Hockey is one of the most demanding sports that you can play from on the ice to the traveling all across the country. The game itself can affect the health of a player out on the ice. What started as a Christmas gift changed the health of players one mouth guard at a time.
“I used to see the mouth guard everywhere. I went out to search this product and I couldn’t find it. I had a vision in my mind what I wanted it to do I just couldn’t find it so I actually made a prototype of what would work for this and then it really kicked off,” said Steelheads Equipment Manager Khris “Beast” Bestel.
For nearly 20 years with the Steelheads, Khris "Beast Bestel has seen it all as an equipment manager. From facial cuts, broken bones. When Bestel noticed mouth guards in filthy hockey bags, and even dirty socks Bestel said there was a better option to hold the mouthpiece with the MyGuardWash.
“When I first made our prototype. We had the whole team using them. I remember after the winter months Coach Graham came up to me and said no one got sick because of the little thing that you made. We really haven’t had guys sick every since I have been making this because their mouth guard is submerged in antiseptic every day before they put it into their mouth,” said Bestel.
Bestel ’s product is also going viral as NBA teams are jumping in. In 2019 every team in the AHL and ECHL will be using his mouth guard wash.
“We’ve got the ECHL and I have a few players in the AHL along with Blake Baggett who is a motocross rider and we just took our third order from the Orlando Magic and we have done it all with zero marketing,” said Bestel.
Not bad for a product that's under 20 dollars and it all started from the basement of the CenturyLink Arena in the Idaho Steelheads locker room.
“I have had the perfect test market with the 20 players and I have had some casualties over the last year and a half. We used them all year not one broke not one leaked and when we got to our destination it was the cleanest mouth guard,” said Bestel.
