- March 6, 2026
- Breakthru
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OZONE is Bringing New Training Technology to Hockey
For many hockey players, improving your game often comes down to one thing…practice.
But compared to other major sports, the tools available to help players train haven’t evolved nearly as quickly.
That’s the opportunity the team behind OZONE Hockey set out to solve.
The idea had been sitting in the back of the founders’ minds since their youth hockey days. But it wasn’t until they saw the rapid evolution of training technology in other sports, particularly baseball, that the opportunity became clear.
“There was nothing comparable for hockey players,” Co-Founder, Michael Doiron explains. “That gap confirmed there was a problem worth solving.”
What started as an idea soon gained momentum while the founders were participating in the Technology Management and Entrepreneurship (TME) program at the University of New Brunswick. As they began developing the concept, they kept hearing the same reaction from peers, mentors, and coaches.
“How isn’t this already a thing?” and “Why is there nothing like this yet?”
Those questions validated the opportunity and pushed the team to turn what could have been a senior design project into something much bigger.
The result is PAPPI by OZONE Hockey, a new training aid designed to bring more realistic, game-like training into player development.
Like many founders, the technical challenge of building the product wasn’t the only hurdle. Coming from engineering-heavy backgrounds, the team had to quickly learn the fundamentals of building a business, from market validation to branding, operations, and sales.
And building a hardware startup as students sometimes meant workspaces weren’t always conventional.
“Our Roommates didn’t always appreciate having a workshop in their kitchen,” Michael says.
But with hockey culture deeply rooted in New Brunswick, the team believes they’re building in the right place to grow.
OZONE is one of five startups selected to compete at breakthru Live, where founders will pitch their companies for the opportunity to secure up to $200,000 in investment from NBIF.
The live finale takes place on Thursday, March 19 at Fredericton Trade & Convention Centre, bringing together founders, investors, and members of the startup community to celebrate the next generation of New Brunswick companies.
