Para Hockey
Para hockey is an innovative sport that incorporates the rules and structure of stand-up hockey, except players sit on sleds and use sticks for maneuvering and shooting.
History of the game
The sport was invented at a rehabilitation centre in Sweden in the early 1960s by a group of people who wanted to continue playing hockey.
They modified a metal frame sled with two regular-sized hockey skate blades that allowed the puck to pass underneath. Using round poles with bike handles for sticks, the athletes played without any goaltenders.
After a few years, the sport caught on. By 1969, the Stockholm had a five team league that included athletes with disabilities, as well as able-bodied athletes.
At the recreational level, anyone can play para hockey. At the international level, however, only athletes with a disability in the lower part of their body can be classified by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to participate.
Rules of the sport
Para hockey follows the rules of the IPC, which are very similar to those of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), with a few sport-specific modifications.
The ice surface and markings, nets and pucks are all the same as stand-up hockey. Each team consists of six players on the ice, including a goalie.
Among the sledge hockey rule modifications are the following:
• There is an additional infraction called teeing, assessed when a player charges and makes contact with an opponent using any part of the front radius of his or her sled.
• Players sit in specially designed sleds (sledges) instead of using skates.
• Players carry two sticks instead of one. These sticks are approximately the length of a regular hockey stick and have a different lie. In addition, the sticks have metal picks on the butt end which are used to propel the players on the ice.
• Player benches and penalty boxes are modified so that there is a low entrance to the bench as well as clear plexiglass so that players can see the play while they are not on the ice. If the arena has not been modified in this manner, players sit on the ice between the blue line and the red line while not in the play.