Get discounted tickets to support NAC’s para sled hockey athletes

Sled hockey. Photo: Connor Mah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The National Ability Center (NAC) will be the Nonprofit-of-the-Night at the able-bodied Utah Grizzlies vs. Idaho Steelheads hockey game on Thursday, November 17 at 7 p.m. at the Maverick Center.

Purchase tickets here for $10 (reg $25.)

“We will have the opportunity to take over the ice in our adaptive hockey sleds and share stories about the #AdaptiveNation,” said an NAC representative in a statement. “So gather up your NAC gear and come out with us for a night of community and celebration!”

For decades, NAC sled hockey athletes have trained at the Park City Ice Arena, and nine-time Olympics announcer from Park City, Carl Roepke, includes Paralympic sled hockey on his resume.

Sled Hockey, also called Sledge Hockey, is a high-energy, rowdy, fast-paced adaptive sport. It is similar to standard hockey in every way except for equipment. Instead of standing up to skate, players sit on their skates using an adaptive device known as a sled, which is affixed with two skate blades and a runner in the front to form a tripod. Participants use two shortened hockey sticks with a blade on one end and a pick on the other, which allows them to propel themselves across the ice. Hard checking, elevated puck shooting, and 60-mile-an-hour slap shots are as much a part of sled hockey as in “stand-up” hockey.