a pro, but for beerleague probably not so much. But if you don't feel good, and don't have confidence that your stick is going to do what you expect it to do, when you want the stick to do it, that makes a bigger difference.

For me, hesitation and second guessing causes more lag than any difference in kick ever could. The more comfortable you are with your stick, the better you'll play, regardless of type of stick.

Now finding that comfort, for me at least, can be a tall order. 

[stick9 890]

I don't think it's comfort or mental. It crap techinque and poor mechanics. Sticks that we find work are forgiving enough to make up for those things.

Also, when did the Nexus become a variable kick point? Stick has always been a straight up kick.

Edited December 31, 2018 by stick9

[Cavs019 708]

I don’t like feeling the stick flex between my hands so I use primarily low kick sticks. I also don’t shoot any quicker or harder with my Vapor vs. a Nexus or Supreme. It’s just what feels most natural to me.

I also think kick point “versatility” is marketing garbage. 

Edited December 31, 2018 by Cavs019

[ParabolicActivity 48]

Nexus is variable?

[Sniper9 530]

2 minutes ago, ParabolicActivity said:

Nexus is variable?

I thought when the first gen 1n came out it was advertised as such.  But I guess now all u see is that it's a mid flex that's custom to where u have your lower hand... 

[GoalForFun 176]

I thought the Nexus line has always been a mid-kick even back to the N1000 days? The only time Bauer made a variable kick stick (like the Jetspeed is today) was with the Vapor APX/APX2.

At any rate, from what I've read on various forums, the most popular kick point in the NHL is mid-kick then low-kick. Reasoning that's been thrown out there is that with low-kicks, if you're a stronger shooter you can "overpower" the kick point and your shot won't be as powerful because the puck is released before all the energy from the shot can be transferred to it, so with a mid-kick you sacrifice quick release, which is made up for at the pro level with a more powerful e.g. faster shot. And pros have such perfect shooting mechanics that they can get off a quick shot from anywhere anyway.

[Sniper9 530]

6 hours ago, GoalForFun said:

I thought the Nexus line has always been a mid-kick even back to the N1000 days? The only time Bauer made a variable kick stick (like the Jetspeed is today) was with the Vapor APX/APX2.

At any rate, from what I've read on various forums, the most popular kick point in the NHL is mid-kick then low-kick. Reasoning that's been thrown out there is that with low-kicks, if you're a stronger shooter you can "overpower" the kick point and your shot won't be as powerful because the puck is released before all the energy from the shot can be transferred to it, so with a mid-kick you sacrifice quick release, which is made up for at the pro level with a more powerful e.g. faster shot. And pros have such perfect shooting mechanics that they can get off a quick shot from anywhere anyway.

Makes sense as to why when I take slap shots with low kick sticks I have to tone it down and just focus on the motion and hit the ice about 75%. When I really dig and lean it my shots are muffins. 

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

They dropped the variable terminology once the Supreme ceased being an amplified mid kick and became high. 

[julkki 0]

9 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

Makes sense as to why when I take slap shots with low kick sticks I have to tone it down and just focus on the motion and hit the ice about 75%. When I really dig and lean it my shots are muffins. 

I've actually noticed the same thing. I must focus much more in shooting with low-kicks, but with mid-kicks I can just use pure strenght to get a some kind of shot off everytime.  But in the other hand, just look how Patrik Laine shoots with his low-kick stick. Of course the technique is perfect, but there is A TON of torque behind that shot and I think the stick does exactly what Laine wants. I think he uses 87 flex and the stick is very long. Still he manages to shoot 100 mph slappers...But yeah, his technique is very unique.

[Sniper9 530]

1 hour ago, julkki said:

I've actually noticed the same thing. I must focus much more in shooting with low-kicks, but with mid-kicks I can just use pure strenght to get a some kind of shot off everytime.  But in the other hand, just look how Patrik Laine shoots with his low-kick stick. Of course the technique is perfect, but there is A TON of torque behind that shot and I think the stick does exactly what Laine wants. I think he uses 87 flex and the stick is very long. Still he manages to shoot 100 mph slappers...But yeah, his technique is very unique.

Every shooter has their own technique though. No one shooter shoots the same nor do they skate the same. So it's probably just years of practice with what they know and theyve perfected either what works for them and more importantly the weight transfer.

I notice Laine holds his bottom hand fairly low when taking one timers/ slappers which I find helps for me too for low kick sticks. I think it offers better stabilization where the kick point is and results in less deflection. Then again it's all theoretical at this point. 

[GoalForFun 176]

On 1/1/2019 at 11:09 AM, julkki said:

I've actually noticed the same thing. I must focus much more in shooting with low-kicks, but with mid-kicks I can just use pure strenght to get a some kind of shot off everytime.  But in the other hand, just look how Patrik Laine shoots with his low-kick stick. Of course the technique is perfect, but there is A TON of torque behind that shot and I think the stick does exactly what Laine wants. I think he uses 87 flex and the stick is very long. Still he manages to shoot 100 mph slappers...But yeah, his technique is very unique.

I'm not even convinced Laine uses a low-kick stick. His namebar in pictures just says "TEST-A" on his build code. There were rumors floating around when he signed with Bauer that Bauer made a custom build for him that played like the Warrior he was using in the IIHF. I believe this is true because CCM made Ovi a custom flex profile unique from any of the ones they offer to mimic his Bauer G3 sticks.

[Sniper9 530]

2 hours ago, GoalForFun said:

I'm not even convinced Laine uses a low-kick stick. His namebar in pictures just says "TEST-A" on his build code. There were rumors floating around when he signed with Bauer that Bauer made a custom build for him that played like the Warrior he was using in the IIHF. I believe this is true because CCM made Ovi a custom flex profile unique from any of the ones they offer to mimic his Bauer G3 sticks.

His warriors from pictures looked like actual coverts... If so then they would be low kicks. 

[Paddy 11]

This might be the closest thing to an answer I've seen.

https://www.prostockhockey.com/sticks/who-are-the-top-hockey-stick-manufacturers

Breakdown of how many guys are using the top 10 most popular sticks. 2016-2017 data.

[Sniper9 530]

9 hours ago, Paddy said:

This might be the closest thing to an answer I've seen.

https://www.prostockhockey.com/sticks/who-are-the-top-hockey-stick-manufacturers

Breakdown of how many guys are using the top 10 most popular sticks. 2016-2017 data.

Are those based on just the dressing on the stick though?

[Paddy 11]

When they advertise their sticks for sale, they say things like "1n dressed as supreme". So I figured if anyone's stats matched what the sticks really are, and not the wrap, it'd be that website.

[chippa13 1844]

There is no answer to this topic. Preferences like length, lie, curve, stiffness, and "flex feel" all play into the flex profile that someone wants in a stick. Low kick vs mid kick vs variable kick are just as much a variable as the others.

[flip12 714]

It’s not necessarily accurate that the most frequent flex profile type seen on pro stock sticks for sale represents the most popular flex profile to use in NHL play. There’s no way for us to know why all of those sticks are available for purchase: the likelihood that some of them are for resale because they were samples that the player ended up not liking makes it impossible to simply tally based on what you see on PSH, SLS, eBay, etc., and say flex profile X is the most popular because it’s the one you saw the most.

Edited January 7, 2019 by flip12