2010 Paralympic Winter Games: Ice Sledge Hockey

People have been asking me why the lack in blog posts and really it comes down to one reason; the Paralympics. Even though the 2010 Winter Olympics have come and gone, there still has been a bit of a buzz in the air around the Paralympics.

I managed to obtain accreditation through the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) with the approval from VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) to photograph the sporting events. People have asked me how did I obtain such a difficult feat, but in all honesty it wasn’t all too difficult. It seems that the accreditation process for the Paralympics is much more lax than it was for the Olympics. I sent an email off in the beginning of March asking about the potential to become accredited as a freelance photographer. I was initially declined due to missing the February 28th cut-off date.

Later I noticed that Rebecca obtained her accreditation due to an extended cut-off date which was March 10th. Since I had correspondence before this particular date, I too was able to obtain accreditation. It’s fun when you get a phone call  in which I was asked if I wanted to be accredited. Of course!

I was excited, and my first event photographing would be an Ice Sledge Hockey game; Canada versus Norway. I have never seen Ice Sledge Hockey and was curious as how it was played. I was excited to see it in action.

Ice Sledge Hockey is similar to regular hockey (of course though using International Ice Hockey Federation Rules) but instead of standing on skates, players sit themselves on sledges that are fit with two blades. They also use double-ended sticks, one in each hand. One side of each stick as a sharp point and the other end is curved like a regular hockey stick to pass and shoot the puck.

When I first arrived at Thunderbird Arena (UBC), I was expecting security like that when Robyn and I went to the Ski Jump event up at the WOP (Whistler Olympic Park). You know, the walk-through metal detectors, our bags scanned via X-ray machines and a generally large presence of security members. This was not the case, and over the course of the Paralympics I have heard that the security was pretty lax in general.

When I signed in and received my Green Photog Armband (I get to keep this one!), I headed into the arena to look around. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of lighting such as that of GM Place but I was impressed when I got out on to ice level. The light was bright and didn’t seem to cycle (or at least it didn’t look like it). The stands of course don’t hold as many people as GM place, but they quickly filled up. I was told this was a Sold-Out game. What Team Canada game isn’t ever sold out?

I was amazed at how this game played out, not the game in particular, but how Ice Sledge Hockey works. There seems to be more action in this game than your typical NHL game. They slam each other around with their sledges, flip over, collide with one another, it’s great fun to watch. This particular game the crowd was crazy throughout the whole thing!

It was a great experience and I am sure the other games that have happened since have been fantastic. Yes it’s a bit of a downer that Canada lost to Japan and then went to loose the Bronze medal with a minute left, but I had heard it was a great game and a lot of fun to watch.

It was a great way to start of my accreditation journey and a great sport not only to capture with my camera, but to watch it as well.

If you want to check out the rest of the photos I have uploaded of this particular game, head over to my Ice Sledge Hockey – CDN vs NOR Flickr photoset.