From Idea to Ice: Innovating Hockey Safety with Pucktive
Eddie Cobbold (Dal, BComm ’24), co-founder of Pucktive, aims to create the world’s most comfortable, skate-cut-resistant apparel. Inspired by witnessing life-threatening skate injuries, including his teammate’s and Edmonton Oilers player Evander Kane’s, Cobbold developed a cut-resistant undershirt made with Kevlar and other high-performance materials.
Cobbold was determined to find a way to help players better protect themselves however, he was unsure of how to take his idea and make it a reality. Then, Emily Neil, a project manager from Dal Innovates, gave a class presentation on how Collide helps students gain entrepreneurial skills.
“It was perfect timing for me. I had this idea and the Collide program was there to accelerate the process of creating a product and launching a business.” – Eddie Cobbold, co-founder of Pucktive Inc.
Getting Market Ready
Through Dal Innovates’ Collide programs; Discover, Validate, and Launch, he refined his idea and overcame challenges in the design and manufacturing of his Kevlar-based, high-performance shirt. “We figured out the zones needing protection, the materials required, and how to disperse weight across the collarbone, so, when players put on our products it would be a seamless fit.”
After successful market testing, Pucktive’s “Hockey Tarp” passed rigorous safety standards of the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ) for skate-cut resistance.
The Impact
Today, the company is rolling out its sales and marketing strategy for the Hockey Tarp, fulfilling its mission to enhance player safety without compromising performance. Individuals and teams can place their Pucktive orders here.
“The feedback we’ve been getting is that the shirt is very comfortable, and players are saying ‘it’s so light’ and ‘this is the thinnest neck guard I’ve ever had,’” Cobbold says.
Skate cuts happen in a flash and when they do, Pucktive’s Hockey Tarp has you covered. 
Congratulations to the Pucktive team on winning first place at Dal Innovation Week Demo Day 2024 pitch competition!