ESWG adaptive sled hockey action coming to civic center

by Rich Rosentreter

The Empire State Winter Games will return to the Tri-Lakes Region February 3 to 6 and Tupper Lake is scheduled to host adaptive sled hockey at the civic center. The Games will feature athletes from across New York State and others area of the Northeast to compete in more than 30 winter sports events.

The ESWG are returning to the region after being canceled last year due to the pandemic. Although most of the events will take place in Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, many local athletes take part in the competition, such as figure skaters and several levels of youth hockey players. About 2,000 athletes are expected to take part in the ESWG and being a resident of the state is not a requirement to participate. The sled hockey competition replaces the other hockey events that have taken place at the civic center in previous years.

On January 11, ESWG officials hosted a meet-and-greet session at the civic center that included several sled hockey athletes along with Tupper Lake Mayor Paul Maroun, who expressed his support for the upcoming games.

“To think of the people and the time and the energy that puts this together here (Tupper Lake), Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, the whole North Country benefits from it,” Mr. Maroun told the audience. “And it’s great to have the president of Community Bank here today, because they did keep this event (ESWG) going during the years when things were tight and we’re so glad to have them here in Tupper Lake.”

Mr. Maroun said the ESWG is good for the region and he will keep working hard to keep the Games moving ahead.

“The Empire State Games have to continue because it’s not only a great thing for Lake Placid and Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake and for tourism, it’s a great for the participants. These kids really do a great job and outstanding job,” he said, as he reflected to the women’s hockey games that have been played. “They play hard hockey! It’s great for the young children to see this in the community and it’s great for the community. I want to thank everybody for being here today. I hope you enjoy this facility.”

Adirondack Sports Council managing director Chris Carroll said his organization is excited to have sled hockey in Tupper Lake.

“This really an amazing event. It brings together amazing young athletes,” he said, adding praise to the local civic center, a place he had not been to before. “This is really an amazing place.”

According to ESWG spokesman Jon Lundin, there is a connection between these Games and the Winter Olympics, which are also taking place in February. The ESG have produced 34 athletes who have gone on to compete in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Olympic Games, and 12 of them have gone on to win Olympic medals, he said.

“These Empire State Games are a catalyst for many athletes to go on to compete in other international events,” Lundin said.

Teams

According to Lundin, many of the teams competing in the ESWG will be composed of Wounded Warriors and wounded veterans and a couple of players will have actually tried out and had participated in selections for the U.S. Paralympic hockey team.

“We will have eight teams as of now competing in Tupper Lake and it’s the first time the civic center has held this tournament,” he said. “One of the reasons we held this was to help introduce the media to this great facility and introduce some of these players to the rink they’ll be playing on.”

There will be plenty of players who hail from the North Country playing sled hockey, with many of them coming from the Fort Drum, Lundin said.

“Unfortunately in the Tri-Lakes area there is not a league for adaptive athletes for hockey,” he added. “Our hope is that disabled athletes see this and they are inspired by these athletes and maybe in the future there will be a team or league from this area that will play.

Lundin also used his past experience watching the sport to give people an idea of what they can expect to see during the ESWG at the civic center.

“I have seen a lot of sled hockey, and these are fantastic athletes. I think if you sit in the stands you will be amazed by the speed and the precision of these athletes. They take it very seriously, it could be a physical game as well. There’s as much emotion as you see in an NHL game or a high school game, there’s a greater amount of emotion here with sled hockey,” he said. “I think it’s something people really should see and they’ll really come to appreciate.”

Sled hockey

The basics of sled hockey is explained on the ESWG website, which states that the sport “follows most typical ice hockey rules, with the exception of the equipment. Players sit in specially designed sleds that sit on top of two hockey skate blades. There are two sticks for each player instead of one and the sticks have metal pics on the butt end for players to propel themselves. Goalies make modifications to their gloves — metal picks are sewn into the backside to allow the goalie to maneuver.”

“Sled hockey provides opportunity for many types of disabilities and there are opportunities available in local areas for recreation/competition all the way to the National Sled Team that plays in the Paralympics,” it reads.

Rachel Grusse and Randy Gollinger were two of the sled hockey athletes who visited the civic center on January 11 to introduce themselves and their sport to the community.

Grusse, is 29 years old and from Vernon, Connecticut. She plays for the Boston Ice Storm and is a member of the U.S. National Women’s Sled Hockey Development Team - and set to play the ESWG with the Central Vermont Pioneers, who won the silver medal in 2020.

Grusse was born without a spleen and lost both legs at 15 months old when they were amputated below the knees due to an infection. She has played wheelchair basketball, competed in the Paralympic swim trials, competed on able-bodied soccer and swim teams in high school and has tried gymnastics and wheelchair lacrosse.

“It helps with mental health. The level of exercise, being around people who are in similar situations who enjoy the sport that you do is very good in general. The sled community can be similar to a family at times, having the community that sled hockey provides is fantastic,” she said in a prepared statement, adding what she enjoys most about the game. “Checking. I definitely think people don’t really know how physical it is. I’ve had people come watch games and they’re surprised I’m checking male players, maybe two times my size. I don’t really think much about it.”

“There’s something very freeing about being on the ice. I felt like it was a lot easier to move for me. I liked the physicality of it too You get to hip check somebody,” Grusse said. “Gliding on the ice, I have a sense of freedom when I’m skating. Breathing in that cold air just feels so good.”

Randy Gollinger, is a military veteran and lost his leg and an eye at 19 when his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006. He was a multi-sport athlete growing up in small-town, and was the 2021 ESWG sled hockey player of the year. His team won silver medal in the 2020 ESWG.

Gollinger said he got started in sled hockey after getting encouragement from his girlfriend – he watched others play sports but could not join in until she pushed him to try sled hockey. He said once he tried to give it a try, he was hooked and it truly changed his life for the positive.

“Every year I felt like I was dying one year at a time,” he said in a prepared statement. “The moment I first sat in a sled I felt almost at peace. This is what I was meant to do.”

Both Grusse and Gollinger will be competing in the ESWG at the civic center.

ESWG

The ESWG will include sports such as downhill skiing and snowboarding, cross-country skiing, bobsled, luge, biathlon, figure skating, ski jumping, sled hockey, speedskating, snowshoeing and winter biking among others.

Sport venues are located locally at the Tupper Lake civic center and in Lake Placid, Wilmington, Saranac Lake, Malone, and Paul Smiths. Venues include: Lake Placid Olympic Center Herb Brooks Arena, Lake Placid Olympic Jumping and Sliding complexes, Whiteface Mountain, Paul Smith's College, Paul Smith's College VIC, Saranac Lake Civic Center Ice Rink, Dewey Mountain Recreation Area, Olympic Cross Country and Biathlon Center, Titus Mountain and Mount Pisgah.

This year, the Opening Ceremony will be held outdoors at the village beach at Mirror Lake on Thursday, February 3.

For more information on the ESWG including a complete schedule, visit www.empirestatewintergames.com.