Ice Sledge Hockey

Ice sledge hockey was invented at a Swedish rehabilitation centre in the early 1960s, when a group of athletes with a disability decided they wanted to continue playing hockey. The Swedes took two regular ice hockey skates and built a metal frame (called a sledge) to fit on top, with enough room for the puck to pass underneath. Using short poles to propel themselves along the ice, the men played the first ice sledge hockey match outdoors, on a lake south of Stockholm. By 1969, Stockholm had a five-team ice sledge hockey league.

Ice sledge hockey debuted at the 1994 Paralympic Winter Games in Lillehammer.

Ice sledge hockey follows all the International Ice Hockey Federation rules, with a few small modifications.

Instead of standing on skates, players sit on aluminum or steel sledges fitted with two blades. They grip two double-ended sticks, one in each hand. One end of the stick has a sharp pick that the players use to propel the sledge, the other has a curved blade to pass and shoot the puck.

Eight ice sledge hockey teams compete in round-robin tournaments, where winning teams advance to the playoff rounds. A team must not have more than six players on the ice while play is in progress. The object is for one team to get the puck (a hard black rubber disc) past the other team’s goaltender and into the goal.

A regular game consists of three 15-minute periods.

For more information on Ice Sledge Hockey, visit the IPC's website or Hockey Canada.