NHL Alum Brendan Perlini Surprised by Accent Hockey Sticks: Here's What He Said

He's spent his career on NHL rosters stocked with Bauer and CCM. Here's what he said the first time he tried Accent Hockey.

"Super nice sticks, man... there's not one bad thing I could say about this... very, very nice. Well done to Accent Hockey."

Brendan Perlini was a first-round NHL Draft pick who played for four different NHL organizations. When he put Accent Hockey's sticks through a real on-ice test for his gear-review YouTube series, unpaid and unfiltered, that was his verdict.

Here's exactly what he tested, what he said about it, how it stacked up against the brands he's actually played on rosters with, and why it matters if you're deciding on your next stick. The full video and transcript are below so you can check every word yourself.

Who Is Brendan Perlini?

Brendan Perlini isn't a random reviewer with a camera. He was selected 12th overall in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes, one of the highest-drafted players to ever put an independent review of a small hockey brand on the internet. After four seasons of junior hockey, he made his NHL debut in December 2016 and went on to play for the Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and Edmonton Oilers. He also won bronze with Canada at the 2014 World Under-18 Championship and has continued his professional career overseas since, most recently in Switzerland's National League.

These days, Perlini runs a YouTube channel where he tests hockey gear on camera, on the ice, in real conditions, with a specific focus on brands that don't have the name recognition of the major manufacturers yet. Accent Hockey was stick testing episode number one of that series, and it's exactly the kind of resume that makes what he says next worth reading in full.

What Is Accent Hockey?

Accent Hockey builds pro-stock-quality composite sticks for competitive players from youth through adult. It's a newer name in a market a handful of legacy manufacturers have owned for decades, which is exactly why an unsolicited, unpaid review from a player who's actually skated in the NHL is worth paying attention to: it's a read from someone who has tested top-tier equipment for a living and has zero reason to be generous if a stick doesn't hold up.

So Accent sent him two sticks and let the ice decide. Here's what happened.

What Brendan Perlini Thought, At a Glance

Accent sent Perlini two sticks to test on camera: the Render and the Actifly. Both came in the same curve and the same flex, so the only real variables in play were shaft shape and kick point, the two things that actually change how a stick releases.

The specs Perlini tested, at a glance:

• Curve: P92 on both sticks
• Flex: 87, identical on both sticks
• Render: Accent's mid-kick stick family, square shaft
• Actifly: Accent's low-kick stick family, round shaft

The short version: both held up. The Render played like a stick built for stability and puck feel, close enough to his own NHL gamer that he said so on camera. The Actifly played lighter with a different release, which he was upfront about preferring less for his own shot, without it costing the stick a single point on quality. Here's the breakdown on each, starting with the one he put up against his own equipment.

The Render: Accent's Mid-Kick Stick That Played Like His Own NHL Gamer

Perlini's first read on the Render was the color, a deep blue he compared to an old Nexus build, and the grip. But the real story was how it played. He called the feel "old school," putting it in the same category as a CCM Ribcore: sturdy, stable, built to last. "If I was saying to anybody out there, kids, adults who play men's league, whatever, something like this I feel like is gonna be a stick you're gonna have for a while."

The Render is Accent's mid-kick stick family, built on a square shaft Perlini called nice in his hands, a little thicker, which suited his big hands well. It's rated 87 flex, the same as the Actifly he tested next. Perlini games on a 95 himself and still found it playing stiffer than he expected for that number.

On release, the puck came off quick and predictable rather than loading and whipping. He ran it through pass after pass and shot after shot on camera, and the read never changed: the puck held to the blade like it was glued there.

Then he did something most reviewers skip entirely: he pulled out his own NHL game-day stick and tested it back to back with the Render, on camera. That comparison is next, and it's the strongest data point in this entire review.

The Actifly: Accent's Low-Kick Stick, Lighter in Hand

The Actifly is Accent's low-kick stick family, built on a round shaft, and it's a good example of just how tuned in Perlini is to his own game. He clocked the shaft difference the instant he picked it up, before he'd even taken a stride, immediately identifying the rounder profile against the square shaft he games on. Seconds later, on his first few touches, he flagged the kick point as different too, without being told, purely off feel.

