MONTREAL -- Hockey equipment company CCM and the players it sponsors will distribute half a million surgical masks to healthcare workers on the frontlines to help them in the fight against COVID-19, it announced Wednesday.

Unlike Bauer, the brand that converted its production line at its Blainville plant to create visors for healthcare workers, CCM said it’s in the process of getting protective equipment from partners who usually contribute to the production of CCM hockey equipment.

This donation is possible because of the partnership between CCM and players Carey Price, Patrice Bergeron, Sidney Crosby, Mélodie Daoust, Marc-André Fleury, Jonathan Huberdeau, Conor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin, among others.

The Montreal company will work with public authorities to have masks distributed to Canadian healthcare workers during the week of April 27.

This report by The Canadian Press was originally published April 8, 2020.