Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Game Time Review: Easton Mako Hockey Stick

By Kyle Stevenson, Pure Hockey Marketing

So the Easton Mako stick officially comes out this Saturday, April 7th, but I got to use it a little bit early to review it. See all I do for you guys!!?? Okay, perhaps, just maybe, a little bit for myself, too. Ahem. Those of you who are excited about its release, you should be!! Hell, people who have never played hockey should be excited about this stick. Easton has done it again.

As I’ve implied in past reviews, I am a pretty loyal Easton guy – gloves, skates, bucket, sticks – but the last Easton stick I used that wasn’t a part of the Stealth family was a Si-Core, circa 2007. Picking up the Mako, it has a different feel to the shaft than the RS, but I actually liked the way it felt in my hands.

Cut to the ice. The Mako made its debut in our Men’s league championship game last week. First thing I did was grab a puck and just stick handle around a bit, it has great feel to the blade. I really could tell where on the blade the puck was and I liked that a lot. I’m honestly not sure how much the Z-Tac coating helped (that sandpaper like finish on the blade that people are buzzing about), but I definitely like the way the blade felt. I felt that Easton tried to walk a fine line with this feature; it was not smooth, but also not as rough as you see on a lot of pro stock sticks. Not a bad move by Easton, as it could turn some players off, but I’d prefer to see it all the way or not at all. I will say that passes came off extremely smooth and I felt I had a LOT of control of the puck.

The stick is weighted extremely well; Easton’s focus on quickness has definitely paid off. I hate for a stick to be light for the sake of light and I also hate when there’s nothing to the lower end of the stick - it just makes handling the puck a nightmare and it just doesn’t allow the player the needed feel. Those kind of sticks make me feel that there’s just a shaft with no blade in my hands. The Mako was a bit weird in this sense –in the best way possible - handling the puck, it felt very light and I could move the blade very quickly, but it wasn’t so light that I was over-handling or that it felt too light. A true accomplishment by Easton.

The next thing I noticed about the Mako with my gloves on was the grip. I loved it. I mentioned in my review of the RS that I felt the grip was way too grippy, and the clear was too slippery. The clear version on the Mako – my normal preference – was not so slick that the stick spun in my hands. A very happy medium.

Shooting with the Mako was the real treat. I had a bit of trouble getting used the curve, my demo was Easton’s Cammalleri pattern that I haven’t used in a few years. But I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, want me to try out an unreleased stick? Don’t have my curve? No problem. When I started using it, it wasn’t going where I expected it to, but I could tell it was going where I aimed it. The puck absolutely jumps off the face off the blade. Once I got used to having less of a hook, I was placing the puck a lot better. The stick feels so stable. Super-smooth release and as I tweeted to Easton, the one word to describe the stick is “pop,” --- and a lot of it. The puck comes off the blade very true - and very hard. It is a different feel on the release from the RS, the kick point is clearly higher, but I felt that I could really lean into it and release. I could really feel the energy transfer through the stick from my hand to release.

Overall I have to say I really have enjoyed using the Mako, smooth passes, a blade that is light but still has great feel to it and shots that feel like they are jumping off the stick. Start getting excited folks.

You can order the Mako right here.