The US National Sled Hockey Team is hosting Canada in a 2-game series on their quest for Gold Medal #4.
The events take place at Extreme Ice Center, 4705 Indian Trail Fairview Road, Indian Trail, and are free to watch.
Here’s the schedule:
- Fri., March 22: 3:50 p.m.
- Sat., March 23: 4:20 p.m.
The Series will serve as a final tuneup ahead of the 2019 Para Ice Hockey World Championship that will be held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, from April 27-May 4. Taking place for the 10th time, the United States will enter the event seeking its fourth gold-medal after claiming the 2009, 2012 and 2015 world championships. This is the second time the tournament will take place in Ostrava, where the United States captured its inaugural world championship gold medal in 2009.
Sled (sledge as it’s referred to outside the United States) hockey was invented at a Stockholm, Sweden, rehabilitation center in the early 1960s by a group of Swedes who, despite their physical disability, wanted to continue playing hockey.
Sled hockey follows most of the typical ice hockey rules with the exception some of the equipment. Players sit in specially designed sleds that sit on top of two hockey skate blades. There are two sticks for each player instead of one and and the sticks have metal pics on the butt end for players to propel themselves. Goalies wear basically the same equipment but do make modifications to the glove. Metal picks are sewn into the backside to allow the goalie to maneuver.
A few rinks around the country are sled accessible. Sled accessible rinks allow players to remain in their sleds and skate off the ice into the bench area. This requires that the bench area is flush with the ice and there is clear plexiglass replacing the white boards.
Sled hockey provides opportunity for many types of disabilities and there are opportunities available in local areas for recreation/competition all the way to the National Sled Team that plays in the Paralympics. Sled hockey is rapidly growing in the US and players are “hooked” once they touch the ice the first time.
Charlotte on the Cheap is a member of 
