The Most Entertaining Sport You’ve Never Heard of

Source: The Sports Quotient

Read this great article on the 2014 PowerHockey Cup, written by Philadelphia Powerplay defenseman Luke Hoban on his team's experience and incredible run at the most recent tournament. Here's a snippet of the article:

First, a quick primer on the sport. It plays with rules that are similar to the NHL, with a few exceptions. There are five total players on each team at a time—three forwards, one defenceman, and one goalie. There are no upper or lower age limits; as long as a player understands the rules, they are allowed to play. Likewise, there are no gender or ability limits either. Some players who can’t physically hold their stick tape it to their wheelchair. Line changes are rarer, and usually occur only when play is stopped. Some players even stay on the floor for the entire 45-minute contest. The “floor” I refer to is typically a basketball court with flexible borders that are about a foot high and run all around the perimeter. There are quite a few rules that are specific to wheelchair hockey, but those are mostly just to prevent players from driving as though they’re speeding down I-95.

http://thesportsquotient.com/nhl/2014/8/6/power-wheelchair-hockey-the-most-entertaining-sport-youve-never-heard

2014 Power Hockey Cup Finals!

Day 4 is the final day of the tournament with the championship and semi finals taking place.

Championship Game

In the championship game between the Philadelphia PowerPlay and the Minnesota Saints. It was a battle between the two top scoring teams. The PowerPlay got off to the quick start with a goal from Liam Miller scoring on the short side of Saints goalie Sarah Heinsch. However, Saints, Chad Wilson answered with two goals late in the first period for the 2-1 lead. The Saints would continue with more offence in the second period, scoring three more goals to take a commanding 5-1 lead midway through the game. But there was no quit in the young PowerPlay team, Jake Saxton would finish the period strong with two beautiful goals to cut the lead to 5-3 for the Saints after two periods. PowerPlay would pull within one at the nine minute mark in the third period for what would be an exciting finish in the finals! They would continue to put on pressure, but the Saints would hang on for their third consecutive championship. It was truly one of the most exciting PowerHockey Cup finals and the atmosphere was amazing.

Bronze Medal Game

In the all Canadian bronze medal game between the Ottawa Capitals and Calgary Selects, it was a very defensive battle. Calgary's Shawn Pahl would score two goals 50 seconds apart to give the Selects an early 2-0 lead, but the Capitals would answer with a goal of their own by Moses Yorke to cut the lead in half. It would be a scoreless second period. Ottawa would get into penalty trouble in the third period where Calgary would capitalize by scoring a power play goal to take a two goal lead and winning the bronze medal 3-1.

Consolation Games

In the fifth place game the Michigan Mustangs would dominate the Minnesota Selects 6-0. Toronto Lake Raiders would finish seventh with a 4-2 loss to the Michigan Mustangs while the Carolina Fury finishes in eighth place with a 6-2 loss to the Minnesota Selects.

Final Thoughts

It was in my opinion, one of the best PowerHockey Cup tournaments in their six year history. There was tons of exciting games with lots of scoring. Every team was really close in terms of their competitive level. The organizers did a fantastic job with the live stream with very professional commentators. Having players as guest commentators was a nice touch. I look forward to the next PowerHockey Cup which will be hosted in Philadelphia in 2016!

http://powerhockeycup.com/

2014 Power Hockey Cup: Day 3 Quarter and Semi Finals Recap

Day 3 displayed intense battles in both the quarter and semi finals.

Quarter Finals

In a rematch of the 2010 and 2012 championship games, the Minnesota Saints faced off against the Michigan Mustangs. In the past two championship games the Saints took home the cup. Today's game was no different with the Saints winning a wild 4-3 game. Kevin Konfara of the Mustangs and Chad Wilson of the Saints scored three goals for their teams.

In the second quarter finals game, Philadelphia PowerPlay won 9-3 over the Carolina Fury. It was a balanced offence for the PowerPlay with each forward amassing at least one point. The Fury was led by Jim Thompson scoring two goals.

In the third quarter finals game, it was the Battle of Ontario! Where the Ottawa Capitals defeated the Toronto Lake Raiders 4-2 in a penalty filled game (24 minutes in total between both teams). Moses Yorke and Johnson Wilson scored two goals each for the Capitals while Saverio Romano and Jeremy Schofield responded with one a piece. Meghan Hines of the Lake Raiders played an excellent defensively keeping her team in the game.

In the final quarter finals game, it was a defensive battle where Calgary Selects won 2-1 in overtime against the Minnesota Selects. It was a truly exciting game where Minnesota tied the game with two minutes left in regulation time to force the overtime on a power play goal from Chris Kram. In the end, Ben Thorne of Calgary was the hero in this game scoring with less than three left in overtime to win the game.

Semi Finals

In the first semi finals, it was Ottawa Capitals against the Minnesota Saints. The first period started off with the Saints scoring early and the Capitals answered quickly with a goal from Moses Yorke. The Capitals had early chances in the second, however the Saints took over from there to win 8-1 to advance to their third consecutive PowerHockey Cup finals.

The second semi finals featured a young team in the Philadelphia PowerPlay against a veteran squad Calgary Selects. The Selects got off to a great start with two goals from Mike Falconer to lead after two periods. In the third period the Selects got into penalty trouble which gave the PowerPlay an opportunity where the capitalized on to cut lead in half. And with 1:24 to go in the third, the PowerPlay completed their comeback with a thrilling goal by Liam Miller to force overtime. With momentum on PowerPlay's side, their star player Jake Saxton scored in overtime to send them to their first ever PowerHockey Cup finals!

