OTTAWA – Bauer used the NHL All-Star weekend to unveil new a hockey helmet designed to defuse the type of force proven to cause head injuries like concussions.
The announcement came as the NHL’s heroes – with one notable exception – descended upon Ottawa. Superstar Sidney Crosby has been sidelined for weeks as he struggles to recover from a concussion suffered last season.
The prototype pushes past the current Canadian safety standards by using a design that accounts for what scientists call rotational-force impacts. Rotational force refers to blows which push the head off its centre of gravity. Scientific studies are consistently showing that rotational force is a major factor in concussions.
The helmet, dubbed, RE-AKT, looks like the headgear that the NHL superstars already use. The secret weapon is inside – a foam that dissipates extreme force on impact. The foam liner, called Suspend-Tech, floats freely within the helmet so it can adjust to force.
The foam wraps around the player’s head like a sling. When the helmet is hit, the material stretches, keeping the head in place while the exterior of the helmet moves with the force.
Bauer’s testing shows stress to the brain dropped 17 per cent when players wearing the helmet were hit with rotational force.
While Bauer is quick to say the helmet can’t prevent all concussions, they are confident it will help deal with rotational force impacts.
- Bombardier warns of ‘significant impact’ to travellers from Trump’s threat
- Stepfather of two missing N.S. kids charged with sexual assault of adult, forcible confinement
- Trump threatens Canada with 50% tariff on aircraft sold to U.S.
- Canadians have billions in uncashed cheques, rebates. Are you one of them?
“It’s hard to get experts in any field to agree on anything, but the one thing medical experts do agree on is that no helmet will prevent all concussions,” said Kevin Davis, Bauer’s CEO and President.
Get daily National news
He added: “We believe it will make a positive difference.”
Spurred on by an ever-increasing number of concussion diagnoses, NHL stars are already donning the new gear.
Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers, Steven Stamkos Tampa Bay Lightening and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals will all start wearing the helmet this season.
“When you see teammates get concussions and other injuries I think that opens your eyes a bit to maybe you should wear the equipment that is safer,” said Stamkos, who said he wore an older helmet out of habit.
Giroux has three concussions on his scorecard, one of which took him out for a month. He said wearing Bauer’s new headgear has helped him put that experience behind him.
“When I feel the helmet fitting great it helps me a little bit to go out there and just go play hockey.”
When it comes to getting the helmet on the heads of NHL heroes, it doesn’t hurt that it looks good.
“It’s one of the safest helmets in the game and it’s one of the better-looking helmets, so I think it is going to be easier for guys to make the switch,” said Stamkos.
But with a $220 price tag, it won’t be as easy for all consumers to make the move to the RE-AKT when it hits the market in May.
Bauer has invested years of research into the helmet and the current price has to reflect that, but it will come down eventually, according to Davis.
“We certainly want to be able to take this helmet into other price points, into other sizes, but it’s just not something you have the ability to launch in every single helmet right away,” he said.
Bauer is also lobbying to update the standards so all Canadians donning a helmet will be protected from rotational force.
Hockey helmets are regulated by the Canadian Standards Association. Currently, the standards focus on protecting from linear impact, which is more like a head-on collision, as well as from cuts, bruises and skull fractures.
“I want to reiterate that the standards have done a really good job at what they were designed to do,” said Larry Weber, Bauer’s Director of Risk Management and Compliance. “Where we are in hockey and certainly the safety that we see with existing helmets, certainly a large part of that is due to those standards.”
But standards must evolve with the science, according to Weber.
Weber said Bauer is discussing updates with regulators in the U.S., Canada and Europe, but said it will take time to develop a standardized testing protocol.
“At the same time we are not waiting for the standard to be in place before we look at addressing and trying to manage these rotational impacts,” he said.
Anthony Toderian, spokesman for the Canadian Standards Association said the standards are reviewed every five years by medical specialists and the industry to determine whether they need to be updated.
Comments