In this blog, I’m gonna tell you about my experiences with three refurbished hockey sticks I purchased from hockeystickman.com.
I’ll share:
- What refurbished hockey sticks are
- What sticks I bought & how much I paid for each one
- Some really cool things about refurbished hockey sticks
- How long they “lasted” for me
- And, are they worth the money?
There’s also a little twist later that you don’t want to miss that may influence your decision to purchase a refurbished hockey stick or not!
Now, I love great quality hockey sticks, but as a beer league hockey player, I’m not one to pay two, three, probably close to four hundred dollars now-a-days for a new hockey stick. If you’ve read my other hockey stick blogs, you’ll know I’ve been using refurbished and pro blackout sticks in the past couple years or so. I love great gear on a budget!
What Are Refurbished Hockey Sticks?
Refurbished hockey sticks from Hockey Stick Man are senior-size, high-quality name-brand sticks that have been used and broken at the pro level but in otherwise excellent condition. The sticks they use for refurbs were broken at the shaft and then repaired.
Hockey Stick Man indicates the flex and kick-point are not affected by the repairs.
There’s a bunch of details about the refurbs and repair process on the Hockey Stick Man website – Link to Hockey Stick Man Refurb & Repair Process
So, let’s take a look at the sticks I purchased.
Stick #1
My first refurb stick purchase was a Bauer Nexus 2N Pro.
I purchased this stick in July 2021 and paid $93.97 (US dollars).
This was the total out of the door price (with everything included). This order had a small wood stick extension for like $3.50 and I also used an online first-time buyer coupon for $10.
Shipping was 20 bucks. And, a quick note, this stick brand new at that time went for about $200. So, in general, refurbs are about half the price of brand-new sticks.
Let’s talk about “cool” factor of these refurbs.
So, this Bauer 2N Pro actually was “dressed as a GEO”…what that means is the stick was painted as GEO, but actually a 2N Pro build. My actual stick looks like a GEO, but the fine print on the shaft indicates it’s a 2N Pro.
Another cool thing about these refurb sticks, is some have player names on them. Of the sticks I’ve received so far, all have had names.
According to hockey stick man, their refurbished sticks were used by pro level hockey players – from the NHL and other minor league pro teams.
Hockey Stick Man doesn’t advertise player names on the sticks they sell, but it’s interesting to look-up the player names when you receive your stick.
Here’s the name on my Bauer 2N Pro – St. Ivany
I think this was John St. Ivany’s stick. He’s currently an AHL player (Q1 2023)…shoots right, 6’ 3”, defenseman…seems to be a stick he could’ve used. Not 100% sure and didn’t spend a lot of time researching, but it’s interesting to look-at who may have been the original owner and used the stick.
Here’s the repair point on my stick. It’s a little bit lower than half way down the stick. And, as you can see, the graphics don’t exactly match-up.
Unfortunately, this stick broke. It busted during a hockey tournament in April 2022 at the lower part of the shaft.
I got approximately 10 months of use out of this stick. I used it on average 3 times a week in beer league games and one tournament…so quite a bit. Looking back, this was definitely my favorite stick based on the feel and my shooting style – taking mostly slap & snap shots
Stick #2
The second refurbished stick I purchased was a CCM Super Tacks AS3 Pro.
I purchased this stick in January 2022 and paid $109.98
This again was the total out of the door price. The stick was $89.99 and shipping was $19.99.
This hockey stick has the name “Condotta” on it. And, appears to be the stick of Lucas Condotta. On the UMass website, everything seems to match-up as far as stick-type, he’s 6’ 2”, 209 pounds; however, he’s a lefty and this is a righty stick.
Maybe he ordered it, they sent the wrong stick and he lent it to a buddy. Who knows…the mystery remains…could’ve been another Condotta??
The repair point on this stick, like the first one is a little bit lower than half way down the stick.
This stick broke on me in October 2022 at the bottom of the blade.
Similar to stick #1, the Bauer, I got approximately 10 months use out of this stick.
However, I used this stick I’d say on average 1 or 2 times a week in beer league games. I’d rotated it with another stick I had…which is stick #3 coming-up. So, in comparison to Bauer Nexus 2N Pro that I used 2-3 times a week, this stick definitely didn’t last as many games.
Stick #3
The third refurb stick I purchased was a CCM Jetspeed FT4 Pro.
I purchased this stick in February 2022; so, about one month after refurb stick #2 and paid $119.98.
This was the total out of the door price. This stick was $99.99 and shipping was $19.99.
This hockey stick has the name “MacKinnon” on it…hmmmm, Nathan Mackinnon? No clue…I couldn’t find any other MacKinnon’s with that same spelling in my 5 minutes of research (haha).
