Danger Within: What's lurking in your kids' hockey bags?

When you think of the dangers associated with playing hockey, what comes to mind? You’d probably think of concussions and hits from behind first since there’s been such a spotlight on those subjects lately. There have been more injuries caused by errant skate blades recently too, and there’s always the stick fouls and knee injuries.

Did you even consider the possibility of losing a limb?

That’s what almost happened to Steve Tracanna. Steve is a lifelong hockey player from the Philly area. I’ve played with him and against him (I prefer with him) in beer leagues and shinny. When he told me about his experience of a few years ago, I was stunned. Turns out the equipment that was meant to protect him nearly took his arm.

We all know that hockey can, at times, stimulate the senses. The smell of a fresh sheet of ice first thing in the morning. The sounds of skates blades digging into the ice. And, of course, the pungent bouquet of hockey equipment. My 12 year old’s gear smells like corn chips for some reason. That can’t be natural.

We also know, of course, that that terrible stench can’t be caused by anything good. Steve found that out the hard way.

“It was the Monday night after Thanksgiving and I had a great week of league and tournament hockey playing in 6 games over the holiday week. That night I laid down with my wife and kids to watch a movie. I started to shiver uncontrollably and asked my wife to grab me a blanket. 10 minutes, 25 minutes, an hour later I was still shivering nonstop. I figured I was developing a serious flu and went to bed aching all over and feeling miserable. Sleep was nowhere to be found and I spent the night under the covers sweating, shivering and basically staring at the clock until morning,” said Steve.

In the morning, things only got worse.

“I got out of bed and looked at my left arm….my elbow had swollen to almost double its normal size and the swelling was moving out towards my shoulder and my wrist. At this point we knew it wasn’t the flu and I needed medical attention. My primary care doctor took one look at me and sent me immediately to a specialist…the specialist took one look at me and immediately sent me to the emergency room.”



That was the beginning of an 8 day hospital stay for Steve, an ordeal that featured a 14 pound weight loss and ended with a hospital bill that ran over $54,000.

“For the first 4 days they couldn’t identify what the infection was. I had to see a hand/wrist specialist along with an infectious disease expert to try to figure out what was going on. I was told that I could lose my arm if the antibiotics didn’t start working soon.”

“It took multiple tissue samples from inside my elbow, multiple X rays and MRI’s, blood tests and lab work to finally figure out that I had a strep infection that entered my body through a small cut on my elbow.”

That’s when they made the connection back to the hockey equipment. With lots of games in different rinks, Steve was constantly transporting wet gear from place to place and it never had a chance to dry out. Meanwhile, Steve’s immune system was run down from playing so many games in such a short time. That combination was the set up, and a small cut provided access for the dangerous bacteria to enter Steve’s elbow. The result was almost tragic.

The bacteria, as you’ve probably figured out, is the source of that rancid smell in your children’s equipment. As they play, sweat soaks their pads. The pads enter their bags, creating a warm, moist, dark place - prime real estate for bacteria to set up shop. If these bacteria are able to enter the body they can cause strep and staph infections, including MRSA. Given the nature of the sport, there are plenty of times that players may develop scrapes, scratches, cuts, or blisters, providing enough of an opening to cause serious illness like in Steve’s case, or even death.

So what can you do about it?

Well, by all accounts the number one thing you can do is to make sure your children’s equipment finds its way out of the bag so it can dry properly. Doing so will significantly cut down on the bacteria growth, which will also help that odor problem. Fans to circulate air flow and dehumidifiers can speed up the drying process. You can also find drying racks available for purchase, which eliminates the equipment being spread all over your basement or garage floor. I built my own from PVC for around $35-40, so that’s another option.

There are also options available to clean your gear. You can wash it, either by hand (gentler) or using a washing machine (easier). This article has a really good overview of those options, including what kind of cleaning products to use. 

There are also dry cleaning solutions - machines that use ozone, a natural gas, to kill those nasty bacteria. These are commercial grade machines, so parents have to take their kids’ gear to a local facility that owns one of them. But it’s a quick and effective process.

And there was a positive thing that resulted from Steve’s ordeal. As a result of his health scare Steve and his partners spent the next two years at the drawing board developing Clear Gear Sports Spray. Clear Gear has launched as a disinfectant/deodorizer available in many Philly-area pro shops and at Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as on www.cleargear.com.

The advantage of this type of product is that you can use it for day-to-day cleaning and maintenance between time on the ice. Maybe you supplement that with a thorough washing (wet or dry) once a month or every two months, but for in between the spray option is quite convenient. There are several brands of these disinfecting sprays available (contact Steve and he’ll be happy to explain why Clear Gear is the best one). One important point on these sprays though - if you’re not taking the equipment out of the bag to dry, the sprays won’t be very effective. Again, proper drying is critical.

Which of these approaches have you used, hockey parents? Take the poll below and if you have any experiences, tips or tricks, or product feedback to share, please do so in the comments. In the meantime, you can read more about Steve’s experience here.

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What methods do you use to clean your kids' hockey gear?