The kind folks over at Miken have given HockeyWorldBlog.com a Miken MV5 Pro Radial Hockey Stick to review. Given that our team is working on a decent amount of reviews, and perhaps a little coaxing on my behalf, the team has decided to let me take the stick for some rigorous testing. Without further ado, here is my first review.
A little background knowledge is always a good thing. My previous stick that I was using was from the guys at Blue Ice Hockey, the Blue Ice Nano Pro. To say that I love the stick would be an understatement. A price point to fit every hockey players budget, a long with the durability and performance of top end sticks, really makes it tough for me to jump over to the Miken.
Miken’s roots began in baseball as they produced a high performance composite bat. Taking the knowledge learned from their research and development, mixing it with pro player advisors, Miken is now in the hockey game. Another little ditty for those who don’t know already, Miken is based out of Minnesota. For hockey players in the United States, if you’re looking for American made you have found it. I personally may not be a fan favorite of local Wild fans, but hopefully after reading this review they might ease up on me a bit.
Stick: Miken MV5 Pro Radial
Weight: 488 grams
Curve/Lie: BP 40 (Easton Zetterberg, Bauer PM9, Reebok P34, and Warrior Savard)
Flex: 100
Price: $149.99 sale price right now / $199.99 original
Aesthetics:
A matted black finish with red lettering and grey and white accents. To say that it is eye catching is definitely an understatement. It is slick, it’s mean, and a big “Made in U.S.A.” is plastered on the back of the blade. What’s not to love?
Performance:
It’s hard coming from a stick you love and jumping right into another one. A lot of the stick is feel for a hockey player. Fortunately the Miken MV5 Radial eased the transition.
The shaft has a tapered design and a low kick point. From a shooting perspective, the stick has a good kick. Slapshots seem to come off the stick with a nice snap and wrist shots are pretty dead on with accuracy. I even have picked the top shelf on multiple occasions (and yes, I was aiming there).
From a puck handling perspective I’m still transitioning to the stick. Currently the Blue Ice Nano Pro is about a half an inch to an inch smaller. The longer length of the Miken at times makes it difficult to get some decent wood on one-timers. Oddly enough, and kind of contradictory to my last statement, my puck handling seems to have improved. I find myself not looking down as much, really being in tune with the feel of the puck to the blade of the stick. This is an added bonus that I was not expecting.
Durability:
If there is one thing I question about the stick is durability. Still way too early to really get a good feel for durability, but currently I have noticed a little opening on the toe of the stick. This, however, could be the result of anything be it someone stepping on the blade to an awkward poke check. It is something I am keeping note of an plan to report on in the future.
On a more positive note, I do have a fellow teammate who currently uses a Miken MV3 Pro. After some competitive play for about a month, he ended up snapping the stick in a game. He contacted Miken’s customer service and is not only having his stick replaced, but is actually being given an upgrade to the MV5 Pro Radial.
The two situations are an abnormal occurrence. The professionalism of the company and the customer service on the other hand is top notch solid.
Ending Notes:
I’ve played with the MV5 for about a half dozen times now be it in a league and some drop-ins. I’m liking what I am getting out of the stick so far, but look to continue to push it to the limits. I might knock of an inch on the stick to get a little better stick handling, but worry about the extra stiffness taking a hit to wrist shots. Overall with the excellent customer service, made in America, as well as a good price point for the product, I would recommend picking up a Miken MV5 Radial and giving it a shot.
