Natick Native Brings Safety and Clarity to Hockey Gear

As hockey players across New England take to the ice at the beginning of the coming season, they will have a new way to protect their vision as they skate, a new kind of face shield developed by Natick native Bill Everett, president of Boulder Hockey Shield Company.

The face shield gives players both clear vision and impact protection, making the masks “rather unique overall,” Everett said. The shield is made of two parts, an “all polycarbonate injection molded cage frame” which an anti-fog and anti-scratch lens fits into, according to the company’s website.

Everett’s Colorado based company is one of only two companies in the world that produces a mask, he said. The shield was designed and produced with help from hockey players, Everett said, adding that he was constantly striving to make a design that wouldn’t fog on the inside and the outside of the mask.

The final product, now sold in hockey supply stores across the country, is “a unique product in the marketplace,” said Mark Riley, a representative with Shamrock Sales in New England. Because the mask comes in the two materials, it takes protection and vision for hockey players to “another level,” he said.

Riley said he tells buyers that this shield has “vision that is second to none.” The other company that produces a similar shield is Bauer Performance Sports Limited, he said. When the two products are compared, Riley said that Boulder Shields are set apart by the anti-fog and anti-scratch technologies incorporated into both sides of the lens and by the fact that each mask is manufactured in the United States.

In addition, Everett’s shields are designed to come in team colors. The polycarbonate outer shell can be ordered to match team uniforms in shades from gold, to purple to translucent blue, according to the website.

With these unique aspects, Boulder Shields can compete with the bigger providers, Riley said, even though this product is extremely new. The face shield gives players a clearer vision to react to the fast-paced nature of the game, Riley said.

Boulder Hockey Shields can be purchased at most hockey and sports supply stories across New England, including Monkey Sports in Norwood and Bertelli's Skate Shop in Springfield.

Everett grew up in Natick and skated with many of the local and regional teams before moving on to play hockey at Boston College in the 1970s. Everett started his own full face shields just after graduating, he said, only recently returning to develop this technologically advanced product.