STX Surgeon RX3

[nutters 218]

I received the Surgeon RX3 stick as a freebie from STX last April and decided on writing a review on this stick after a year of use. However, with the lock down along with the arena I normally play at being renovated I won’t be back on the ice until mid August or early September, so I’ve decided to write a review of the stick now because I feel as though it will start getting me back into things during the Summer.

About me

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 160 lbs

Shoots: Right

Position: RW/LW

Stick specs: X92 pattern/85 flex

I’ve been playing almost exclusively in beer leagues with some tournaments sprinkled in for the last 10 years after a very mediocre minor hockey career. Luckily I’ve improved a lot since then getting to play with better teammates, while losing a lot of weight plus getting into shape. I might classify my style as a speedy, two-way, backchecking beer league hardo. My shot isn’t ever really a factor so I get a lot of goals by going to the dirty areas. Anyway, enough about me and let’s move on to the STX Surgeon RX3 stick.

Again, this stick was free so I can’t really complain about the specs because it’s close enough to my  preferences. The stick’s specs are an X92 pattern (P92, P29, W03 equivalent), at 85 flex. Normally, I play with sticks in the 75 flex range within the P88 family of patterns, but despite it not being my preferred specs I am familiar with them. I started using this stick mid-April 2019 almost exclusively until play stopped in mid-March of this year. I should also note that at first I did not cut this stick because I just never did, but after some experimenting with other sticks in July of last year I cut the RX3 down to around 57”.

Look: 10/10

A black base with great graphics that don’t come off as too busy. Love the shade of blue STX uses as it really pops. It certainly stands out and wouldn’t blend in a line up of top of the sticks from every brand. 

Feel/Weight/Balance: 8.5/10

With the Surgeon RX3 stick, the first thing you need to talk about is the shape of the shaft. This six sided shaft, which is made to feel more naturally in the hands does what it is intended to do, but it is not something you would notice while playing. Many of my teammates were asking if it felt weird to play with as we are all much more comfortable with the 4 sided stick, again, I would say to them that it is unnoticeable unless you were trying to remain aware of the feel throughout the action. The Puregrip shaft is an eye-catcher and creates dressing room buzz, but in the end, it comes off as more of a gimmick because I believe the off-ice “natural feel” is lost on the ice with gloves on. 

This stick comes in at 425 grams at its uncut length and this stick certainly feels light, especially when compared to other elite level sticks. Unfortunately, the Puregrip fails to create an impression on the ice, the weight certainly doesn’t get forgotten on the ice, which certainly has to do with its spectacular balance. This stick does not come off as blade heavy (great coming off a CCM RBZ Revolution) and feels great regardless of where the lower hand is located. It is not the lightest stick I have ever used, but certainly one that distributes the weight, which makes it feel better. Would love to have tried a version of this stick with a traditional shaft because while I do not mind gimmicks it just seems unnecessary and may provide more support to the upper hand.

Shooting and Passing: 7.5/10

I’ll start with the positive in this section, the passing. The blade of this stick has given me more precise passes while responding to the speed I desire and how hard I pass it. The blade works with me, which I really appreciate that in a stick, I believe a lot of companies try to influence shots with new tech bleeding into the passing, this could be me with no one else ever feeling this way.

My shooting with this stick isn’t the best, but I factor this into the flex rating I have been using and my experience could have been a lot better if this were a 75 flex, not 85. I will say, even with a few inches cut off, it still plays closer to 85 flex so it is a whippier stick for those interested in it. This duel-kick stick (STX calls it Precision Flex II) is great for any shooter, however for myself, the lower kick was great for wrist shots and in tight, yet the upper kick zone came off as too stiff, therefore my already soft slapshots were almost non-existent with the RX3.

Puck feel: 10/10

This is the best I have ever felt with a stick, ever. At no point have I lost feel for the puck during the play, and as someone who has to look down from time-to-time that really helps. When shooting on either side of the blade, I know where my soft shots are coming off of so they are not flubs or muffins, which I believe would happen if I were using a different stick with the same specs. Unlike the Puregrip, the Pureblade is genuinely pure and relevant to what a person wants with a hockey stick.

Durability: 9.5/10

Prior to the lock down I was using this stick almost exclusively for a year and this thing has held up great. Besides the markings, etc.. chipping off from normal in-game events, I have not seen any real signs of damage, which is always nice. As for the blade, I always over tape the blade, whether it’s extra strips of tape over the toe or going above the heel, over cautious ever since the SuperTacks. I cannot give a true opinion on the blade, but it seems not to be too scuffed compared to other sticks where the tape gets damaged. If I had paid for the stick, the way it has held up has certainly proved it would be worth it in terms of holding up.

Overall: 9.1/10

Had it not been for it being a stiffer stick than I am used to, I would proudly say this is the best stick I have ever used, but I can’t conclusively say that unless I acquire a 75 flex (don’t mind the pattern). The STX Surgeon RX3 is probably the first stick in the period where I’ve got into trying out different gear obsessively where I have stuck with a stick for a long period of time, which is a huge shock to me. At times I may switch it up for a back up during the game because it might change my luck, but I still come back to this stick because it performs so well.

STX with its pure tech in the shaft and blade makes it clear they really wanted to create the most natural feeling stick ever. While the shaft shape doesn’t change much, I can’t fault them for trying because it makes sense the stick should be perfectly wrapped in the hands (look at baseball, lacrosse, tennis, golf), yet it does not transition over well into hockey and honestly made no difference. In fact, being square by the upper hand may be a good thing to implement in the RX4, or 5 if the former is too late to change as it could improve shooting mecaniques for some (nothing can save me). However, the natural feel in the blade is perfect. This is the feel every company should strive for and has actually improved my game slightly.

Thanks for reading!