Para Ice Hockey Tournament in Regina hosting 11 teams from prairie provinces

The Para Ice Hockey Tournament in Regina is hosting 11 teams from the prairie provinces this weekend. (Damian Smith / CTV News)

This weekend saw the annual Para Ice Hockey Tournament take place at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, with 11 teams from Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.

There were two divisions, the junior divisions for players under 15, and the senior which starts at 16 years of age.

In her second year, Regina Junior Avengers forward Madisyn Hipfner has found her favourite sport.

“I always wanted to play stand up hockey, but I just never learned how to skate. So, I saw this opportunity to play sled hockey, and I thought it was really cool,” she said.

She felt an interest in the sport from her step-grandma, whose friends are coaches on the senior Avengers team.

She recalls the challenge of trying a new sport, but quickly started to gain confidence as she got more reps.

“It was pretty hard because I kept tripping over constantly and I didn’t know my position yet, so it was pretty hard.”

Moving northeast to Melville, first year center Noah Lang is fitting into the sport quite nicely.

“I couldn’t start playing because I couldn’t play normal hockey because there was no one to take me. Right now, I think it’s really fun,” he said.

He said his friend, who was originally going to quit the sport, said he should join the team. Just a few months into playing the sport, Lang is enjoying his time with the Melville Sledge Dogs.

He says he likes to play aggressively and physically. When asked about his favourite part of watching sledge hockey, it’s a fitting answer to his play style.

“When they hit. It’s really funny when they fall down after being hit I think,” he said.

While sledge hockey doesn’t include two skates on the ice, there are two sticks for each player. Players such as Hipfner workout three times per week to work on forearm strength. For Lang, this was a tough part to get used to.

“In normal hockey, you play normally on one side with one stick, which generates a lot of power, but in sledge hockey you have two sticks and you have to generate a lot of power to get the puck in the air.”

Travelling four hours west of Regina, the Kindersley Klippers have a notable presence of sledge hockey in their town of under 5,000 people, according to the 2021 Canadian census. Kindersley also hosts a sledge hockey tournament of their own.

Forward and goalie JB Newmeyer has enjoyed learning the game but also finding friendships.

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“Getting to know people a lot and learning about their story. That’s really a nice part about it. They’ve had bumpy roads, and some with smooth roads. That’s nice to know,” he said when asked about his favourite part of the sport.

Newmeyer’s teammate, Kristen Drozd, is the opposite, enjoying her five-year career flipping through positions. Now, she likes the part of defending for the Klippers. She said she tried goaltender but said there’s a few more challenges with it.

“It’s harder to move around and switch positions when you’re in the net,” she said.

Playing forward for the day, Newmeyer said that playing goalie is certainly a goal for the near future.

“It’s nice to feel good when you get a stop and they’re banging up the boards for you. It feels really good.”

The tournament wraps on Sunday afternoon with the Intermediate final at 11:15 a.m. in the RMP arena.