And, I think MacKinnon uses CCM Ribcor Triggers, so who knows… maybe he tested-out some Jetspeeds? Let’s move on…
The repair point on this stick is on the lower portion of the shaft.
This stick broke on me in November 2022 right in the middle of the blade.
Again, eerily similar to sticks 1 & 2, I got approximately 10 months use out of this stick.
And, comparable to stick #2, I used this stick about 1 or 2 times a week in beer league games rotating it with stick number 2.
An important thing I’d like to share is I tend to be somewhat hard on my hockey sticks. I take a lot of slap shots in warm-ups and games and as a defenseman, I probably do more than the usual stick-work just defending and battles in front of the net.
And, we do have some Paul Bunyans in our hockey leagues that don’t help either😂…just constantly whacking away on my sticks!
So, with that, it’s certainly possible my sticks could’ve lasted longer if I wasn’t so hard on em’. I know some guys who never take slap shots and take wristers all the time and it seems like their sticks last forever! Those are the guys that typically take one stick to their games…I always have two!
In comparing the three sticks, obviously stick #1, the Bauer Nexus 2N Pro lasted the longest for me…in that I got the most games out of it even though they all lasted about 10 months.
In essence, it lasted twice as long as sticks 2 and 3. I’d assume if I bought the same sticks brand new they would’ve lasted longer…maybe. I’ve bought brand new sticks in the past that didn’t seem to last very long, but never really paid attention to that in the past.
Twist
I mentioned at the beginning of the blog that I’d have a little twist…so here it is. You may be thinking after purchasing three refurbished sticks and having them all break within about 10 months, that I’d be done with them as they all broke within a relatively short period of time.
For me, that’s not the case at all. As mentioned earlier in the blog, I love great gear on a budget…at the lower price-points!
After my 3rd refurbished hockey stick broke, I purchased a “brand-new” Pro Blackout stick from Hockey Stick Man which was actually a bit more expensive than the refurbs (about 20-30 dollars more) and I’ve been using it for several months.
And, what I found, for me at least, is the Pro Blackouts are great budget friendly “brand” new sticks, but in comparison to the name-brand refurbs, the Pro Blackouts just don’t have that quality “feel” to them.
It’s a little hard to explain unless you try and compare them yourself, but by feel, I mean the blade specifically. When I use the Pro Blackout, the puck just seems to explode off the blade.
I feel it especially when receiving a hard pass. The blade on my Pro Blackout feels like a concrete wall. And, it took a while to get used to.
The name-brand refurbs I’ve used, have an overall better and higher quality feel to them. They’re more forgiving…the blade especially…just overall better quality.
Stick #4
So with that said…I bring you refurbished stick #4! A CCM Super Tacks AS4 Pro.
This 4th refurb was actually supposed to be a Bauer Nexus 2N Pro as that was my favorite stick and was excited to be getting another one, but unfortunately after I submitted my online order with Hockey Stick Man, was later told that it was sold in the store. So, that can happen!
This AS4 Pro was my second choice, so we’ll see how this one works out.
I purchased this stick in late January 2023 and paid $109.98.
This was the total out of the door price. This stick was $89.99 and shipping was $19.99.
This hockey stick has the name “Diotte” on it. It could possibly be the stick of Mikael Diotte?? Seems to potentially fit as he’s a righty, about 200 pounds and tall at 6’3”.
The repair point on this stick is in the middle portion of the shaft.
Although I purchased this stick in late January 2023, I have not used this stick on the ice yet.
The stick was delivered with bubble wrap around the blade and just plastic covering the stick. To date, I’ve never had any shipping damages from the sticks I’ve received from hockey stick man.
ARE THEY WORTH THE MONEY?
So, to answer this question, I guess really it depends on your point of view. To me, it’s worth it in that I’m getting a great performing name-brand stick at about half the price of a new stick.
And comparing to the Pro Blackouts, I’ll go refurb all day long!
Now, if I find that the refurbs continue to break faster than expected, I may change my tune. Only time will tell. Hopefully, the AS4 will last longer than 10 months!
Here’s a few other things to note about the refurbs at hockey stick man.
Sometimes they have a very limited supply, especially for righties.
They do have a 30-day guarantee on the “repaired” portion of the stick. To date, I’ve never had an issue with the repair portion of the stick.
If you have other sources for quality refurbished hockey sticks, would really appreciate your thoughts in the comments.
If you’d like to learn more about hockey stick refurbs, pro blackouts, or what hockey stick kick point is to help you find the perfect hockey stick for your shooting style, please check-out the other blogs on my website.
Thanks for reading and Stay Junky My Friends!😎🏒🍺
Beer League Hockey Guy
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Check out the “The TRUTH About Refurbished Hockey Sticks❗👀 YouTube Video“