That kind of detail-level read, catching a shaft and kick point difference within seconds, comes from years of a professional testing equipment for a living. It's exactly why his take on these sticks carries more weight than a casual reviewer's would.

He was upfront that round shafts have fooled him before: a stick can feel great standing still and play completely differently once it's tested at game speed. That didn't happen here. It held up.

On release, Perlini's own read was that the Actifly played with more whip and lag than the Render, sending the puck out lower on his shot, a different release than the one his own style is built around. Perlini was clear his preference for the Render's release is about his own shot, not a mark against the Actifly's build: "The stick feel on this is really, really good. Looks the same as any other Bauer, CCM, Warrior out there, for the price."

Quick Look: Render vs. Actifly

How It Stacks Up Against Bauer and CCM

Here's the comparison he set up a moment ago. Perlini didn't just test the Render and the Actifly on their own. He put the Render head-to-head against his own game-day stick, a CCM FT6 Pro, then measured both Accent sticks against the two brands most players default to without thinking twice: Bauer and CCM.

The result wasn't the polite, generous take you'd expect for a stick priced well under both. Coming off a set of shots on his CCM FT6 Pro right after the Render, his read was immediate: "Feel-wise, honestly, is very close. Like, very close." His FT6 Pro is a stiffer 95 flex build built for an NHL roster. The Render is an 87. Different builds, same conclusion: the feel held up.

He made the price the argument, not the excuse: "For the price point, being way under Bauer and CCM, this in my eyes is a great performance stick." On the Actifly, he said the same thing again in different words: it "looks the same as any other Bauer, CCM, Warrior out there, for the price."

That's the actual claim here, and it's a strong one. Perlini didn't grade Accent on a curve, the way a reviewer might soften a verdict for a newer brand still finding its footing. He graded it against his own game-day equipment and against the two names most players default to without a second thought, and the Render held its ground on both counts.

This is a former first-round NHL pick, someone who has been outfitted by professional equipment staff for years, and his read is that the value-to-price ratio here isn't close. Sticks from the legacy brands he named routinely run well above what Accent charges. By his own account, the feel, the release, and the durability weren't a step down to get there. They were comparable, in some cases indistinguishable from a stiffer stick built for an NHL roster.

Here's the part worth sitting with: a credentialed, unpaid third party made that comparison on camera, stick in hand, with nothing to gain by being generous. That carries far more weight than anything Accent could claim about itself.

When someone with that resume says a stick priced well under Bauer and CCM performs like one, the compliment lands hard. It's the kind of proof point that's difficult to manufacture and easy to trust.

There was one number he didn't love on paper. Here's why he says it doesn't matter.

The One Trade-Off Worth Knowing (And Why He Says It Isn't One)

Accent didn't build the Render to win a weigh-in against the lightest sticks on the market, and Perlini's take is that this is exactly the point, not a compromise:

"These days it's one of those sticks where it's like super light and you can't feel the bottom of the stick because it's so damn light... when it goes too light you can't feel the puck. My shot is actually worse because I can't see, it just feels like I don't know where the puck is going. But with something like this [Accent Render], I can feel the puck, I can feel where it's at."

He named the trend directly and pushed back on it: ultra-light sticks built to shave grams at the cost of feel. His stance is that some of the best players to ever play the game, naming Pavel Datsyuk specifically, built entire careers on sticks with more weight to them, because control mattered more to their game than a lighter swing weight. He wants zero spring off the blade when he takes a pass. He wants it to feel like glue. That's what he got.

A quick note on what "heavier" actually means here, since it's easy to read that word and picture something clunky: it doesn't. Perlini is comparing the Render to the ultra-light builds that have pushed some sticks down toward the 350-gram range, not describing a heavy stick in absolute terms.

Accent's current senior stick line comes in around 375 grams, comfortably at or under the 400-gram mark that separates true performance builds from the recreational tier. It's a stick engineered for control rather than for winning a spec-sheet weigh-in, and a player who spent years in the NHL felt that engineering choice within his first few shots.

