Friday, September 21, 2012
Game Time Review: Bauer Nexus 1000 Hockey Stick

By Kyle Stevenson, Pure Hockey Marketing

I have the opportunity to try out a ton of great equipment through my job. I have to say, it's a great perk for a gear head like myself! The trouble sometimes - and I can't believe I'm saying this - is that occasionally there is too much to try and not enough ice. Often I don't have enough time with a certain pair of skates, gloves or stick - you know how it is - a lot of the time you need several sessions before you can really pass judgement on something. The thing that should say a lot about the Bauer Nexus 1000 stick is that I made sure that didn't happen. Why? Because it was too good.

I got the Nexus 1000 stick pretty early - I have been lucky enough to have been using it now for around three months. To be honest with you, I have never been much of a Bauer stick fan, but I will tell you here and now that they have seriously won me over with this one. After three months skating at least a couple times per week in game situations, I have seen almost no signs of the stick breaking down. A little bit of normal wear on the toe and bottom of the blade, but that's about it.

The stick still has great pop to it and the blade is retaining its stiffness well - that's usually my number one reason to move on from a stick: blade slop. I like that term! Blade slop! I shoot mostly off the toe of my blade, so if my blade starts to soften, than my shots go everywhere - more everywhere than usual, anyway. So the moment I feel the blade softening, the stick is retired.

I haven't had that problem with the Nexus. I honestly feel it is performing as we'll now as the first shot I took with it. It doesn't have the unbelievable pop on a release like some sticks do (Easton's Mako or CCM's new RBZ come to mind), but it still has provided great all-around performance.

A lot of sticks today are designed to do one thing phenomenally, perhaps a quick release or best energy loading. I feel that the Nexus does everything exceptionally. Taking on the performance aspect and going head to head with other sticks, the Nexus may not be #1 in many or any categories, but it would be ranked very highly in the widest number of categories. For a player like myself who likes to be able to do a lot of things and take an array of shots, it's a huge advantage.

It's rare nowadays that I go out and buy a stick, because I have a lot of demos coming through of things I need to try, but I just ordered a second Nexus and it has been the only stick I have used in games for the past three months. I have found other ice slots to try other sticks out, but I keep coming back to the Nexus 1000. All around, I highly highly recommend the Bauer Nexus 1000, without question one of the best I have used in recent memory. You can see more pictures, video and order one right here.