In blind hockey, hearing is everything. Players use their ears to track the hollow metal puck as it rattles along the ice.
It’s a challenge, especially for Sherwood Park’s Ryan Kucy. He’s legally blind and almost completely deaf.
“I can hear the puck but I can never really tell where it’s at.”
It sounds terribly frustrating, but Kucy insists he loves hockey. He always has. The first chapter of Kucy’s hockey journey is a familiar one. His dad taught him how to skate at a young age and enrolled him in a minor hockey league shortly after.
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“I played in a sighted league for a couple of years,” Kucy said with a laugh. “It was pretty embarrassing.”
Kucy didn’t play a whole lot of hockey after that. He’d suit up once a year to play shinny with his dad and his work friends, but that was pretty much it until he discovered the SeeHawks, Edmonton’s only blind and low-vision hockey team.
All of the sudden, Kucy was hitting the ice virtually every week instead of just once a year. He was playing the sport he loves, making friends and life-long memories along the way.
“I’ve always wanted to see Canada a little bit and hockey gives me an excuse to go and check it out.”
This weekend, Kucy and the rest of the SeeHawks are competing in the Canadian Blind Hockey Western Regional Tournament in Leduc. Like a true competitor, Ryan wants to help his team win, even though that’s not truly what this weekend is all about.
“Just being able to play, that’s the most important part,” Kucy said. “I don’t score a lot, so it’s just hanging out and having fun, maybe throwing a few big hit here and there.”
The Canadian Blind Hockey Western Regional Tournament kicks off at the Leduc Recreation Centre on Friday and is free to attend.
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