Plastic Ankle Guards

Montreal Canadiens players have recently been extolling the virtues of skate-boot guards and their ability to stop pucks

“I took a shot off the foot in the Washington game [Nov. 20] and it hurt pretty bad,” Travis Moen said in a recent interview. “That’s when I decided to try them.”

“Them” refers to the moulded plastic skate guards he and a half-dozen other members of the Canadiens have taken