What This Means If You're Choosing Your Next Stick

Perlini's review is a useful case study beyond just Accent. If you're trying to figure out what stick to play with next, weight alone is a poor way to judge one. The real questions are how a stick's flex and kick point match your shot, and whether you can actually feel the puck when it matters.

• If your shot relies on feel (passing, tape-to-tape plays, knowing exactly where the puck is on your blade), a stick with a bit more stability, like the Render, can outperform an ultra-light stick that sacrifices feedback for weight savings.
• Shaft shape and kick point change your release more than flex alone. Perlini tested the Render and Actifly in the same curve and the same 87 flex, and still felt two different sticks, which tells you those two variables are worth testing deliberately, not defaulting on.
• Durability is a performance spec, not a consolation prize. Perlini's read on the Render was that it's a stick you'll have for a while, whether you're outfitting a kid, playing men's league, or grinding a full competitive season.

None of this replaces actually getting a stick in your hands. But hearing an honest, unpaid breakdown from someone who's played at the highest level is a legitimate data point while you're narrowing down your options.

Try the Sticks Brendan Perlini Tested

To recap what actually happened here: a first-round NHL Draft pick who played for four organizations tested the Render against his own game-day stick and called the feel "very close." He measured both sticks against Bauer and CCM and said there's not one bad thing he could say about either. That's his own verdict, on camera.

Perlini tested Accent's sticks in the Render and Actifly builds, both available now at accenthockey.com. If you want to try what he tried, use the code BUBS10 at checkout for 10% off.

Beyond this one review, the bigger point is the same one Perlini made on camera: understanding what a stick's flex, kick point, and shaft shape actually do for your game matters more than chasing a spec sheet number. That's the whole idea behind Accent Hockey, building sticks that hold up to real, honest scrutiny from real players.

Frequently Asked Questions

What hockey stick should I use if I'm not sure about flex or weight?

Start with how the stick feels when you receive a pass and take a shot, not just its weight or flex number on paper. A stiffer, more stable stick often gives better puck feel, while a lower flex and higher kick point can produce a quicker release. Testing a few options in your actual price range matters more than chasing a spec.

Do NHL players actually review hockey sticks from smaller brands?

Yes. Former and current pros increasingly review gear from newer, less established brands on their own channels, unpaid, as a way to help players find good equipment outside the handful of major manufacturers. Brendan Perlini's review of Accent Hockey is one example, part of a stick-testing series he plans to continue through the season.

Is a heavier hockey stick actually worse than a lightweight one?

Not necessarily, and the word "heavier" is doing a lot of misleading work in that question. Some players, including NHL veterans like Pavel Datsyuk, have preferred sticks with more weight to them because it improves puck feel and stability on passes and shots, while an ultra-light stick can make it harder to sense exactly where the puck is on your blade.

In practice, the meaningful range for a performance senior stick runs from roughly 350 grams on the ultra-light end up to about 400 grams, and anything at or under that 400-gram mark is still considered a true performance build, not a heavy one. A stick at 375 grams, for example, sits closer to the control-focused end of that range rather than anywhere near "heavy" in the way casual players might picture it.

What makes Accent Hockey's sticks different?

Accent Hockey builds pro-stock-quality composite sticks designed to balance durability and performance rather than chasing the lightest weight possible. Its senior sticks weigh in around 375 grams, comfortably inside the sub-400-gram performance range and in line with what top-tier sticks from established brands run, while staying accurately priced relative to those legacy brands. The Brendan Perlini review is a useful proof point here: an NHL-caliber player tested that build against his own gear and against Bauer and CCM, and the performance held up.

How much does an Accent Hockey stick weigh?

Accent's current senior stick line weighs approximately 375 grams. To put that in context, ultra-light builds on the market can run closer to 350 grams, while the general cutoff for a true performance-tier stick is around 400 grams. At 375 grams, Accent's build sits comfortably in that performance range, prioritizing puck feel and durability over shaving off the last few grams.

Was Brendan Perlini paid to review the Accent Hockey sticks?

No. As he states in the video, Accent Hockey sent him sample sticks to test, which is standard practice across the sport, but he was not compensated for his opinion. His comments reflect his own independent, honest assessment.

How does Accent Hockey compare to Bauer and CCM sticks?

