AMI-audio is live at the 2019 Canadian Sledge Hockey Championship

After a year and a half of planning, the 2019 Canadian Sledge Hockey Championships are upon us. 

"We've been planning since January 2018," says tournament chair James Titmarsh. After the Ontario Sledge Hockey Association (OSHA) was informed the province would be hosting the 2019 championships, site visits began. The group settled on the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira, Ont., home to The Woolwich Thrashers Sledge Hockey Club. 

Sledge hockey was designed to allow participants who have a physical disability to play the game of ice hockey. The same rules in ice hockey apply, with six players on the ice, including a goalie. Players sit on a sledge, a narrow platform with skate blades attached to the bottom, and move using two specially constructed hockey sticks that have picks on the end. Players wear full hockey gear and are strapped onto the sledges. In most arenas, the players' benches are inaccessible and they sit on the ice along the boards in front of the benches between the blue line and red line. 

Not this year. Recent changes at the Woolwich Memorial Centre were the main reason this year's tournament is being held there.

"The arena became fully accessible almost years ago," Titmarsh says. "And based on the other arenas we looked at, and the community support and the volunteer support, location from airports and hospitality, it made perfect sense." 

The action begins on Friday, May 10, as teams from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec face off in games all weekend long. The tournament concludes Sunday, May 12, with the gold medal game. The Neutral Zone’s Brock Richardson, Cam Jenkins, Bret Wills, Jeff Ryman, David Rukavina, and Nicco Cardarelli, will be on-hand to live describe the gold medal tilt from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern on AMI-audio. 

When he's not organizing tournaments, Titmarsh is the vice-president of OSHA. Representing over 20 clubs and 400 plus players located across most of Ontario, OSHA is one of the largest provincial sports organizations for accessible sports. While OSHA was formed in 2006, sledge hockey began in the early 1990s; Titmarsh estimates the number of Ontario players—between recreational and competitive leagues—to be over 1,000. Players attending the tournament in Elmira range in age from late teens to early fifties and teams are co-ed.

"It's going to be three days of morning until night sledge hockey games," Titmarsh says. "It's going to be fun."

AMI-audio Live broadcast schedule 

How to listen

Tuning in is easy. Visit AMI.ca/listenlive on your mobile device and stream all our coverage, free! Access live description of what’s happening on the ice and exclusive AMI-audio content. You also have the option of listening on TV. AMI-audio is available on channel 49 on Bell, 196 on Rogers and 889 on Shaw. Visit AMI.ca/schedules for a full list of channels and service providers.  

Interviews from the tournament will be available the week after broadcast. Download the AMI-audio Live Podcast from any major podcasting app or platform including iTunes, Google Play and Spotify.