A few years ago, when the NHL was in a state of flux, a group of hockey players and their supporters came together to put together a simple idea that has gone on to inspire a slew of other similar initiatives around the world: A system that would provide acid reducers to all players, as well as the teams.
The concept was inspired by the NHL’s program that has given players their own personal carbon dioxide monitor and also offers a system that provides oxygen and carbon monoxide monitors to all of its players.
“It’s something that I wanted to do with my family, so we decided to have a group get together to figure out what we can do together,” defenseman Kyle Connor told The Associated Press.
Connor, a four-time All-Star, had a different plan to create a system similar to the one used by the National Hockey League in California.
He and his teammates planned to make a “sport-specific carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (CO) monitor” and then to have the team use it for the entire team.
“The team that has the CO2 and the oxygen will wear the helmet, and we’ll wear a mask,” Connor said.
“So, when we’re not on the ice, we’re wearing masks.”
“We’re going to have these masks on, and when the game is over, we’ll take it to the refs and tell them, ‘This is what we were wearing,'” Connor said, laughing.
“The refs, they’re not going to like it.”
The idea was that if players wore masks, they could get their CO2 levels checked by a team physician at the end of the game.
If players wore helmets, they would not be subjected to any further checks or tests.
“We were kind of thinking that this could actually be a fun and positive experience for our players and our team,” Connor added.
“There’s a lot of guys who play hockey who have had their CO and oxygen levels tested,” Connor continued.
“I thought, ‘What if we could have a program that actually gives players the option to have that monitoring done?'”
While some other sports have similar programs, hockey was the first major league team to implement one in the NHL.
The program was created by former NHL forward David Clarkson and now is run by former AHL coach and former NHL player Mike Modano.
The team’s head coach, former NHL goalie Jeff Reese, and assistant coach, Dan Bylsma, also played for the Los Angeles Kings.
Connor said the plan was to have players wear helmets for the first game of the season.
Then, each player would wear a different mask depending on the game they played.
“If we got a shutout, we’d wear a helmet,” Connor recalled.
“If we scored, we would wear an oxygen mask.
And if we got in trouble, we were going to wear an acid-reducer mask.””
It was pretty simple, really,” Connor concluded.
“It just took a few weeks of us getting it together, putting it together.”
The program, which is called the NHL Carbon Expositor Program, is funded by a $30,000 grant from the United States Department of Energy and has been in place since the end and beginning of the 2012-13 season.
It has been implemented by both the league and the AHL, with the NHL also using the program in the 2015-16 season.
The program has been tested by players in the league, as have the AHL’s.
There have been a few setbacks.
Last season, a number of players suffered from CO2 allergies, prompting the league to require them to wear masks.
The NHL has since announced that players will be given two masks and the rest will be allowed to wear a personal monitor.
“That was a tough one for the guys,” Connor explained.
“We didn’t have masks in the house, so it was a little bit of a learning experience.”
“But the thing we learned is that if you have a helmet on and you’re wearing the mask, it doesn’t matter how big you are or how thick your helmet is, it still does something,” Connor admitted.
“You just get a sense of, ‘It’s going to be OK, it’s going and it’s not going, so I’m not going crazy.'”
As for the program itself, Connor said the goal is to give players a way to protect themselves.
“What we’ve tried to do is not to do it for anybody else,” he said.
“So, if you want to play hockey, you can play hockey.
You don’t have to wear anything else, but if you play hockey and you get a concussion or a broken leg or whatever, you don’t want to be on your own.
So, we want to give you a way that you can go out and protect yourself. “
