Sit, shoot and score.
Sled hockey is the sit-down version of ice hockey. Fast-paced and “in your face,” hockey played with a sled can be just as physically demanding — and rewarding — as the skating version.
Most important, sled hockey offers people with lower-body disabilities a chance to compete with their peers on equal ground, er, ice.
“It’s the most exhilarating out-of-chair experience,” said Colorado Sled Hockey Association president Corey Fairbanks, a former Arapahoe High School and University of Nebraska football player who was paralyzed from the chest down in a 1991 skiing accident.
“In most wheelchair sports, you go from your daily wheelchair to another wheelchair. But with sled hockey, you’re out of your wheelchair and into the sled, and using a totally different motion than you do on a daily basis.
“And everything about it is hockey. Skating, shooting, checking, scoring — it’s all hockey.”
Dubbed “sledge hockey” in Europe, the game is played on a standard hockey rink, with the same amount of players at full-strength (five skaters and a goalie) and regulation ice-hockey goals.
Each player uses two shortened and identical hockey sticks. At one end of the stick is a blade for puck-handling and shooting. The opposite end has metal picks that are used to propel the players on the ice.
Compared to traditional ice hockey, puck protection is enhanced because players stick-handle under their sleds.
A regulation game lasts 45 minutes instead of 60, typically with three 15-minute periods.
The game was first played in the 1960s by Swedish hockey fans to meet the recreational needs of disabled adults and children. Minnesotans began playing sled hockey in 1989 and Colorado started its first club team in 1995.
At least 10 NHL franchises sponsor teams, beginning with the Avalanche in 1996.
Fairbanks also is president of Colorado Avalanche Sled Hockey, which plays in the Western Sled Hockey League, a five-team league.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
Get involved
Sled hockey organizations in Denver and Colorado Springs are looking for participation and support. Here’s how to reach them:
Colorado Sled Hockey Association
Corey Fairbanks, president
303-523-8160
Colorado Springs Sled Hockey Association
John Wylie, president
719-339-6607