Yes, and by Perlini's own account, decisively so. In his on-ice test, the Render held up directly against his own CCM FT6 Pro gamer, a stick built for NHL play, with the feel described as "very close" between the two despite the Render costing a fraction of the price.

He didn't hedge that verdict: on both sticks he tested, his read was that they perform at the level of legacy brands like Bauer and CCM, for noticeably less money, and he said so on camera, unprompted, with nothing to gain by being generous.

For a brand this new to earn that comparison from a former first-round NHL pick, unpaid, is a strong signal of where Accent's value-to-price ratio actually stands: performance that competes with the established names, at a price point that doesn't. It's exactly the kind of momentum a newer brand needs to establish itself as a serious option in a market a handful of legacy manufacturers have controlled for decades.

Watch Brendan Perlini's Full Review

Watch the full video on Brendan Perlini's YouTube channel: Stick Testing Episode #1: Accent Hockey. A full transcript is included below so you can verify everything referenced in this article in his own words.

Full Video Transcript

The following is the complete, unedited transcript of Brendan Perlini's video, provided so readers can confirm the context of every quote used above.

What's up guys, Brennan Perlini here. Welcome to stick episode number one. Let's get to it. Oh yeah, baby. Okay guys, stick testing episode number uno. Number one, we have Accent Hockey. Now I'd reached out to these guys a while back. I'd heard some good things and seen some cool stuff online about them. Super cool sticks. Like even coming to here, they've done the Canadian logo, Bubs in big letters. I've actually never seen that before with a flag logo. I've seen it with different guys, John Tavares and their own personal one, but they can do that for anybody out there who buys the sticks. They're on, I believe, the lower end of cost, not nearly as much as a Bauer or something like that. But yeah, super nice sticks, man, the grip is really cool. I've just gone for a standard P92 curve. I like this one really sharp with the blue. This is called the Render, and the other one is the Actifly. So this one's a little bit more rounded shaft. We've gone for a couple different options here.

But yeah, man, this is the whole point of this stick series, with this being episode number one, is we're gonna go through a bunch of sticks, most of them not being the top brands such as Bauer and CCM and all those, because everybody already knows about them. So I'm gonna be showcasing a lot of these sticks where they might not have the reputation or people might not know about them. They're up and coming. So stay tuned for a lot of episodes coming this summer. We're gonna have a full stick testing series, a lot of companies like this. Hopefully I can bring some value to them and you guys enjoy this. So yeah, I'm gonna tape these babies up. As you see, we got a knob on here already, but we're gonna get going on the ice, see what they feel like, and I'll give you my honest review. Again, I just want to reiterate, these guys are by no way paying me or anything like that. I had reached out, they had sent me a couple samples, which is a very pro thing to do, throughout the season guys always do that, they get samples sent in, they try them, they like them, they don't, whatever. But they are not paying me, so you're gonna get an honest opinion, honest reviews on everything. So let's head on to the ice.

Alright guys, now we're out on the ice. Got the Accent, this one is the Render. So love the color, that blue, it kind of reminds me of the old Nexus, but yeah, it's nice, it feels good in my hands. Probably I'd say this is the square shaft, a little bit on the thicker side in your hands, which is nice, I have very big hands, so that's always good. I'll grab a puck here, yeah, nice feel to it. The feel on this one I would say is kind of an old school feel. Like if I was passing that, yeah, this is like what I feel like I would have used, I'd say CCM Ribcore, very similar feel to that, where it feels sturdy. It doesn't feel like these days it's one of those sticks where it's like super light and you can't feel the bottom of the stick because it's so damn light. This feels like it's pretty good all around, and it doesn't feel like it's on the crazy light side or the crazy heavy side, it splits the middle. I would put it a little more towards the heavier side feel for me, which I really like. You see a lot of guys like Pavel Datsyuk and guys like that who used very heavy sticks, so I think that's always a plus actually, because when it goes too light you can't feel the puck, I find my shot is actually worse because I can't see, it just feels like I don't know where the puck is going. But with something like this, I can feel the puck, I can feel where it's at, and when I go to shoot the puck or pass the puck, I don't want any spring effect off that, I want it to hit and be like glue on that blade. So for me it needs to have a little bit of weight behind it, which feels nice, and we'll shoot some now and see how it goes here.

