A Brief History of Britain . . . er the Composite Goal Stick
Louisville introduced hockey players to the composite goalie stick in 1999. The original Xhale was almost as shocking in price as it was in performance. I still remember looking at the first one on the floor of the pro shop and thinking, “What fool spends over $100 for a goalie stick.” At the same time I was thinking that I had to have one. I guess that answered my unspoken question almost at once.

I had no idea what made me want one back then besides the outlandish price. As it turned out, I modeled myself after a few different goaltenders who were quite adept at playing the puck (and at least one who was a tad insane). The Xhale quickly became my weapon of choice for moving the puck down the ice quickly. Now I’d be happy to get back to the day when a composite goalie stick was only $150.

The Response Plus is selling for a tad over $200. It is the fourth generation of composite goal sticks under the Louisville name. While they haven’t become anywhere near as common as a composite player stick, apparently Louisville’s success here has made their rivals a little worried. CCM introduced their own composite stick this year, Bauer and RBK will follow suit within the next twelve months.

The Response Plus
Louisville’s Response Plus is an improvement on previously outstanding products. However, the basics remain pretty similar to those found in older models.

The Response Plus is a foam core, full graphite construction stick. This is one change that has taken place over the years - the Kevlar from the original Xhale is gone in the new model. While sticks continue to get lighter, Louisville’s composites have always been the cutting edge. The Response Plus weighs in at 730 grams. Comparing this to the benchmark of 400 grams for the new ultra-light player stick gives you some idea of how light this stick really is.

I don’t have numbers for the original TPS or XHale II, but I can tell you that this stick definitely feels lighter than either of those did. While the composites have always been light, Louisville continues to shave the grams and has made these even lighter.

Curves/Colors
The Response Plus comes in a variety of colors. These colors, like the Sher-wood Momentum player sticks, are coded to the curve of the blade. The Hasek Heel curve (my personal favorite) is a red stick (my least favorite of the three colors, sigh). The stick also comes in blue – Craig Billington, and Yellow – Dwayne “Roli the Goalie” Roloson.

While it might be tempting for me to go with a yellow or blue version of this stick since red simply doesn’t go with anything in my goalie wardrobe, I will stick with the Hasek. The heel curve of the Hasek with it’s open face has become too familiar to me to switch. It is a great curve that allows me to easily rip a hard pass at waist level or on the ice. It also is very handy for flipping a lob over the blue line from anywhere in the zone.

In contrast, the Billington is more of a mid curve stick with a very small amount of loft. I’ve found this one makes lifting the puck a great deal more tricky. The Roloson is still a heel curve, although it is less pronounced in both loft and curve than the Hasek is.

All of the patterns are available in 26” paddles. The Hasek is the only model that comes in a right handed version (that’s full right which means left handed in goalie terms, but that’s a whole other review). The Hasek also comes in a 24” paddle intermediate version and a 21” paddle junior stick.

Benefits
The Response Plus exceeds the performance of both reinforced wood goal sticks and polyurethane foam core goal sticks in a number of areas. Foremost in this is the passing ability that this type of stick provides to a goalie. Both wood and foam core sticks have a very limited amount of flex in the paddle. This puts the kick point in these types of sticks near the middle of the shaft, usually above the paddle.

Kick point is of huge importance in storing the energy the goalie puts into a pass. The closer that a stick will flex to the ice, the more power can be stored in the stick and transferred to the puck. I always like to use the analogy of a bow and arrow when describing the physics of shooting a puck. Imagine a bow that only flexes in the center and you are pretty close to the fault of most goal sticks.

The unique design of the Response Plus allows the paddle of the stick to flex all the way to the blade. This gives the goalie the ability to transfer an exponentially larger amount of power to the puck.

Further assisting this is the torsional stiffness of the stick. I hate tossing about big words, especially when the company uses them in their marketing. So let’s get down to what the truth is behind this marketing buzz. Torsional stiffness refers to the ability of the stick to withstand twisting. Obviously if the blade of the stick had a hinge on it, passes would not go anywhere.

While no stick maker builds a stick with a hinge (for obvious reasons), all sticks have some flex at the blade. The high graphite content blade on the Response Plus is far stiffer than that of any other stick on the market (save perhaps the CCM G12 which I hope to review soon). This enables Louisville to back up their claim of Low Torque. It also allows goalies to make harder, more accurate passes. All of this is hard to comprehend until you get on the ice and rip a perfect pass to the far blue line. When it arrives on your teammate’s stick with a loud crack, you will never want to go back to wood.

Another benefits is the reduced weight. I prefer a very light stick as it allows me to make quick poke checks. It also makes for quicker recovery when the stick is down on the wrong side of the ice. I prefer speed to bulk.

Durability is another important factor in the Response. While composite player sticks can actually break more quickly than wood for some players, I’ve had excellent results with composite goal sticks. They usually last me two or three times as long as a foam core stick does. Perhaps the high-density foam core of the Louisville sticks is what makes them last so long. Or again, maybe it’s more a result of the fact that goalies don’t generally do as much hacking and chopping with the stick. Either way, even though the Response Plus hasn’t got a real field history, I’m betting it will hold up very well.

The Flip Side
The balance of the Response is better than it has been in previous Louisville models, but it still isn’t quite as good as I think it could be. Maybe it’s just me, but the lighter paddle and blade on a foam core stick feels much better for balance. Still, it isn’t enough of a problem that I would consider going back to the older style sticks. I’m just longing for the type of balance that player’s have in the Vapor XX and Stealth one-piece sticks.

Some players actually like a heavier stick. These individuals will not be impressed by the very light weight of the Response. If you don’t have the hand strength to stop a hard shot, the Response isn’t going to help you do it.

Sudden breakage is the flip side of the durability issue on these sticks. While they do last a long time, they also break without warning. At least a wooden shaft will give you some time to realize that it isn’t long for this world. Composite usually only lets you know it’s time to get a new stick when you are holding a piece in each hand.

You might have to ponder whether to make your car payment or buy a new stick. The price of over $200 isn’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

Parting Thoughts
The Response Plus is a fantastic stick. Given Louisville’s considerable experience compared to newcomers Bauer and CCM in the composite goalie stick world, I expect it is still the best. I do look forward to giving the new entries a run soon, but am unsure if they can approach the quality of this stick.

Still, the only goalies who will truly benefit from this stick are those who pass well already, keep their heads up and look for offensive chances, or are capable of clearing the defensive zone themselves. Novice goalies or those who prefer to stay at home and let the D take out the trash, won’t gain enough benefit to justify the price.

I for one, couldn’t see playing any other way and will continue to give vast amounts of money to Louisville for my goalie sticks until something better comes along. I think that will be a few more years at least.

A few of my other reviews that you might find helpful:
Fitting Goalie Gear
Goaltending 101: So you think you want to be a goalie, eh?
Ice Hockey Goaltending 102: First Day Between the Pipes
Goaltending 201: The Fine Art of Cheating

Louisville Xhale II Goal Stick
RBK 6K Goal Stick
Sher-wood Momentum Goal Stick

Thanks to openroad for adding this item so I could review it.


Recommended: Yes