So now they’re finally over.
All gone. Forever a memory.
We’re talking about the Olympics, of course, as the closing ceremony for the Paralympics was last night.
And just like the Olympics, the Paralympics are being regarded as Canada’s best ever: 19 medals, nine gold
and a third-place medal total out of 44 competing nations. Additionally, the Olympic party in Vancouver was
still booming all the way through the Paralympics.
So this means that the Paralympics’ most popular sport started feeling even more popular: Sledge hockey,
where players propel themselves on a metal frame with two skate blades (raised above the ice so the puck can
pass through), was the sport on everyone’s lips – even though Canada disappointingly finished in fourth.
Beside the sledges that the players are on, they use two 75-centimetre-long hockey sticks with spikes on one
end for thrusting themselves along the ice, and blades on the other end for stickhandling and shooting. The
rules of the game are the same as that of ice hockey (including full contact), the only noticeable difference
being that the arena is totally accessible for players coming on and off the ice. And, as of 2010, teams have
been allowed to add female players to their rosters.
A 12-year-old was interviewed at a Team Canada game by the Globe and Mail, and he
said, “I think sledge hockey is really cool. I think they have even more skill and use more effort than the
regular hockey players.”
Plus, because Japan beat Canada in the semifinals, the international attention to the sport has
skyrocketed. It’s hard for any Canadian to say it’s worth it, but that’s a pretty good silver lining.
In the same Globe and Mail article,
Vancouver Organizing Committee CEO for the 2010 Games John Furlong said for Japan “it was the Stanley Cup,
double-gold, triple-gold. This is a huge lift for the sport outside North America.”
I was in the Loose Moose on Front Street in Toronto on Saturday, and a good number of patrons were
there very curiously watching the gold medal game between the U.S. and Japan. Not to mention, 5000-odd
tickets for the game in Vancouver were all sold out.
We tend to forget about lots of sports once the Olympics are over (can’t say I’ll be having an ice dancing
conversation with anyone for another four years), but sledge hockey is definitely more audience-friendly and
involving than sports like alpine skiing. And let’s not forget that we’re all Canadian and would eat hockey
for breakfast if we could.
So get ready for sledge hockey to truly take off, because, for fans and players alike, it’s never been more
accessible. •
Photo courtesy CPC/HC/Matthew Manor
