Even after seeing it, visualizing blind hockey still causes some confusion.
The obvious question, how can you see the puck, teammates or opponents is front of mind.
Yet, the game is growing at a steady pace and could soon include a team right here in Central Alberta.
In essence, it is still Canada’s game, with a little bit of twist.
You can be excused if you’ve never heard or seen blind hockey in action, but it is quite the sight.
The game follows pretty much all the standard hockey rules. Some differences are smaller nets (only one metre high), one pass once you cross the blueline and a much bigger puck, with metal ball-bearings on the inside. Its large size and slower speed helps visually impaired players see the puck, while the noise it allows them to track it.
Forwards and defencemen are legally blind and typically have 10 per cent of their vision or less. The lowest vision players play defence and most goalies that play are blind.
One local player, Dustin Butterfield, is hooked on the game in a big way. He gave up regular hockey about eight years ago because of deteriorating vision before finding blind hockey.
“Discovered that there was such a thing as blind hockey, which I didn’t realize two years ago and as soon as I went to my first event and then after that first tournament, I was absolutely hooked,” he said.
“It reawakens that love for the game. If you can get out and play again, it’s pretty special.”
Let’s play some #blind #hockey! pic.twitter.com/uBjlC8ZtSC
— CanadianBlindHockey (@CDNBlindHockey) March 22, 2019
After playing for a number of years with teams in Edmonton and Calgary, Butterfield, 37, is looking to grow the game locally. He started a Central Alberta Bullseye Blind Hockey page on Facebook to help gauge interest and hopes down the road to have a team of 8-10 players in the area.
He said about five or so local players have already shown some enthusiasm towards the idea and he is looking at a getting a few ice times next year.
“My original mission here is to get a few more players. I’ve got potentially five skaters interested that are visually impaired. I could find tonnes of guys that are sighted to come help coach or give you enough for a scrimmage,” he said.
“If I found eight or 10, I would be ecstatic. That would be good.”
Calgary also offers a youth program, something that interests Butterfield as well as a way to give back.
congrats to ice dogs @DeutscherBlaine for helping the team toros in the low development division for winning gold and randy cameron on team arenas for the silver @CDNBlindHockey @AMIaudio @MattamyAC #hockeyisforeveryone pic.twitter.com/Bny9iYOKnl
— Calgary Seeing Ice Dogs (@yycseeingicedog) March 24, 2019
Jason Yuha, of Rosalind, Atla. is one of the up-and-coming talents in the sport.
He was born with Stargardt Macular Dystrophy, a form of macular degeneration that affects vision over time. His vision loss started gradually and got worse in high school. He was still a strong player, posting 40 points in 25 games in 2011-2012 with the Killam Wheat Kings in the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League.
He only recently joined the blind hockey ranks, but was the top forward at the 2018 Canadian National Blind Hockey Tournament and won gold. Safe to say he’s loving it so far.
“It’s been really good, each tournament gets bigger and better, more people are coming out. It’s just a really good atmosphere. It’s very inclusive,” said the 27-year-old Yuha, who took up the sport in 2017.
He was one of 145 players gathered in Toronto last month for the 2019 national tournament, representing Canada in games against Team U.S.A. and Canada East.
Lorne Webber, an Edmonton native, who was also at that gathering, is totally blind and plays goalie but didn’t love his first experience in the sport.
“I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I started getting into it six years ago. I tried it out and hated it at first,” said Webber, who lost his sight when he was a teenager but got into blind hockey around 2013.
“Not at all what I remembered hockey to be when I was sighted…when I first tried blind hockey, I wasn’t playing goalie. That’s where I was meant to be.”
Webber represented Canada in 2019 and is captain of Edmonton SeeHawks. He hopes to see the game catch on in Central Alberta.
“It’s a way of meeting new people and getting out in the community. Showing people that you may be blind or visually impaired, but you are still enjoying our national sport just like everybody else is,” added Webber.
There are currently 22 blind hockey programs across Canada, including the two Alberta teams, the SeeHawks and Calgary Seeing Ice Dogs.
For those in Central Alberta looking for more information, check out www.blindicehockey.com/ or the Central Alberta Bullseye Facebook page.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
