Electric Hockey Royalty at Evergreen Brickworks

It was truly an honour to have the royal couple from Denmark to be at the Electric Hockey demonstration yesterday at the Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto. The four players selected to participate were Owen McGonigal, Karl Ludwig, Erin Vassilakos and Brent Alexander Lyon.

The goal of Electric Hockey is to grow in North America and to become a Paralympic sport which I believe will be big due to the fact that the sport chair is standardized and creates an equal playing field no matter the ability of the player.

For someone with Muscular Dystrophy that may have limited upper body strength, it's great that Electric Hockey is another option that I can compete in. Watching Owen play throughout the event made me believe that the sport can enable a person with a disability.

For more information on Electric Hockey check out http://www.hockeysportinternational.com/

Electric Hockey Demo at Variety Village

It was the first day of electric hockey demos at Variety Village, we had a PowerHockey and Electric Hockey scrimmage which was a lot of fun and a different experience. It was neat to see the electric hockey chairs created by UB-Let in action. What impressed me most even though I didn't use them is that they look cool.

The TPWHL players that were present testing out the electric hockey chairs had a good time. From the participants this evening, some would be open to playing on a regular basis if they were given a chance while others weren't as enthusiastic about playing the sport.

The speed of the chair is faster than typical power wheelchairs, and more aerodynamic much like go-karts. For the participants that were use to controlling the ball with the stick in hand, it took some time to adjust to the ball control solely with the electric chair. The electric chair can be customized to those that require a headrest or additional body stabilizers.

The electric hockey chair was created by the proceeds from the 18th birthday of Frederik, the crown prince of Denmark. This Friday, September 19, there will be a demo of Electric Hockey as a thank you to the crown prince with Sledge Hockey Paralympian Karl Ludwig, and Muscular Dystrophy Canada Ambassador Owen McGonigal participating in the exhibition game.

Watch our interview with Allan Johassen of UB-Let below.

What is Electric Hockey?

Source: http://hockeysportinternational.com/

Electric Hockey is a sport similar to Powerhockey except the sport uses their own specialized chairs called the Hockey Sport Chair instead of a regular power wheelchair. These chairs are lower to the floor, and athletes requires upper body strength and good balance to play the sport. Electric Hockey also differs that the game is played three on three with one or two substitutes on the bench per team, and two 15 minute halves are played. The sport is played by Scandinavian club teams from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

Canada and Denmark will be hosting a special event called the Denmark Canada Electric Hockey Practice and Demonstration (Invite Only) for three days this week in Toronto. It will be held at Variety Village on Tuesday September 16 and Wednesday September 17 from 4 to 6 PM. On the final day it will be held at Evergreen Brick Works On Friday September 19 from 3 to 4:30 PM With special guests the Crown Prince Couple of Denmark. We will be there covering this special event!

Chantal Petitclerc named Canada's Chef de Mission for Rio 2016 Paralympics

Source: CBC.ca

After leading Canada to a successful 3rd place finish at the latest Commonwealth Games as Chef de Mission. Wheelchair Racer Chantal Petitclerc will be Chef de Mission once again, but this time for the Rio 2016 Paralympics as she was recently named by the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

 

Rick Mercer, World Cup, and Power Wheelchair Soccer

Now that the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is in full swing. Did you know that Power Wheelchair Soccer or Football has their own World Cup? Watch this hilarious Rick Mercer segment with team Canada, who finished 6th at the 2011 World Cup held in Paris, France.

You can read more about the sport Power Wheelchair Soccer from my friend Don Barrie's earlier post: http://www.sportsenables.me/2013/10/power-wheelchair-soccer-most-prominent.html

2014 Sochi Paralympics wrap up (was there enough Canadian coverage?)

Now that the Paralympic in Sochi have been over for more then a Month. The question is, "Was there enough coverage in Canada?". In my opinion there was still not enough coverage, especially on TV. The two-hour daily highlight show on CBC was just not enough to showcase our talented athletes. Being able to watch it online is great, but I would have loved to watch wheelchair curling and sledge hockey in its entirety on the television. I believe the Paralympians work just as hard as the Olympians, and they deserve the same coverage and respect. I know that TV stations probably need sponsors and thinks about TV ratings, but that is just an excuse.

Furthermore, if there was more television coverage, it would inspire children and people with different abilities to believe in themselves that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to. It would also inspire people to go pursue sports that helps them gain confidence in their life.

