CCM Tacks Goalie Stick Review — What’s New from CCM

Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com before we get into our gear segment.

Well, like, we've we've talked about for several weeks now, and it continues. Just new gear arriving on the daily. Cam sent me a list of stuff we have to talk about over the next month. We're gonna head over there and start filming some more ones. There's new second price point gear from Brian's.

We've talked about all the new stuff coming in from CCM. We've got a launch coming up on May 22 for the new Bauer Fuse line. And, of course, the Hockey Shop Source for Sports being as big an outlet as they are and with the relationships they have, they've actually got the Bauer team in that weekend over the May 22 weekend. Make sure you check out all the Hockey Shop socials for your chance to win an exclusive first night early sneak peek. And then if you're on hand for the following day, they're basically taking over a good chunk of the hockey shop so that you can so that you can try the gear with their people on hand.

You know, get fitted. They're calling it a Bauer Fit Day. And so it's an it's an incredible opportunity, and it's something that I think if you're if you're whether it's the Bauer line or or any of the other new gear coming, now is the time to check them out. Make sure you check out all their socials or check them out at the hockeyshop.com. Not just for that, but as we've talked about with all this new CCM gear we're reviewing, the new stuff coming in means the old stuff is on sale.

So great deals, all the newest, all the latest, all the greatest, and on May, a chance to get fit by the guys that actually are the team behind Bauer's new line.

Even if you wear a different manufacturer's gear, like, go check that out just to see what's different, what's unique, what you might be able to put into your setup with with your gear. I love being able to try out different manufacturers. There is no luxury.

Yeah. Know. And and and there'll be some other events like this this summer. There is no Tendi Fest this year, which was the great chance to go try it all on on the same day. That's on hiatus for one year, but a chance for the Bauer line at least on May 22.

Make sure you check it out. And speaking of new gear, we have been checking out the new CCM Tacks stick, and we have feedback from pros including Ann-Renu00e9e Desbiens, Stuart Skinner, Jet Greaves. Like, this twig, there's a lot of times where, you know, it's the carbon fiber, it's it yeah. It's it's lighter. It's more durable.

They'll add layers. They've done that here for sure, but there isn't, like, a necessarily a a feel that's different. Their stiff, soft blade on this, which is stiff at the toe, soft, and we'll let Cam explain a little more, notably different amongst all the goaltenders that have tested it for us so far. Like, they noticed the difference in terms of feel pucks off the blade of the stick. So that's a that's a big one.

Let's let's Cam. Let let Cam, explain the rest to

It's that time of year, Cam. Yes. Oh, another one that's kind of floating on me. Oh. Really light stick. Something new. This way comes.

CCM Tacks Pro. What do you got there?

I got a Tacks Pro.

What are the differences?

Well, it says Tacks on it.

Beyond the name. You're gonna see the name on the back. Right? Little tax?

I mean, great some great great

graphic They pop.

Yeah. The grip. Oh,

it's nice.

It's continuing the trend of the season with

Good graphics. Yes. Okay. What about good performance, Cam? Oh.

What can you

tell overall stick replacing that Axis XF stick. Okay. Overall, feel wise, very, very similar. I mean, wasn't a whole lot that they needed to really redo. It was a great stick.

It was a great stick, but in adding some of that vision kind

of Technology?

Feel wise, that's correct. So first overall, like initial impressions when you go to go pick up that stick, the balance is Yeah. Quite That that that'd be one to to kinda take home. It's like weight's one thing, but balance is another for sure. Stiffer stick.

I'm trying to look how close it is to the handle where the balance point is. That's what you want. You want them close to the balance point. Like I'm a I'm a magician.

Almost tacked that to my head right there. So I maybe maybe accidentally showed off something

sneaky there.

And you did. We'll get to that in a second. That rounded style shaft. So let's start off with that.

Yeah. Shape new shape geometry on the shaft that we saw, it's this continues because, again, less breakage.

That's the hope. Always the hope. In our experience. Great overall feel when it comes to even again popping that glove on. A little bit chunkier, but it's still tapered at the back. Right.

Again It's like the shape of your hand. It's like yeah. It's almost like

the shape of your hand.

That's right. Almost like someone thought about that.

I know. It may have been there as they thought about it.

So grip right where you actually grasp the stick in particular and that will be stock off the wall in that overall feel wise. Anything else you can tell me? It says Tacks on it. What else? Stock curve is gonna be your p four, but you also have p one available too as well with your heel base curve.

And custom is where we're gonna start to see.

Well, we're gonna before we get to custom, you missed a point. Oh, And it's go one that has jumped out in our testers.

You were itching to say it, so I thought I would let you have it. Sure.

Do you know what it is then?

Go for it. He doesn't know what it is. Do I? They've changed some of the blend in the the blade.

