Muscles aching, back hurting and ego badly bruised composed three of the lingering effects of my brief jump into the world of sledge hockey.
Muscles aching, back hurting and ego badly bruised composed three of the lingering effects of my brief jump into the world of sledge hockey. Strapping myself into a metal sled for the first time during yesterday's afternoon practice, I found myself zipping around the ice playing around with the two sticks and ice picks and thinking to myself, "this isn't so bad, I can handle this." But when the puck dropped for real later that night at Lac La Biche's first ever charity sledge hockey game, I realized just how grueling this game can be.
The game, which raised awareness for the International Day of Person's with Disabilities, and money for Santa's Helpers had five members from Canada's National Sledge Hockey team join forces with seasoned sledge hockey players from Edmonton's PSA Blades rec-team, face-off against our group of local sponsors and first-time sledgers in front of over 400 people.
The local Sledge Hogs started off with some pep, keeping the pros in check and even managing to string a few passes together, spirits were high and there was even the slight glimpse that this local team could pull off the impossible upset. Five minutes later the pain started to seep into our joints, it became harder and harder to move that metal sled up and down the ice, we got caught watching the effortless moves and insane speed that those Team Canada pros seemed to showcase every time they touched the puck and the pace seemed to reach slow motion mode. At the end of the first period the Sledge Hogs were down 5-2 and as we huffed and puffed our way to the sidelines, a reporter, four Portage College Voyageurs, two Kinsmen and several members of the RCMP to name a few all agreed, this sport wasn't easy, not even a little.
The second period started much the same way the first ended, our group of rag-tag sledge players tried desperately to keep up with our badly mismatched opponents. More goals rained in from the pros and the locals saw their brief glimpse of victory vanish much like their remaining upper body strength. At the end of the second period the organizers decided to stop the bleeding and put an end to the walloping that was raining down on us. We crawled out of the Bold Center losing 9-3 to a team that could have probably scored 100 more times if not for our MVP goaltender Dustin Hamar (from the Edmonton Impact)
The game showed what it means to be a professional sledge hockey player. Even for seasoned Voyageur players, there was a sense of awe in watching the speed and skill of Team Canada's finest. There was a feeling of relief in being able to still move our arms after grinding it out for 50 minutes in front of a packed arena. And for one reporter there was the joy in getting to play a sport on the same surface as some of the best players and athletes in the world.