Will the defending champions Minnesota Saints win their third title? Or will the young guns Philadelphia PowerPlay be crowned the new champions? You'll have to tune in tomorrow for:

• Consolation Games: 10:00AM CDT (11:00AM EST)
• Bronze medal Game: 5:00PM CDT (6:00PM EST) 
• Championship Game: 7:00PM CDT (8:00PM EST)

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

2014 Power Hockey Cup: Day 1 Recap

It was an exciting opening day of the 2014 PowerHockey Cup in St. Paul Minnesota! This tournament brings together 8 teams and 80 players from across North America.

There were four games played today. The first game between Ottawa Capitals and host Minnesota Selects made for a great opening game of the tournament. Both teams played a great game, with the much improved Capitals team winning the game 3 to 1, led by Roddey Harb with two goals and one assist. It was a valiant effort by the Selects as most were playing in their first tournament.

The second game between the Toronto Lake Raiders and the Carolina Fury was dominated by Saverio Romano with three goals and one assist. George Silvey of the Fury scored the lone goal. Jonathan Greeson stood on his head in goal for the Fury, even though they lost 6 to 1.

The third game between the Michigan Mustangs and the Philadelphia PowerPlay where the PowerPlay shut out the Mustangs 4 to 0. One the youngest players in the tournament, Jake Saxton scored a hat trick, in his first tournament game. Both goalies Dean Olivas and Erin Gordon were solid in net.

The final game between the defending champs, Minnesota Saints and the Calgary Selects played a tight game with the Saints winning 3 to 1. Chad Wilson of the Saints once again dominated with two goals and one assist. Shawn Pahl of the Selects scored the lone goal for the selects. The Selects goalie Jeff Barrett kept his team in the game.

UPDATE: Chris Lemieux of Michigan Mustangs provides his take on their first game of the tournament.

"Michigan got shut out on Monday as they fell to the defending United States champion Philadelphia Poweplay 4-0. Philly came out strong to take 2-0 lead in the first period and held the lead through the 3rd when as they led 3-0 Michigan pulled their goalie to make a push to score but Jake Saxton scored an empty net goal to seal the win 4-0."

Don't miss tomorrow's action starts at 10:00AM CDT (11:00AM EST) with the Toronto Lake Raiders vs. Calgary Selects. You can watch the game below!


Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Help support the Toronto Lake Raiders as they compete at the 2014 Power Hockey Cup!

UPDATE: You can watch the tournament through live streaming here and check the full schedule here.

Please donate (Click here) and help Support the Toronto Lake Raiders at the 2014 Power Hockey Cup hosted by Minnesota starting July 21st to 24th against talented teams from Canada and USA.

The Toronto team is an All-Star team representing the Toronto power wheelchair hockey league! You can like Them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter, & to learn more about the league go to tpwhl.com!

You can read more about what the power hockey cup is all about here.

Go Lake Raiders Go!

PowerHockey Cup

The N.A.P.H.A. (North American PowerHockey Association) PowerHockey Cup is a tournament that happens every 2 years, where teams from across Canada (Toronto (TPWHL & CEWHA), Calgary, Manitoba, Ottawa, London, Ont.) and USA (Michigan, Minnesota, Philadelphia, North Carolina) compete for the championship. It's pretty much PowerHockey's Stanley Cup. The teams consists of players from their respective leagues, for example the Toronto team has players from the TPWHL the league I play for.

I was fortunate to play in the PowerHockey Cup twice for the Toronto Lake Raiders; I'm thankful for the TPWHL giving me a chance to go. I made my tournament debut in 2008, where we went down to Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was really exciting to play in the tournament for the first time. Even though my team finished 4th, it was still a great experience. The tournament game I found out is a lot more intense than the regular league games. Highlights for me was when we won against two tough Minnesota teams in the round robin; 4-1 vs the Saints and 2-1 vs the veteran Minnesota Stars.

Then in 2010, my team was the host team where we played at Ryerson University in Toronto. We started off the tournament slow with a 1-2 record in pool play. But our game improved in the quarter-final where we defeated the Calgary Selects 5-1 to advance to the next round. In the semi-final, we lost to a talented Michigan Mustangs team. With the lost we had to settle for the Bronze medal game against the Minnesota Stars, who beat us earlier in pool play 3-0. However being the host team we still had a lot to play for and it was important to us. We Won the Bronze medal in the end with a spirited and inspired effort by the entire team in the 3-1 victory. Our team was led by a hattrick from Michelle Du Boulay, one of the best players in the game. You can watch the game here. The eventual winners was the Minnesota Saints, and Meghan Hines from my team won Best Defence for the second straight tournament. Playing in the PowerHockey Cup 2010 was a proud moment in my life for sure!

Read what my teammate Goalie Eli Shupak had to say about the 2010 tournament, and playing in memory of a former teammate.

I would love to play in another PowerHockey Cup if given the opportunity, which I'll work hard for. But if not that's okay because I'm glad I got to experience it and my league the TPWHL has a lot of great goalies, who will represent Toronto well.

In the end I would like to thank my family for their support. Without them I wouldn't be able to play in the tournament.

Go Lake Raiders Go!