I am quite skeptical of Easton's 2006 top of the line replacement hockey blade. This replacement blade is taking the place of the 2005 Easton Z-Carbon and boasts something called CNT Molecular level strengthening.

I have have been playing hockey for 30+ years and notice little to no difference from the '05 model in terms of play. Yes the blade when healthy is light weight and fires accurately and hard, but I they don't seem to last very long and at a retail of $50 this blade should last. I have been through two of these blades now and they have just not held up well. The first blade got chewed up at the blade toe. The second blade got caught in the boards and snapped like a twig during my first use of the blade. I had hoped that whatever CNT Molecular Level Strengthening is, it would help improve longevity. Unfortunately at least so far there is no such evidence. My plan is to got back to the shop and request a free replacement given the blade was purchased just days ago and lasted 1 shift. Hopefully the third time is the charm and my next review will be more positive.

I had previously written a review in this forum where I rated the Easton Z-Carbon CNT Replacement Blade as a 2. I am upgrading that rating to a 3. My local shop replaced my blade free of charge after it broke during my first game with the new blade. Since that time I have found the blade to last a bit longer than initially experienced. The blade seems to last 15-20 games which is respectable. Still at a cost of $2.50 per use, I would expect a bit more. This blade performs far in excess of average, but still the value is not there.