After playing in the WHA all of my life…I’ll clarify a bit, the first year I went out for Pitt, I was on the Stars at the time…Rizzo was coaching. Made it and withdrew due to the amount of travel time with the Stars. Next year (Rizzo’s last '96) played 3 or 4 games at the beginning, and withdrew again, then quit the Stars about two months later. I didn’t know many guys on my team at the time. This was all well before I graduated actually (took a year off). I started as a mini-mite (age 6) and played travel up till then, got tired of it. I still play for Consol @ Bethel mens league when I have time though. I knew quite a few of the Pitt regular roster though, a few from my HS, most from other PAHL teams. JEFF: Bauer sounded familiar to me…there was a Chris Bauer I did skills clinics with for a couple years.
As for sticks, I actually have one of the TPS coated shafts…my favorite. I usually shy away from the more rounded ones, as they tend to slip more. The rubber-ish coating is pretty good, but does wear my gloves more than I’d like. I picked up a few of the Franklin carbon shafts for super cheap a couple years ago, and have been abusing them regularly. They work good, but heat cycling from changing blades weakens them.