Yes to what?

I can't give you the specifics, but I can tell you what it was designed to do because I didn't know it was designed to do it till we'd already felt it do it, which is always good when your testers say, hey. It feels like this, and then you check-in with CCM and they're like, we've changed that so it's designed to feel like this. Softer is the wrong word because it's still great. We've had junior goalies out picking off rims off the wall and you don't want too much flex. I don't want to say it's like a foam core feel.

There's just way more feel off the blade of the stick. It's noticeable. If you've used it, it's noticeable.

Define that feel as not

just super stupid rigid which, like, again, when you go to a carbon stick, we've just gotten used to a really rigid, almost like no feel to it. It just I don't know. It softer is the wrong word, but it feels softer.

So you can get more control out of the Yes. Way use

That's the word we It just feels like the puck is not just hitting it. It feels like it's sort of absorbing it a little bit. Does that make any sense?

Well, hopefully it does.

It's kind of the feedback we've got and now we can talk about the custom which I've been kind of hiding. You can get a trigger grip. Ours came with a trigger grip. We got two of them, so we've already got one out in play. Haven't taped this one up.

We're saving it to do this segment with cam but really like this, whether you wanna grip it down here, here, or just there, a nice option that you can do in a custom order. That's Like I said, super attractive stick.

That rounded shoulder is stock.

Yeah. That's sort of not quite the full bob, but sort of partial bob.

Yeah. Definitely not a full bob.

We've seen But steep steep shoulders, especially on the inside that goalies really like to be able to get their hand down on.

Correct. So great overall feel. Again, available to order custom.

Where do get you if they want to order custom?

(604) 589-8299 or 1-800-567-7790. What are the minimums on a custom order? You get a minimum of two this year.

That's not bad. So if you're looking to try, you like this stick, you know, and there are a lot of features to love about it, and you're looking to try a trigger grip, you don't need to order a pack of six, you only or a pack of three, you only need to order two to give it a shot. I you know, like I said, I I never had a trigger grip. Obviously, see guys in the NHL with it. Hadn't tried it myself.

Just hadn't bothered. Do love it. Do love it. Might not go back.

K. Go through the blade again.

Stiff toe, softer in towards the heel of the blade, so a little more feel, but without sacrificing the durability and the ability to sort of stick that toe into the boards and stop a hard rim. So it's it's something that existed on their player sticks before. And Desbiens told me, like, the vibrations at the pro level where you're stopping hundreds of shots a day, like, she notices less wear and tear, she believes, on her arm. Like, she just it doesn't hurt it doesn't feel it She definitely notices how much softer it is. I feel like pucks come off it when you're trying to control the rebound.

Like, he still steer it off the toe and ratchet it up and out of play, but there's there's definitely more feel to it off that sort of heel to the midpoint of the curve on the blade. And, course, they've got the AluPly aluminum strips in the shaft, the new shaft geometry to reduce breakage. They've got carbon rib in the paddle. Again, little more stiffness, rigidity from a durability standpoint. So lots of new tech in there, like as most goalie sticks have each new year, they bring out new things, but them bringing this field component over from the player side into the blade.

It's funny because I had one goalie tell me, it's it's kinda like foam core. And then I asked another goalie like, hey. Does it kinda feel like a foam core stick? And they're like, what's a foam core stick? So, they're young kids that'll be like, what's this whole feel thing?

What is I don't I'm not I I didn't know you could feel the puck, and, it's different for sure, but it's in a positive way.

I think that the vibration impact on goaltenders over the course of a season is one of the more under talked about impacts on a goaltender's health or or feeling with with with the hand and the arm just being pounded all the time. And that's why guys wear that that spongy taper around the the the top of the paddle just to reduce that a little bit. So any anything that that takes that away shot after shot after shot after practice, is a real benefit to the to the hand, to the wrist, to the forearm, to the elbow. It's big time.

Yep. Agree completely.

Awesome stuff. By the way, the Tacks line. I went through the customizer twice last week, and I just I can't stop doing it.

And what'd you come up with?

I've got two two setups. I just because you guys love going through because Hutch, you your your family loves the customizer as a as a family. And I've got a theme with the I call them the the Spider Man eyes with with the red right in the middle, and then I I I do one goldish on the outline and one black with some gold. But it's really cool to be able to go through the customizer on the on the Tacks.

I think that somebody needs to do the full Spider Man theme with that because it when you do it, when you set it up a certain way, it's evident and then have the mask. Yes. Mask painted to match for sure.

Be really cool with those. It just the the way it's it's there waiting for you if you take advantage of it. Let's just put it that way with the with the Spider Man eyes. Vizual Edge brings us our ProReads. This week, chatting with Jet Graves.