prince harry justin trudeau sledge hockey 2

Let a new Games begin

In helping Prince Harry launch the 2017 Invictus Games, Canada’s National Sledge Team showcased its sport on a global level

Wendy Graves
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May 4, 2016
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There was something different about the way Canada’s National Sledge Team looked on Monday.

Gone were the red and white jerseys the team usually wears; instead, the players donned black and gold, the words “I AM” emblazoned across their chests.

The team was at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ont., invited to play an intrasquad game to help officially launch the 2017 Invictus Games, taking place in the city next September.

Among the other notable attendees were Mayor John Tory, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prince Harry.

Two years ago Prince Harry, who served in the British Army for 10 years, created the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for military personnel – both active and veteran – who’ve been wounded or suffered life-changing illnesses while serving their country.

Next year in Toronto more than 600 competitors from 16 countries will take part in 12 sports, including, for the first time, sledge hockey.

“This is Canada – everything happens on ice, doesn’t it?” Prince Harry asked the crowd, including 1,800 local school kids. “The only thing that worries me is somebody somewhere is already thinking about how they’re going to get me on the ice to play this. Looking at these guys, I’m already going to say no.”

Before the team demonstrated its sport, goaltender Dominic Larocque addressed the crowd. Larocque was a corporal in the Canadian Forces when he lost his left leg in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2007. He talked about how sports helped him recover – more mentally than even physically – from his injury.

Larocque was later joined for the ceremonial face-off by Antoine Lehoux, a member of Canada’s National Sledge Development Team, who served in the infantry with the Canadian Forces and lost his right leg in a bus accident in 2012.

Both players met privately with Prince Harry and Trudeau prior to the exhibition game and presented the pair with Hockey Canada jerseys. The players shared their military backgrounds before shifting to hockey.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to talk but we talked about the sport,” says Lehoux. “How to play it and the skill we have to play it.”

During the exhibition game – two five-minute periods – Prince Harry and the Prime Minister stood on the Gold team’s bench, where Lehoux further explain the intricacies of the game.

“They were impressed with the sport,” says Tyler McGregor, a member of Canada’s National Sledge Team since 2012. “They seemed very intrigued by it and they just seemed very happy to be there and to introduce sledge hockey to the Invictus Games. They had nothing but good things to say and we really appreciated them doing this for us.”

Head coach Ken Babey managed the Black team. “It was different than when I’m usually on the bench and we’re playing the United States or Russia,” he says. “In this case it was a friendly and fun. I wish the game would have kept on going because it was a good game and the guys were playing hard.”

Gold struck first, on a two-on-one, early in the second period, but Black responded with three unanswered goals to win the game.

Babey wasn’t able to chat with the other team’s “coaches” but, always the coach himself, saw an upside.

“I wanted to have a chance with them, but the Black team, we beat them, so we’re happy about that,” he says, laughing.

The real winner, though, was sledge hockey itself.

“Every time we show our sport and more people know about the sport it’s better for us,” says Larocque. “We have a chance to get more kids trying the sport and having a chance to join the national team in the future. We need more people practicing the sport, so every time we have a chance to show the sport it’s a great opportunity for us.”

Thanks to the presence of the dignitaries, media outlets from across the country – and around the world – either covered the event live or featured it on their newscasts and other platforms.

“I think we got a lot of global coverage today and that’s absolutely incredible,” says McGregor. “Hopefully we’ll attract a lot of new fans but also some potential new players. If there are some athletes out there who have never heard of sledge hockey, maybe today was an opportunity to bring light to the sport and hopefully it interested them and they’re encouraged to come try it out.”

For the two military veterans on the ice, increasing the visibility of the game was important, but both Larocques and Lehoux also used the word ‘pride’ when talking about the day.

“I’m a soldier. I’m a member of a national team, too,” says Larocque. “For me it’s an honour to be able to meet a prince and a prime minister and show my sport.”

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

[email protected] 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

[email protected]

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

[email protected]

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