The 2010 Vancouver Paralympics finished up this week, and among it was a sport for the walking disabled so fierce and competitive, calling these athletes “disabled” does them (and the sport) a serious injustice. Sledge hockey, as it is called, is hockey in just about every single aspect of the game. The only difference: instead of being played on two feet, it’s played in a seated position on a “sled” with 2 blades.
While the sleds are generally similar in design with 2 blades secured directly underneath the seated passenger, each sled is slightly different depending on the athlete’s relative disability. For some, the sled is longer to accommodate legs. For others, who may have lost some or all of their legs, the sled is shorter and perhaps even more manageable. A player moves by using one or both of the two sticks in hand using them to push off the ice for acceleration, stopping, turning, or balance. And while the modified sticks are mostly used as the mechanism for motion, both are functional as hockey sticks as well making for some creative puck handling, passing and shooting.
While the rules are identical to hockey, in watching the game you’ll get the feeling of a completely different sport altogether. Still, like hockey, it’s a full contact event, and these athletes don’t pull back a single bit on checks. Goals, too, are equally spectacular and as a true team sport, sledge hockey relies on sound teamwork and congruency for success.
As you might suspect, each player is (in their own way) a story of resiliency. Take Alexi Salamone, for example. At birth, his legs were amputated due to a deformation caused by a proximity to a nuclear disaster at Chernobyl just a year earlier. Orphaned, he was adopted by a couple in Buffalo, NY and brought up in the US. Just this week, Alex scored the winning goal for the US in their gold-medal victory at this year’s Vancouver Paralympics.
Sledge hockey is a brutal yet beautiful sport. Much like a Murderball (or Wheelchair Rugby) on ice, it is not to be played nor watched by the fragile. It makes for a terrific spectator sport, and like Murderball, deserves the recognition of the masses. I, for one, hope that it some day gets that attention.
