edmontonhappenings: March 2018

Para Ice Hockey also known as Sledge Hockey is one of the Paralympic sports being challenged in PyeongChang starting this Friday March 9th -19th, 2018. There will be coverage of all events from PyeongChang on CBC SportsNet and on the web - for further information. Check out https://www.paralympic.org/ice-hockey

With the paralympic games starting out, we decided to head out to the Meadows Community Centre in South Edmonton, to see what Sledge Hockey was all about and watch a good ol' hockey game as Stompin' Tom Connors would say.

Faceoff as the game kicks off in Edmonton

As you can see it's Ice Hockey but on a lower plane, in PyeongChang they have put in special boards around the benches so the players can see . The players ride on a 2 bladed sled with full hockey gear except the sticks are shortened, they have 2 and have picks on the end of their sticks to help propel them around the ice. This is one of the only mixed sports where both male and female players compete on the same team.

This game plays by most of the same rules as Olympic Hockey, off-sides, icing but contact is somewhat limited due to the players being so close to the blades. But believe me there is contact.

Don't think for a moment the game is not exciting, the game between the Edmonton Impact and the PSA Dogs, had speed, contact, scoring, wrist shots, and even a couple of corner hits. Although the Impact dominated the first period putting up a score of 3-0 after the 1st period. The Dogs started to come back and dominated play in the second and third periods but were only able to tickle the twine once. It was a great game and every body should come out and cheer these athletes on any chance you get (see below for links to the pages for more information)