RIO RANCHO, NM – How many times have you opened a browser recently only to read that a hockey player has suffered a major injury resulting from a skate blade? Whatever the answer, it is too many times for certain. That fact has driven Justin Bracci and his colleagues to develop a hockey sock that incorporates Kevlar into the material making the sock virtually impenetrable. 
A quick Google search reveals the extent to which the injury has been covered by the media. Careers have been threatened by lacerations of the neck, arms and legs. But the injuries can be so extensive that careers are no longer the issue; lives may be at stake. Arterial damage at any point on the body may end with loss of life.
This is where Bracci and his colleagues enter the story. Bracci developed the Tactics Armoured Socks response to calf injuries resulting from skate blades.
The sock is worn as any sock under the shin guards and looks similar to any sock. But this one is reinforced with Kevlar woven into the sock’s fabric from the knee to the ankle.
“The game is faster and the blades are sharper,” Bracci said recently. “Marshall (Ferneyhough) and I were throwing the idea around of trying to protect players with the proper equipment.”
Bracci has played hockey at the Juniors and professional levels and has seen firsthand the results of skate blade injuries.
“We have seen hockey change from small fast skaters to big, fast skaters and the potential for injuries from blades has grown immeasurably,” Bracci said. “We were sitting in our offices in Vancouver about five years ago and Marshall and I just hit on this idea. We wanted to add protection in a sensible way that responded to the problem without adding weight or limitations to motion.”
During the 2009-2010 NHL season, the Vancouver Canucks’ Kevin Bieksa suffered a skate blade injury that resulted in two severed tendons above his ankle. For Bieksa this was not the first time he was cut by a blade. While with Nashville in 2007, he suffered a severe laceration and missed 47 games that season.
“I’ve seen guys who have had their Achilles tendon cut and that’s a pretty long recovery,” Zach Kassian (Windsor Spitfires) said. “You want everything protected. I started wearing Tactics Socks a couple of months ago and I know I’ll wear them for the rest of my hockey career.”
“These are the types of injuries that drive us,” Bracci added. “Bieksa was the best example of why we have worked so hard to make this sock available at all levels.”
Tactics Armoured Hockey Socks provide 360-degree cut protection around the calf. The sock has a Kevlar lining that is knit inside a sports-mesh polyester outer shell to make the sock cut resistant. Kevlar was developed in the early ‘70s as a replacement for steel in racing tires and has gained notoriety as a shield component for the military.
“The sock is essentially cut-resistant,” Bracci said. “If you put the sock on a hard surface and try to cut through it, you basically can make a tear in the materials. But when the sock is on a soft surface (leg) it very difficult to make a tear in the sock.”
For Ferneyhough, the issue is one of access to and availability of a piece of protective equipment.
“If there is a piece of equipment out there that is going to save you from a tragic injury, why wouldn’t you use it?” Ferneyhough added.
It’s Bracci’s experience on the ice that keeps him and his partner focused.
“I was officiating a game up in Canada some time back and I was breaking up a fight,” Bracci related. “A player lost his edge on the ice and his skate came up and cut me on the leg. It was pretty bad and blood was everywhere.”
The faster the sport becomes and the bigger the players get, the more important it becomes to have all the protection possible. Bracci and Ferneyhough and their colleagues at Tactic Armoured Socks have developed at least one line of protection for players at any level.
The socks are currently used in a number of leagues, including the NHL, where the Los Angeles Kings have incorporated them into their equipment bags. “ The guys like the sock as well as the protective component. They recognize this is something they can wear to help reduce their chance of injury, ” Darren Granger (Head Equipment Manager LA Kings) said recently.
Contact Lou.Lafrado@prohockeynews.com
Note: Pro Hockey News will be giving away Tactic Armoured Socks in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to our FaceBook and Twitter (@pohockeynews) accounts for your chance to win a pair of these protective socks.
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