CCM Hockey producing protective hoods for front-line healthcare workers

CCM Hockey is the latest hockey equipment manufacturer to join the battle against the spread of COVID-19, with the company announcing Monday that it has converted its facility to produce personal protection equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers in Quebec.

Once approved by health authorities, the company will produce up to 150 units per day for as long as supply and market conditions allow. 

The full-head protective hood provides a strong defence against aerosolized and airborne particles, and it can be worn for multiple hours at a time while being powered by an air-purifying respirator.

'Most important battle of our time'

"We are deploying our culture of innovation and craft, which normally protects the world's best hockey players doing battle on the ice, for a new purpose: protecting our healthcare workers on the front lines of the most important battle of our time," said Rick Blackshaw, CEO of CCM Hockey, in a press release.

The hood was designed by Dr. René Caissie of the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, in collaboration with Industrie Orkan, a Canadian leader in high-efficiency particulate air handling systems.

After developing a prototype in his garage, Dr. Caissie asked the hockey gear company if it could produce the device at scale.

CCM Hockey recently donated 500,000 surgical masks to assist front-line healthcare workers, but the engineering team took things further and shifted to produce the protective hood after Dr. Caissie reached out to the company for help.

Manufacturing blueprints for the protective hood will be shared on the hockey equipment company's website to allow other manufacturers to join the fight against COVID-19.

CCM Hockey currently equips more NHL players than any other company, including Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, John Tavares and Carey Price.