If you’ve ever played the game or been a hockey parent or sibling, you know how raunchy the smell of protective equipment can be after a game, let alone after it’s been held hostage in a hockey bag for several days in the back of an SUV.
But the horrendous smell of perspiration-laden shoulder pads and shin guard and gloves, while certainly offensive, isn’t going to hurt you. The real danger to a player’s well-being lies under and within that equipment in the form of bacteria and germs.
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This photograph was taken by an actual Hockey Hands customer with the Staphylococcus Aureus infection before he started using Hockey Hands.
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Hockey equipment can yield illness and disease as well as a foul odor. Studies show that the infection staphylococcus sureus, otherwise known as Staph A, and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, can lead to amputation or death. Staph is attracted to cuts and bruises. It develops in clumps that resemble grapes or round berries under a microscope.
Then with the Boston Bruins, Joe Thornton bruised his elbow when he fell during practice and the infection occurred a couple of days later as a result of his elbow pad rubbing against it. Thornton, now a San Jose Shark, missed two weeks of the season, spent six days in the hospital and required surgery to clean out the infected area.
Former NHL goalie, Eddie Belfour suffered from a case of Staph infection on his right index finger during the 2003-2004 season and was out for four games.
Former Toronto Maple Leaf Mikael Renberg was tying his skate lace when a blister opened on his left hand. The next day the blister was infected and Renberg had a 104-degree fever. Doctors thought they would need to amputate his hand to prevent the infection from spreading and killing him. Fortunately, he recovered and returned to the ice.
Other notable victims of Staph infections are Darren McCarty, formerly of the Detroit Red Wings, who was on injured reserve for two weeks; the Nashville Predators’ Gary Suter, who lost a chunk out of one of his triceps muscles; and Barry Trotz, coach of the Predators, who suffered from an infection during his playing days. Trotz had a cut on his ankle. Skating sockless allowed his skate to rub against it and forced doctors to scrape his ankle bone.
The ways to prevent Staph infection include washing equipment at least once a week. Ryan Wigner, a defenseman for the Southern Flyers U16 AAA team, based in Nashville, says, “I have heard about cases of Staph infection. I try to wash my equipment once a week to prevent it.”
But many youngsters and teenagers may be unaware of the threat of Staph infection and therefore don’t know that they can contract one from their equipment. “I think they know,” said Wigner, “they just don’t care.”
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Hockey Hands is a new product that can be sprayed directly onto equipment or the skin to decrease the chance of sickness -- and that awful smell. Colin Cook, a graduate of Quinnipiac University, in Connecticut, founded the product. Cook created it because he and his teammates were tired of the lingering smell on their hands from their hockey gloves.
Hockey Hands is a combination of Isopropyl alcohol and tea tree oil that kills the germs and bacteria on the skin; it doesn’t just cover them up, according to Cook. The solution leaves a minty fresh smell, he says.
Hockey Hands has made its way through some NHL locker rooms, including the Montreal Canadians and the Carolina Hurricanes. “I have received nothing but good feedback,” says Cook. |
Players from all over the world have used Hockey Hands. “I carry a bottle on the road and have another in my stall at all times,” says Steve Wood of the Ridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL). Justin Eddy from SV Kaltern, Italy, says that it “completely removes harmful germs and bacteria.”
“People often assume that these kinds of things only occur with old, broken-down equipment,” says Cook, “but that is not the case.”
Cook also does not think that kids know the dangers of Staph lurking in their equipment. “It’s a serious issue,” said Cook, “especially for the kids who don’t shower after they play.”
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