Nick and Pedro arrive at Staples Center at an obscene hour in the morning.

The Junior Reign sled hockey team made a big statement at Staples Center during LA Kings Hockey Fest on September 8. They played a scrimmage in front of some of the most devoted hockey fans in Southern California. The team was severed into two squads; a "blue team" and a "white team."  Both teams were conglomerates of both kids and adults from the program, and they were balanced as much as possible. The scrimmage consisted of three periods of five minutes each, and a short break in between to regroup.

The players waiting to get out on the ice. They entered the ice through the Zamboni gate.

Ethan got in his sled on the ice in front of the crowd so they could have a visual idea that this is a team for people with mobility disabilities. Ethan's dad helped him get strapped in. 

Pedro opened up the scoring with a goal for "white team" and followed it up with another goal the next period with an assist from Terry. However, "blue team" answered back with a goal by Wes and assist by Charlie. (I didn't see who scored the blue goal, but Pedro was my source on that.) The final score was 2-1 "white team," but either way, the Junior Reign won because both sides consisted of Junior Reign sled hockey players.

In addition to Summer, our regular goalie, Andrew volunteered to go to the net for the other side. We didn't have any goalie equipment except Summer's old glove and blocker, so Andrew borrowed those. He is right handed, but Summer is a lefty. In addition to not actually being a goalie, Andrew was not using a goalie sled and was using left-handed equipment. We appreciate his willingness to do what needed to be done, and he did well.

The athletes for the teams were divided as follows:

White Team:                   Blue Team:
ANDREW (G)                   SUMMER (G)
JEFFREY                          ANGEL
TERRY                               BROCK
PEDRO                               MEL
NICHOLAS                       WILLIAM
SILVERIO                         WES
HAYLEIGH                      ETHAN
BRIAN                               CHARLIE

Coached by Jake              Coached by Jim

Charlie, Brian, and Wes outside of Staples Center.

Charlie, Brian, and Wes in their sled hockey gear.

The demo had no officiating, but the horn sounded when goals were made, and the score went up on the board. Dave Joseph provided in-game announcing, and the puck was dropped to begin the periods by Kings players Ben Scrivens and Daniel Carcillo. In addition, those two players provided color commentary during the game.

Daniel Carcillo adding color commentary while Dave Joseph and Ben Scrivens look on.

After the demo game, audience members were invited to get into sleds for a donation. Several kids at Hockey Fest were able to try out hockey sleds on Staples Center ice. In addition, Scrivens and Carcillo decided to give the sleds a spin. This was a lot of fun for our athletes as well as the people trying the sleds out. 

Note to either Scrivens or Carcillo (if you are even reading this). One of you hit a puck at the helmet of the white team's goalie. He wasn't sure which one of you did it, but he noted that you apologized profusely about it. I hope this doesn't keep you up at night. He was a college hockey player, and I'm sure he's been rocked harder than that in his life without suffering permanent dain bramage.

Meanwhile, Dave (Coach Andrew's dad) and Christie spent a lot of their time at Staples Center manning the merchandise table. They were selling travel coffee mugs like they were going out of style, and also  encouraging people to bid on some silent auction items donated by the Kings.

Dave holds down the merch table with some help from friends.

We had several positive comments from people about the sled hockey demo, and we have to say that we really enjoyed working with the Kings staff. Their professionalism was fantastic, but it was outshined by their passion for making this event work in a positive way for us and our team.

Brock and Nick. This was Nick's first day back to hockey since his surgery
in August, He still had stitches. You can see his scar healing on his head. 

Jeffrey

One thrill for some of the players was when they noticed that several of the Kings players took their seats in the stands to watch the sled hockey game. "I watch them play hockey all the time. Now they got to watch me!" one of the kids said.

Colin Fraser, Willie Mitchell, Jeff Schultz, Justin Williams, and Jarret Stoll take their seats at Staples Center to watch the sled hockey game. Not pictured, Robin Regehr, and two others that I couldn't tell. Hey! Give me a little break! I couldn't see that well from across the rink. 

One of the challenges with running a sled hockey program is that many people have never heard of it. Many times, when we describe the sport, people look at us with a wild look in their eyes. "Are you serious? This isn't a Saturday Night Live sketch? You really strap wheelchair users in a sled and make them play hockey?" Events like this help raise the profile of the sport in the area. We appreciate the opportunity to introduce sled hockey to Southern California! 

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On that note, keep selling the travel coffee mugs. We have a few left from our original shipment, and all proceeds go toward our sled hockey program as we raise money to take the adults to Pittsburgh for the NHL Sled Classic, as well as plan a 3 on 3 tourney for our U-18 players.

We have a few other opportunities to travel and play this season, including a trip to the Bay Area, a trip to Bakersfield, possibly sending a few athletes to Boston for the Disabled Hockey Festival in the spring, and sending one or two athletes to USA Hockey's Sled Select Camp in Buffalo next summer.

To purchase the mugs online, go to www.LAKings.com/sled

All of those events and tourneys cost money, and our fundraising efforts will determine how many of those things we can do.

Each mug has both logos on it, one on each side.

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Volunteer Appreciation coming soon! Our team has many wonderful volunteers, from the coaches on the ice, to the parents and others off the ice. We can't tell you how much we love you, so we decided we'll show you by having a Volunteer Appreciation night. No details on the date or time, but no-doubt it will include some sort of food and fun. Plus, we'll take this opportunity to get a little volunteer training in as well and plan some events for the upcoming season. 

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The Oxnard Riptide sled hockey program is having a free clinic on September 21 from 4:30 to 7:00 PM at Channel Islands Ice. The rink is located at 830 Wagon Wheel Drive in Oxnard. It's free. If you are one of our team members, take your sled and gear and get 2 hours of free ice time to work on your game! One of the benefits of going to a clinic is that you can help teach sled hockey to a new person who has never tried the sport before. Take the trip and enjoy! (Brock, Mel, and William Waidmann are on this team, so those of you who have seen them at events will recognize them there.)

To register for their event, click here.

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Hydrocephalus Walk: Sunday, September 29 at Exposition Park in Los Angeles
For details, go here. You can register to walk yourself or sponsor someone. Approximately five of the athletes on our team have hydrocephalus, including my own son Nick (who had a shunt revision in August and was just recently released to play hockey). In addition, two of the athletes representing USA in Sochi on the National Sled Hockey Team have shunted hydrocephalus as well (though neither of them are on our team here in California). Though this doesn't benefit our sled hockey team directly, it's something near and dear to our hearts. 

If you just want to sponsor someone (but don't know someone personally), try sponsoring Alec Martinez here. 

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Just for fun...
If you are on Facebook, don't forget to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/JuniorReignSledHockey/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/SoCalSledHockey/.

If you are on Twitter, don't forget to follow SoCalSledHockey and Epistrophy68.

In addition, for those on Twitter, it wouldn't hurt to follow some of the members on our US National Sled Hockey Team. They are:

Assistant Captain Josh Sweeney - SledSweeney13
Josh Pauls - spudsusa9
Taylor Lipsett - usasledsniper7
Steve Cash - stevecash34
Assistant Captain Taylor Chace - TaylorChace
Declan Farmer - 6DFarmer
Team Captain Andy Yohe - AndyYohe
Kevin McKee- McKee25
Dan McCoy - mcsled14 

Rico Roman - RicoSled23

...and for the US National Women's Team, follow

Kelsey DiClaudio - kelseydiclaudio
and Christy Gardner - CLGardner19

And, I will leave you with this last happy picture of Hayleigh riding the Zamboni. This was a thrill for her and all she talked about after the scrimmage.