Firefighters take win over Police Service in Medicine Hat sledge hockey game

Medicine Hat Adaptive Sport and Recreation hosted the games, and they were presented by the Community Vibrancy Grant through the city.

Games took place at the Hockey Hounds Arena and the Big Marble Go Centre, where the MHPS and Firefighters played.

Larry Godin has been a key figure in the development of sledge hockey in Canada since it began.

He’s also played a crucial role in the revival of the sport in the city through his involvement with the Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds.

Lealand Nickerson, a member with Medicine Hat Adaptive Sport and Recreation, was on team Canada for sledge hockey world championships in 1996.

As a child, he was a part of the conception of sledge hockey in Canada in 1979.

Lealand Nickerson modelling one of the first sledge hockey sleds as a child. Medicine Hat Adaptive Sport and Recreation

Nickerson said that anybody is welcome to play the inclusive sport.

“It’s all inclusive, so anybody’s welcome. Anybody and everybody, of all abilities and disabilities,” he said.

Devan Harnack, another member of Medicine Hat Adaptive Sport and Recreation, said that the community the organization has created is life changing.

“It’s unreal. Because I used to play stand-up hockey, now I can’t,” he said.

“I play sledge hockey, so it basically brings me back to the sport of hockey which I couldn’t play, and now I can play,” he added.

“It gives me a new sense of life.”

Chad Peacock, member with the Medicine Hat Firefighters, said that they didn’t have to hold back when playing with some of the kids who were alongside them on the ice.

“They were skating circles around us from the get-go,” he said.

“The kids are amazing. It’s a testament to how hard they worked during practice and everything like that,” he added.

“It shows us how hard this actually is to do.”

The Police Service and Firefighters of Medicine Hat pose after their match. Medicine Hat Adaptive Sport and Recreation

Constable Mitch Young with Medicine Hat Police Service said that once you get out on the ice, you don’t want to come back off.

He said that it surprised him how difficult sledge hockey was to play.

“I play hockey. I’ve played hockey my whole life, and this is completely different,” he said.

It’s a brand new thing, like I said. It’s like learning to walk again.”

The game ended with the Firefighters taking the lead, with a score of 3 to 2 against the Police Service.

In a sport that anyone can take part in, determination remains the defining factor for whoever will come out on top.

by Jayk Sterkenburg

Firefighters take win over Police Service in Medicine Hat sledge hockey game

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