Stick It To The Stickman Cost
Jahed Stetter
HockeyStickMan has partnered with Team LTD. to help get more kids into hockey. With any purchase of HSM Apparel we will donate $5 to helping provide hockey sticks for youth hockey players. With the rising costs of the game, HSM wants to continue to help do our part in bringing hockey to everyone.
Wow, did I have it wrong. Far from dampening imaginations, the production, performed with complete conviction and commitment by the talented cast inspired both my children and I, and ignited wonderful discussions for most of the hour-long train journey home.
We adored the clever use of key costume pieces, which, coupled with the physicality of the performances, perfectly brought to life everything from sticks to dogs to swans. It was not just the children giggling during the beach scene when sandcastles were built from almost nothing.
The live musical accompaniment provided by one of the actors added to the educational value of the show. To be able to see the instruments making the noises was something my 8 year old in particular enjoyed.
So from Dalton, aged 8, Belle aged 5 and me (aged 40!) we highly recommend this show. For catchy songs (I am not ashamed to admit we sang and skipped our way back to the Tube), to inspired creative to super talented actors, look no further than this fabulous production of Stick Man.
A friend of mine got a Pro Blackout stick from HSM and said he liked it. So, I started doing some research and in addition to the HSM regular and lite Pro Blackout sticks, I saw No Name, All Black, Twig, and more. All seem to offer a similar product, a 380g to 425g stick for $100 to $150ish and with plenty of good reviews. They all advertise 18K carbon, one piece construction, etc.. I'm trying to understand who actually makes these sticks, are they all from the same factory? And, how to differentiate between these value sticks and brands How good is the value and performance versus "last year's model" big brand name stick on clearance or a pro stock stick, both at similar prices?
That's what I meant..the ones on the company's website..not so many in other places. At the end of the day, the question is are these sticks at these prices a legit value (a $300 stick for $150 or less) and, if so, of all the brands which to consider.
Ha..I'm assuming you mean a pro stock CCM, Bauer, etc..and not a prostockhockeysticks.com "black" stick? See how confusing it can be. And, this would be because you believe the manufacturing and design methods of the big brands are superior? Which may be the case; but, go read many of the reviews on hockeymonkey, etc..about people complaining how their CCM, Bauer, Warrior, & True broke after 3 or 4 uses. Sure a $129 Pro Blackout sounds great against a non-discounted $300 stick; but, last's years model and pro stocks can be had for less than $150 and not sure that makes the "black" sticks as much of a value. I think these companies could do better with their advertising to help a consumer clearly understand the differences in the stick construction and tech. Compared to sticks from 15 years ago, they are probably all much better!
No, I think he means prostockhockeysticks. There is a recent thread on them and by most accounts seem to be the best of the rest in this category. Hills did a review of them about a year ago and said they stacked up very favorably against top of the line name brand sticks.
1) A stick from prohockeystickes.com, as suggested by krisdrum. Check out the recent thread - the reviews seem to be pretty strong and my sense is that the big selling point is access to hard-to-find curves.
2) A "blacked out" or otherwise graphics-free stick from hockeystickman, prostockhockey, or some other retailer. My sense is that these can be a bit of a crapshoot in terms of quality. I've never purchased one of the sticks, but I have purchased "blacked out" shafts and blades in the past and found them to be relatively disappointing, even at a lower price point.
Let me clarify. I think a genuine Pro Stock CCM/Bauer/Warrior/etc or a stick from is better option than All Black (brand) stick or HSM Blackout (brand) stick. The quality, construction, balance point, feel, and pop are significantly better.
Yes, sometimes you get a bad Pro Stock stick (CCM/Bauer/Warrior/etc) and it only lasts a few games, but that can happen if you buy a retail $300+ stick as well. We sell a ton of Pro Stock sticks and the ones that usually have limited life are the latest builds that are super light (FT3 Pro, Trigger 5 Pro, Vapor ADV, etc) and the failure rate of those sticks is no better or worse than the top tier sticks yet the cost if half the price. If someone breaks their stick within the first 30-45 days and it looks like a genuine failure we usually work with the buyer and provide them a new stick at a significant discount.
Has stick construction changed significantly in the last 15 years? Debatable. Weight has gone down due to flatter carbon weave, less resin and updated procedures but I don't consider these changes to be revolutionary. The Sherwood Rekker EK15 was released in 2014 and its sequel the EK60 both weighed under 385 grams. Thats less than the current Bauer Nexus Geo and Hyperlite.
There is a very limited amount of technology that can be incorporated into stick shafts, you remove weight by using less materials which means less life in the stick. There is no way of getting around that. No fancy carbon weave, layering process, or magical resin is going to change this. Look at the failure rate of low end sticks vs high end sticks and you will see a direct correlation.
I picked up a blackout extra lite from HSM in a 75 flex. Held it and felt good. Imo looks like an undressed rekker. Flexed it .... And was incredibly disappointed that it felt like a rock. I double checked the flex on the sticker and the name bar. It literally feels like an 85-90. It's so stiff I'm not even going to try to use it and I'll be out 50 bucks in total shipping after all is said and done.
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