Even though the Paralympic coverage in Canada has improved over the last three winter games, starting with Turin in 2006, which had terrible coverage with only 5 minute packages on the weekdays and on CBC Sports Saturday on the Weekend. In Vancouver 2010 the coverage drastically improved with 60 hours on CTV with 13.6 million viewers tuning in, but drew criticism when they almost did not broadcast the opening ceremony live throughout Canada. For Sochi this year, CBC provided the most Paralympic coverage ever with 90 hours of TV broadcast and 250 hours online which averaged 8.8 million viewers per day.

Comparing to the Olympics in Turin in 2006 which had 557 hours on CBC (including TSN coverage), Vancouver 2010 had 4,500 hours on CTV where Canadians watched 1.25 billion hours, and Sochi had 1,519 hours of coverage on CBC with 33.35 million viewers. The Olympic broadcast repeats all day long with daytime and prime time coverage, why can't it be the same for the Paralympics?

What would need to happen for the Paralympics to receive more media attention and television coverage?

Merger
There have been talk about the Paralympics merging with the Olympics from the International Paralympic Committee, according to this BBC article. I would support this if it can help provide the Paralympics with more media attention. What do you think? Is it a good idea or not? Read about what retired Paralympic Gold medalist skier Jeff Dickson thinks about the idea in this CBC article.

Call to Action
Are you in favour of bringing back the petition "CTV, CBC Provide Paralympics Now" that was started after the 2012 London Paralympic games to the forefront? Especially with the Pan-American and Para-Pan American Games coming to Toronto in 2015?

Do we need more Paralympics coverage?
	Yes
	No
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2014 Paralympics in Review

Another Winter Paralympic Games came to an end on Sunday, March 16, and everybody on Team Canada has returned home. Canada had a strong showing at these Games, winning 25 medals (includes 10 Gold), and finishing third place in the medal standings.

Among the stars was veteran Paralympic skier Brian McKeever. He won three gold medals in his three individual events. He also became the first Canadian Winter Paralympian to win 10 gold medals in a career.

Sit-skiing veteran Josh Ducek won gold in the super combined and silver in the downhill. Ducek would go on to be Canada's flag-bearer in the closing ceremony.

Mac Marcoux made his Paralympic debut by winning three medals, including a gold one in the giant slalom. It was also exciting to see Mark Arendz win silver in the biathalon. The visually impaired biathlete collected Canada's first medal of these Games. He went on to win bronze in the 12.5K three days later.

The most surprising moment may have been Chris Klebl. The alpine skier took gold in the men’s 10K sitting cross-country race. It’s surprising because almost no one predicted the 42-year-old Paralympic veteran would win after having come up short in his previous two Winter Games.

The curling team returned to claim another gold medal in one of Canada's most popular sports (the first being hockey, of course). Their victory proved to the world once again that Canada has the best wheelchair curling team. They entered as defending Paralympic champions and as world curling champions.

The most bittersweet moment for many was when the sledge hockey team was forced to take home a bronze medal. While it still counts as a moment to be proud of, expectations were high that they would win gold. Their popular rivals Team USA claimed gold when they beat Norway (who claimed silver). Canada’s Adam Dixon scored four goals, the most goals of the 2014 tournament.

Canada’s other medalists of these Games were Caleb Brousseau (bronze), Kimberly Joines (bronze) and Chris Williamson (bronze) for their respective alpine skiing events.

Canada takes Bronze in sledge hockey finals

In a rematch with Norway, Canada claimed the bronze medal in sledge hockey this afternoon, in a 3-0 score.

Team Canada came back with a vengeance at Shayba Arena after a heartbreaking loss to Team USA on Thursday. They did not allow the Norwegians to dominate the game, even in a scoreless first period.

The game caught fire when forward Brad Bowden scored the first goal 30 seconds into the second period. Canada upped the intensity when Billy Bridges got the second goal during a power play midway through the game. Bridges also scored the final goal during the third period.

Bridges, it should be noted, is the all-time leading point-getter in Canadian sledge hockey.

Canada goal Corbin Watson spent most of the game worry-free, as most of the play occurred near Norway's end of the ice. He finished the game with 10 saves to post the shutout.

Norway's loss today means it is the first time they have failed to medal since sledge hockey was introduced to the Paralympics in 1994. That year it was played in the Norwegian city of Lillehammer.

