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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Sledge hockey gains new teammate

A challenging sport for disabled partners with Hockey Manitoba

By: Sean Grassie

Posted: 01/8/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Bill MULOIN remembers the early days of Sledge Hockey Manitoba in 2007, when he was hauling cast-iron sleds that weighed up to 32 kilograms from the basement of the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (SMD).

There were six players then, using "archaic sleds" from the first attempts to play sledge hockey here in the late 1980s. But the organization Muloin heads looks a lot different today, with about 40 players all using modern equipment.

In fact, the sport has grown so much that Sledge Hockey Manitoba is now a partner of Hockey Manitoba. That partnership was cemented on Dec. 17. "It definitely establishes sledge hockey now as an alternate ice hockey sport," said Muloin, executive director of Sledge Hockey Manitoba. "It really does give credibility to it now."

Sledge hockey is designed for people with physical disabilities, but there are also about five able-bodied players in the province.

Players move around in sleds (or sledges) with two skate blades fitted underneath. They carry two sticks about one-third the size of regular hockey sticks, with metal picks on the butt ends to propel the sledges.

It's a sport that's as physically challenging as they come, says Jake Smellie, who has played since 2008. That's coming from someone who won a silver medal at the 1992 Paralympics in racquetball, has done four or five wheelchair marathons, and was on the provincial wheelchair basketball team for almost 20 years.

"In all the sports I've ever played, this is definitely the hardest one in terms of a workout," Smellie said.

Smellie helped the Manitoba team win silver in the senior B division at the Western Canadian Sledge Hockey Championships last year in Calgary.

He says they'll be better prepared when they make the trip back to the tournament this April.

"Last year, we went into it without having ever played a game that was refereed, so we didn't understand penalties and things like that," he said. "It was a little bit of an eye-opener."

The junior and senior players in Manitoba also got an eye-opener when national team member Billy Bridges came to Winnipeg and took part in two exhibition games Dec. 28 and 29 at River Heights Arena.

"Just having him for two games was like having a Canadian developmental camp for a week," Muloin said.

Muloin says he would ultimately like to see one of the players here win a spot on the Paralympic team, which this year has 10 of its 15 players from Ontario.

He says having the support of Hockey Manitoba will help to reach that goal. Fundraising, officiating, finding a corporate sponsor and setting up a high-performance program are some areas Hockey Manitoba can help with, Muloin says.

Sledge Hockey Manitoba has received most of its funding from SMD and Hockey Canada, and Muloin says those partnerships won't change.

"Without those two bodies, I don't think sledge hockey would be here right now," said Muloin, supervisor for children's leisure and recreation at SMD.

A community ice grant that gives Sledge Hockey Manitoba free ice time at the MTS Centre -- it uses the facility two or three times a month -- has also helped the organization.

"At the end of the year, we probably get anywhere between $3,500 to $5,000 worth of free ice," Muloin said. "That's huge for us."

sean.grassie@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 8, 2010 C4

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