Yeah, I'll see how it feels. Give me one on the back end. Yeah, that's pretty nice here, catching. One more. Yeah, this one is nice, man. You can do it even slower, yeah, this is a good feel on it. Hands are getting tired, it's nice, yeah, got out of breath there after all that. It's nice, yeah, it's a little bit of an older feel to me, which is very nice. It's very stable, sturdy. If I was saying to anybody out there where there's kids, adults who play men's league, whatever, something like this I feel like is gonna be a stick you're gonna have for a while, which is good. I think for the price point, being way under Bauer and CCM, this in my eyes is a great performance stick. Like I have, there's not one bad thing I could say about this. Very, very nice. This is 87 flex, and it's pretty stiff, like I haven't been on the ice in a while, so maybe it could be a little bit of that, but it feels pretty stiff for an 87. Usually I feel like Bauer is very whippy, I'm a 95 guy, so this is a very well done stick, and yeah, we'll try the other one now and see what we got here.

So we're going from the Render, now we got the Actifly. So immediately this actually feels nicer in my hands, could be I just taped it, I don't have a grip. It's got the round shaft on it. Now it's a weird one for me because I don't use a round shaft in games, and I've been fooled before where I'm like, sometimes when I use guys' sticks and they have a round shaft I'm like, oh that feels really, really nice, and then I go to use it in a game and I'm like, nah, that ain't me, man, so I've been fooled before. But this feels like this is definitely a lighter version, I would say, it feels a little bit easier to me to manipulate the puck, to move the puck, it just feels a little bit lighter overall. I don't know if it is or not, but that's my feel. And look wise, I like this coming down here and then going all black here, like it looks nice. I wasn't sure how I thought on the red, kind of orangeish part up here at first, but I actually think it suits my eyes really well. Like if I was to do some hands right here, like I think it's very well done.

Yeah, that release is different, man, like that went low for me, I was trying to go up high, so it felt like it was a little bit more whip on it. I don't know personally right now, maybe I can flash to it of what the kick point is on both of these. Yeah, this is a different kick, yeah, okay, that's interesting, right, like the other one shoots for me off of my snap, and this one, I feel like it's a high kick, because I notice whenever I have higher kick sticks, it whips out, it lags behind, and I can't seem to get it in the air, I'll pop it down below too. Accent Hockey, they were kind enough to give a, I believe, 10 or 15 percent promo code, so it might be like Bubs10 or something like that, I'll flash it on screen right now, so look for that. And yeah, man, try these things out, these are nice, well done. Let me take another one. Yeah, nice.

I'm actually gonna try real quick, I have like a standard stock CCM, just gonna go to that and see the feel real quick. Give me like three. Yeah, you know what, like there is not, this is a CCM FT6 Pro, man, there is not, feel-wise honestly is very close, like very close, this feels, this is a stiffer stick, 95, but those other ones, man, they're a good hockey stick, man, that's well done to them, well done to Accent Hockey. Yeah, it's nice too, man, this is a very nice stick, Actifly, like different kick on it. So understand, to anyone out there, when you're getting sticks, figure out what kick you like, if it's low, if it's high, if it's mid kick, figure out what you like. This is fun to try, for me I would say I shoot better with the other one, just because that's how I shoot, and it's the motion of how I shoot, sometimes when it's a little higher kick, or like I feel a little bit more whip in this one, it just comes out low, which is no problem, but the stick feel on this is really, really good, looks the same as any other Bauer, CCM, Warrior out there, for the price, man. Yeah, take a look into these guys, Accent Hockey, guys, as always, thanks for tuning in. This was stick episode number one, we're gonna have a lot to come here. Hit that subscribe button, man, and we'll see you next time. Peace.

Disclaimer: Brendan Perlini was not paid or compensated by Accent Hockey for this review. Accent Hockey provided sample sticks for him to test, which is common practice across the sport, but his comments reflect his own independent, honest opinion, posted on his own YouTube channel. This article is a summary and commentary on that video, provided for informational purposes, and has not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by Brendan Perlini. Watch the full video above to see his complete, unedited review.