Bauer has long been on the cutting-edge of innovation when it comes to hockey sticks. From early carbon fibre sticks until now, sticks have come a long way when it comes to weight, feel, durability, pop, and so much more. With brands now pushing the limits and routinely putting out sub-400g sticks, there remains one line of sticks that seems to be a particular favourite among pros. We've seen the Bauer Vapor ADV (BGP2B), Nexus 2N Pro Extra Lite (2NPROXL) and Supreme 2S Pro Extra Lite (2SPROXL) take professional hockey by storm, but what exactly are these sticks?
We began to see the 355g Vapor ADV stick pop up among pros under the "BGP2B" code in 2017, and in early 2018 Bauer announced a limited retail release of the popular model. The Vapor 1X Lite had been a hit, and this similar (but much lighter) stick was bound to be as well. They didn't last long at the retail level, but have remained in high demand among pros. To this day it seems like there's hardly a dressing room we go into where at least one or two of the Bauer athletes aren't using this build. Oftentimes this will be the star players of the teams, who may get a little bit of special treatment from the equipment manager and the manufacturer.
Bauer followed up this retail release with the Supreme ADV stick and the Nexus ADV, but they had some gimmicky features and have not made an lasting impact on the pro level the way the Vapor ADV did (though the shaft of the Supreme ADV paved the way for the UltraSonic and Geo, and Bauer is giving the hole-in-the-blade another shot with their latest release, the Sling).
What did catch on were the 1NXL and 1SXL, and ultimately the 2NProXL and 2SProXL. These gave players an alternative option for an ultra-light stick, without having to use the low kick point of the Vapor series. Though they aren't quite the jaw-dropping 355g of the low kick Vapor ADV build, they are each among the lightest sticks available at their respective kick-points.
Their light weight tends to come with the typical tradeoff on durability, but when it comes to performance, these sticks are tough to match.
Now that all three of Bauer's flagship sticks feature unconventional shafts (the Vapor series' Elliptical Taper, the Supreme series' Sonic Taper, and the Nexus series' 5-sided ER Spine), we have seen more pro players than ever going with BGP2B, 2NPROXL, or 2SPROXL to get a more traditional feel without having to give up the modern ultra-light build.
The next time you're watching an NHL game and see one of your favourite players using a Bauer twig, there's a good chance it has one of these three constructions. Just because these builds aren't available at the retail level, that doesn't have to mean that they are only for the pros! Through our connections with 150+ pro teams, HockeyStickMan gets in a limited number of these extra-special twigs each year. They tend to go fast when we have them in stock, but as they continue to grow in popularity with pros, we get more in as a result, so stay tuned for new inventory coming soon!