In other sledge hockey action, the US team won gold in a 1-0 final against the hosts Russia. This makes the US team back-to-back Paralympic champions.

A bittersweet victory to be sure, the Canadian team have no need to feel ashamed. They are a young team with a bright future.

You can watch this game in its entirety below.

Canada's nightmare sledge match in Sochi

Disappointment came for Canada today.

Defending champions Team USA defeated the Canadians in their sledge hockey semi-final 3-0. This loss means Canada is now forced to play for bronze instead of gold.

Sixteen-year-old Declan Farmer scored the game's first two goals during the first period, at 9:12 and 14:04. Joshua Pauls scored the final goal four minutes into the second period, off a pass by Farmer.

Though 11 shots on goal were made, American goalie Steve Cash blocked them all.

An attempted goal made by Canadian Billy Bridges in the final seconds left in the game was called off because teammate Kevin Rempel was in the crease.

It's a bitter defeat for Canada as it wanted to become the first country to sweep men’s, women’s and sledge hockey at an Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Canada will face Norway at Shayba Arena for the bronze medal on Saturday. USA and hosts Russia will play for the gold medal, also to be played Saturday.

Canada sweeps preliminary round of sledge hockey tournament

Canada wasted no time in wearing down the Czechs and eliminating them from the competition today, in a 1-0 score at.Shayba Arena. However it would take an entire first period in order to get there.

Captain Greg Westlake scored the game's only goal shortly after the second period began. It is his second goal of the tournament.

The Czechs, though weakened, refused to go down without a fight, which explains why the game was scoreless throughout the first period. Their goalie Michael Vapenka proved to be their strongest player, despite failing to block the one shot in the second period.

Westlake told the media afterwards it was a fun game to play, despite being a very stressful one. Canadian forward Tyler McGregor expressed extra joy over today's win because it coincided with his birthday. He says winning gold would be "icing on the cake."

Canada will now face the United States in their semi-final match-up on Thursday, at 12pm ET.

Russia and Norway will play the other semi-final game Thursday.

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Canada's sledge hockey team battles Norway to a 4-0 win

Canada's sledge hockey team roared back to the Shayba Arena this morning to defeat one of their fiercest rivals in a 4-0 game.

Norway was the team who prevented Canada from earning a medal at the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver. The Canadian squad stepped their game up defensively today, and managed to keep it scoreless through the first period.

Then, at the top of the second period, Dominic Larocque scored the game's first goal. It's his third of the tournament. Laroque seized the opportunity to score when Norwegian forward Ole Bjarte Austevoll took a penalty.

Adam Dixon, who CBC Sports analyst Rob Snoek nicknamed 'Duck Dynasty' for his long, shaggy beard, scored the other two goals before the end of the third period. (Dixon scored two goals and two assists against Sweden yesterday.)

The most spectacular goal by far was the last one scored by Marc Dorion in the final 22 seconds of the game. It was his first goal of the tournament.

With today's second win, the Canadian team tops the Group A standings, with 6 points. The United States leads Group B.

Canada has Monday off before facing the Czech Republic on Tuesday. The Czechs are currently the second-place team in Group A.

Sledge hockey in Sochi begins with a blowout

The first men's ice sledge hockey game was played today between Canada and Sweden. This year Canada is seeking redemption after finishing in fourth place in Vancouver four years ago. They began their quest today with a bang. Or, to put it more accurately, with a blowout.

Sweden, the country that invented sledge hockey, were met with a crushing defeat as the Canadians trounced them 10-1. Among the top Canadians who scored goals were Adam Dixon, Anthony Gale and Dominic Larocque. Billy Bridges scored the first goal against Sweden just over a minute after the game started.

Greg Westlake, Canada's team captain, told CBC Sports following the game that despite today's win, he would like to seem his teammates improve defensively. They will get their chance in tomorrow's game against Norway.

The men's Norwegian team played their first game against the Czech Republic today, and won by a score of 2-1.

Canadian team coach Mike Mondin assured fans that his sledge hockey team will be fully prepared to face the tough Norwegian team tomorrow.

The preliminary round of men's sledge hockey will continue until Thursday, when the top four teams advance to the semi-finals. Canada is predicted to be a medal favourite at these games.

UPDATE: You can watch the highlights below