This past weekend, the Triangle Special Hockey Association hosted the second annual Carolina Sled Classic at the IcePlex in North Raleigh. Co-ed teams representing seven different cities participated in the weekend round-robin tournament, including a skills competition and a league championship game.
Sound mundane? It’s anything but. In fact, watching a sled hockey game is one of the most amazing and inspiring things you’ll ever do at a hockey rink.
First, some background. Sled hockey is largely identical to standard ice hockey, regulated by USA Hockey with most of the same rules. Players who compete in sled hockey - some as young as age 12 and as old as 50 - typically have some sort of disability that prevents them from skating upright, and they propel themselves by using picks on the end of a pair of sticks, one in each hand, similar to cross-country skiing but across a sheet of ice.