I picked up a practically new Black Eagle (thanks Swaff) a few weeks ago. I finally decided to keep the original layout, just adjust finger pitches and overall span. The layout turned out to be approx 60 x 5.5 x 40 for me. Pin above fingers, mb right of thumb. I took the surface to 1000 abralon, and polished with the yellow Elite polish.
I subbed in league, so figured I would give it a try. On the first shot, I didn't think the ball was ever going to turn over... It kept going, and going, and going, until finally it decided to make its move. The ball flipped and absolutely made a left turn. I haven't seen this type of hockey stick reaction in a very long time. As long as I stayed far enough left on he lane and gave the ball room, it literally recovered from anywhere. However, a few times, I got behind transition and left some interesting "designer" splits. One frame left a 3,4,6,7,9,10....
As the night went on and the lanes bridle down a little, reaction smoothed out a little, and was easier to keep up with and control.
Overall, very angular reaction, and quite strong. I can't imagine throwing it on a tougher pattern like USBC nationals..... At least with the current surface...I think it would be way too over/under...I assume it is much more controlled with a matter surface. I will definitely need to play with surface a little to get the ball to smooth out some.
If you need help on the backend, this one might be worth trying.
S^2
