Casey Lenhart is the Captain of the Utah NAC Golden Eagles Sled Hockey Team. Casey has been playing Sled Hockey for over 8 years and has competed at a national and local level. The Golden Eagles are linked to The National Ability Center in Park City has an outstanding programs for a wide area of sports. Founded in 1985, the National Ability Center is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Programs are supported through special events, grants from private corporations and foundations, individual donations and program fees. All activities are offered at an affordable rate and scholarships are available, ensuring participation for all applicants.
CASEY LENHART: Sled hockey is essentially every bit stand-up ice hockey. The only difference is, of course, you are not skating. You've got a bit different equipment. All the rules of the sport itself are the same. You can check. There is cross-checking, penalty calls. As far as the equipment goes, I use Easton blades. I don't know. There are various makers of equipment, but essentially, it is all regular gear that stand-up players would wear - pads, shoulder pads, elbow pads, helmets. It's all the same. The sleds are pretty specialty. There are few companies in the U.S. that make them and a couple of companies in Canada. And as you can see, it is kind of a hand truck turned down with wheels removed and blades put on. And so once you are sitting down in there and you got a balance position, you propel yourself forward with the picks. On the end of your sticks here, they are pretty sharp picks. And you have two sticks obviously, and you can push yourself, skate, turn and puck handle with both the same sticks. So as far as the other aspects of the actual game itself, if you are in for excitement and checking and hockey, this is it. It is every bit of the same game as the stand-up ice. If people see the sport and they want to join, there's probably any of number of cities nationwide in the U.S. that play. There are several Web sites and you just do a search for sled hockey, you'll find various teams' Web sites. There are probably a good, couple of dozen teams in the U.S. that are very competitive. There are several more in Canada that are competitive, but USA Hockey is obviously a good way to start your search there. There is probably a local team in your area. As far as the rules and the team game itself, it is the same as conventional ice hockey. You got five players on the ice at any given time, well, provided there have been no penalties. So you got three forwards and two defensemen and a goalie, so six all said. You can have up to 12 or 13 rostered for any team. And a lot of games, you'll have ice that you can skate off. There are boards that have very low levels, so you can skate right off onto the bench. And other teams or other games, you have to actually have the players out in the ice, and so you just skate up to the board. Your sub will go in for you, so that you still have five people in the ice. Again, it is just every bit just like regular hockey. So the only
other difference is you can't really effectively skate backwards. If you see a lot of stand-up games, you'll notice people are skating backwards in their defensive postures. Very few people can skate backwards in the sled and be effective. Basically, anybody can play. We've played competitively with people that have been very high-level quads that actually have to have their sticks taped and secured to their hands in some fashion. And obviously, they are not as able as some to skate fast, but we had all of them out there, even full able-bodied players are more than welcome to come out and play. They're actually at a disadvantage compared to even the highest level quads out there. Some people without even hands, they've had gloves fashioned to fit the end of their arms and just tape sticks on to them and can skate very well. So any level can play.
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