TPS Response Sticks: Back For Another Iconic Shift

[A2rhino 79]

Who is now manufacturing this stick? 

https://www.hockeymonkey.com/tps-response-hockey-sticks?trk_msg=EQD3RIN3M57KNERCMIT4J8524O&trk_contact=BUB674MH6J9E44N6TML47PIHMO&trk_sid=VC5D5TI1HSEDRCQTA2SIGDIR68&trk_link=DPNQPG6G2K8KNBDNE9H2D0TO5S&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=TPS+Response+Rubber+and+Response+Vintage+Hockey+Sticks&utm_campaign=LTK+BC+TPS+Response+Hockey+Sticks

[helmet91 19]

Seems that it's Canadian Tire by way of Sherwood.  At least that's what our AI overlords have told me.

[A2rhino 79]

Interesting. HockeyMonkey SWEARS its the return of Louisville TPS.

[xstartxtodayx 343]

Heard rumblings of them selling the name back to Louisville and the new ones being Louisville TPS's again, it better be for those prices.

[helmet91 19]

https://forums.hfboards.com/threads/tps-hockey-is-back.2981965/

Maybe some equity firm owns the name now?

[A2rhino 79]

Well after seeing that PDF, I'm guessing TPS is back. Although I question the 335g weight. 

[Buzz_LightBeer 978]

I bought the yellow original not knowing they were two different quality sticks. I can weigh mine but it's very light, and a good value stick for the money

[start_today 780]

Ok, again, I’m jaded and don’t like anything. 

But, this is just a brand name stamped on a mediocre stick, right? Like the “synergy” sticks that are a low tier Bauer with Easton graphics and a higher price point than they should have. No one under 40 actually cares if some ancient brand makes sticks again. 

If this were a new, modern build offering something unique, wouldn’t they use a new name to capture the youth market, who is far and away the biggest selling point? And if it’s the “classic” TPS, why does anyone care about people who have been out of the game for 20 years? 

And, outside of the XN10 (which, to be fair, people loved), TPS was never putting out GREAT sticks, right? They were fine, but it’s not like they were pushing boundaries and doing interesting stuff and suddenly stopped.

Nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia. 

I’m happy to be proven wrong but, nothing about this strikes me as actually exciting. 

[shooter27 122]

I don’t know about what they’re producing now.  But I will agree that the XN10 was an outstanding stick.  People really liked the Response too.  

[stick9 906]

On 9/13/2025 at 9:11 AM, start_today said:

Ok, again, I’m jaded and don’t like anything. 

But, this is just a brand name stamped on a mediocre stick, right? Like the “synergy” sticks that are a low tier Bauer with Easton graphics and a higher price point than they should have. No one under 40 actually cares if some ancient brand makes sticks again. 

If this were a new, modern build offering something unique, wouldn’t they use a new name to capture the youth market, who is far and away the biggest selling point? And if it’s the “classic” TPS, why does anyone care about people who have been out of the game for 20 years? 

And, outside of the XN10 (which, to be fair, people loved), TPS was never putting out GREAT sticks, right? They were fine, but it’s not like they were pushing boundaries and doing interesting stuff and suddenly stopped.

Nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia. 

I’m happy to be proven wrong but, nothing about this strikes me as actually exciting. 

Yup, 100% dad market cash grab.

What sort of irks me about these things is trying to make it feel like the original, or hyping it like its some other worldly thing they are bring back for a limited time. Those TPS sticks were great at that point in time. I can't imagine they'd stand up to a modern composite.

I think CCM got it right with the retro Tacks.

[A2rhino 79]

On 9/13/2025 at 9:11 AM, start_today said:

Ok, again, I’m jaded and don’t like anything. 

But, this is just a brand name stamped on a mediocre stick, right? Like the “synergy” sticks that are a low tier Bauer with Easton graphics and a higher price point than they should have. No one under 40 actually cares if some ancient brand makes sticks again. 

If this were a new, modern build offering something unique, wouldn’t they use a new name to capture the youth market, who is far and away the biggest selling point? And if it’s the “classic” TPS, why does anyone care about people who have been out of the game for 20 years? 

And, outside of the XN10 (which, to be fair, people loved), TPS was never putting out GREAT sticks, right? They were fine, but it’s not like they were pushing boundaries and doing interesting stuff and suddenly stopped.

Nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia. 

I’m happy to be proven wrong but, nothing about this strikes me as actually exciting. 

Nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia. This is a great point! And you are correct. The XN10 was a great stick. BUT........  How would it compare to sticks today? No different than any other great stick or skates in the past. Would they really compete? Maybe, but most likely no. 

However, lets face it. Marketing sells and I would believe its safe to say; Marketing OVER SELLS. No different than in this instance. 

[flip12 732]

I have an original Dolomite I bust out sometimes. I think it shoots just as well as anything I've tried since. Sure it's heavier, but the balance is nice so I don't notice the weight. I think the newer sticks are mostly marketing hype. There has to be a narrative that promotes their superiority otherwise there's no reason to try anything new, and certainly not anything more expensive than its previous iteration. The original Synergy is a lot closer to today's sticks in performance than it is to the sticks that were around at the time of its release.

[Dmitrakov 10]

42 minutes ago, flip12 said:

I have an original Dolomite I bust out sometimes. I think it shoots just as well as anything I've tried since. Sure it's heavier, but the balance is nice so I don't notice the weight. I think the newer sticks are mostly marketing hype. There has to be a narrative that promotes their superiority otherwise there's no reason to try anything new, and certainly not anything more expensive than its previous iteration. The original Synergy is a lot closer to today's sticks in performance than it is to the sticks that were around at the time of its release.

With all due respect this is a crazy take haha. My dolomites feel like a weighted rubber training stick and they are severely bottom heavy compared to todays sticks, along with the synergy from 2 decades ago. They blade and shaft torque open and you feel it. I would say there is definitely tech that has improved the stick game, maybe the lightness of todays sticks hasn't "improved" the stick game per say, but the release/balance/power of these sticks compared to the latter is two different worlds in my opinion

[flip12 732]

7 hours ago, Dmitrakov said:

With all due respect this is a crazy take haha. My dolomites feel like a weighted rubber training stick and they are severely bottom heavy compared to todays sticks, along with the synergy from 2 decades ago. They blade and shaft torque open and you feel it. I would say there is definitely tech that has improved the stick game, maybe the lightness of todays sticks hasn't "improved" the stick game per say, but the release/balance/power of these sticks compared to the latter is two different worlds in my opinion

I do tend to use my Dolo with an end plug, but that also helps focus the feel for me with newer sticks like Hyperlite and Praux VF. Torquegate never bothered me with my Dolomite.

Balance is a stick by stick issue and I don't think stick balance has improved linearly over the years. A lot of super light sticks have really strange balance. The only stick I've used that felt perfectly balanced for me without any counterweight like a 25-30g Tacki-Mac and or a 20-30g end plug was my RibCor 2. I think that was around 430g. Felt amazing. My least tweaked stick with good balance right now is a Malkin pro stock SE16 that's right around 450g and has a 30g Kovalchuk Tacki-Mac on it. Without the Tacki-Mac, it feels dead to me. With it, it sings.

I don't sense much more power from newer sticks. This could be tested though. Get one of those testing machines to shoot pucks with NOS Synergy, TPS XN10, G3, etc., and compare it to the latest and most expensive models and see how much more powerful the shots are with the same swing.