SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It's been around since the sport of hockey was created. For anyone who has been in a hockey rink, you've experienced it.

Darcy Milkowski could be the new hero of every hockey player's parents or spouse in Yellowknife. Milkowski runs Yellowknife Sani Sport, a company that cleans hockey gear using a environmentally friendly cleaning system, killing stinky bacteria that breed in equipment. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

For any hockey player, they know first hand just how unpleasant it can be.

Stinky hockey gear.

But thanks to hockey guru Darcy Milkowski, players no longer have to have the smell of their gear seep into their skin after a game and homes will no longer reek of the energy exerted on the ice.

Milkowski is the owner of Yellowknife Sani Sport. Sani Sport uses a dry cleaning machine which produces ozone, ridding equipment of the stench caused by bacteria that form in shin pads, skates, gloves and other gear.

"I got into it basically for myself," he said, adding he can clean any kind of sporting equipment. "Every time I wore my gear, the smell of the stuff is one thing. My shin pads are the worst. After a game your skin starts to smell like it. The unit itself helps kill the bacteria in the gear and reduce the smell.

"Guys would get rashes on their knees and hands. I have some goalies who come in regularly who get their gloves cleaned. Guys are starting to realize that what's growing in your gear can be a bad thing."

In 20 minutes or so and for a reasonable price, Milkowski can clean hockey gear, removing almost 100 per cent of all bacteria that forms in equipment when it's used regularly.

"Guys usually get it done at the end of the season when they are putting their gear away," Milkowski said. "Once every two or three months - depending on how much they are playing."

Milkowski said if players are using their gear four or five nights a week, it might be good to get it cleaned once a month or every six weeks.

"It has been shown that it will increase the lifespan of your equipment," he said of the bacteria that form from moisture building up in the equipment. "The bacteria that can grow in your gear can eat away at the padding."

He also said the health issue behind bacteria growing in your gear can cause infections on the skin or in cuts.

"There was (one case in) Yellowknife where a guy had a cut on his elbow and (got) an infection in his elbow after putting on his hockey gear," Milkowski said. "There's many cases of it, guys in the NHL have had issues with infections from gear.

"Kids always have cuts and scratches on their hands and the last thing you need to happen is to be missing school or hockey because you're home sick. I do everything you don't want to throw in the washing machine."

Milkowski said his house has never smelled better since starting the Sani Sport business here in Yellowknife.

"I don't want to have any gear in the house that stinks," he said. "The wives and the girlfriends appreciate it. Some guys refuse to do it, they think that what's in the gear gives them their power."

And with the holiday season upon us, Milkowski said he's selling gift certificates for those who might not know how to approach a significant other about their gear.

"It can be hard to approach someone about their stinky gear," he said.