Visually-impaired hockey players arrive in Ottawa for debut tournament

When he stepped on the RA Centre's ice Saturday afternoon, Ottawa's Stuart McGregor didn't know what to expect.

McGregor, 37, is one of about 30 visually-impaired hockey players from across North America taking part this weekend in what organizers say is their first tournament ever in the nation's capital.

"It was really fast. Really high intensity. The puck moved really quick, a lot faster than I expected, " said McGregor, who has about 10 per cent peripheral vision in each eye and was playing for the first time.

"It was hockey. It wasn't some pickup game at the local rink. It was legit hockey."

Players from across Canada, U.S.

Players from teams as far away as Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago and New York are in the city for the two-day, three-game competition put on by the Canadian Blind Hockey association.

For those who've never seen blind hockey before: it's played by athletes who have no more than 10 per cent of their vision. Those with the most vision play forward, while those with little vision are typically defencemen or — in the case of players who are completely blind — goaltenders.

"If you're a goalie, you've just got your net to take care of. Your hearing is optimized. So it's just natural that they would be in net," said Mark Bentz, Canadian Blind Hockey's vice-president.

The puck is also larger-than-regulation size — it's nearly 14 centimetres across and 5 centimetres tall — and its hollow centre contains ball bearings that rattle around, alerting players to its movement across the ice.

Nets are smaller, and players are required to complete a pass in the attacking half of the rink, which gives defenders an extra opportunity to track the puck.

'It's really growing'

While blind hockey as a sport has been around for about 35 years, a national organization only sprung up about five years ago, said Bentz.

That's led to increasing interest, with about 150 players across Canada — and teams are now sprouting up in the United States, Bentz said, and beyond.

"Russia was over here last weekend, at one of our demo games in Pittsburgh. They just emailed us two days ago, and they're going to start a couple teams in Russia," Bentz said. "So it's really growing."

There's no Ottawa team yet, but there could be one day — although McGregor says he's probably got some work to do before he makes the squad.

"These guys are ten steps ahead of me right now," he said. "[But] hopefully they'll have me back some time."

Two games were held Saturday, with the final game taking place today at 12 p.m. at the RA Centre.