-----------------------------------By Troy Landreville
news at langley advance dot com
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An average rec hockey player's hockey bag is a Club Med for germs. Look past, if you're able to, the repulsive smell of body odour and mold – that festering bacteria that clings to sports equipment can make you very sick.
Pro hockey players aren't immune to the dangerous of dirty gear. Case in point: Boston Bruins center Joe Thornton, one of the best players in the National Hockey League, bruised his left elbow in January, 2003. He developed an infection a few days later. The infection, it is believed, came from bacteria in his elbow pad or from bacteria in his hand, which he transmitted rubbing the bruise.
Other current and former NHL'ers who suffered serious infections include Darren McCarty (elbow), Eddie Belfour (hand), Gary Suter (shoulder), and Mikael Renberg (hand).
Renberg's hand infection in December, 2002, was so serious that doctors considered amputation because they feared that it could spread and kill him.
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Bacteria can do serious damage to pro players who have the benefit of trainers cleaning their equipment for them. The average rec hockey players have no experts to clean their gear.
A new Langley business, Ozoneshockers, wants to minimize that risk. According to its brochure, Ozoneshockers sanitizes sports equipment using “the cleanest industrial strength nitric oxide free ozone available, using our equipment in a specialized ozone chamber.”
The company says it “cures sick equipment” by eliminating and controlling bacteria, odours, mold, viruses, yeast, and allergens.
“We aren't in the business of cleaning; we are in the business of sanitizing, and getting rid of mold and mildew,” said A.J. Hanson, the company's owner/technician. “It's a good service, and an honest service. We are helping people and keeping them healthy, because sports equipment can be a cesspool of bacteria. It's a time bomb waiting to go off.”
The company uses its ozone “shock treatment” for sanitizing, so there is no washing or cleaning of the equipment. The ozone surrounds and penetrates the equipment, leaving it sanitized and refreshed, the company states.
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