Grassroots para ice hockey group gaining momentum

Back in his minor hockey days in Quesnel, James Gemmell was a sniper.

He could pick the eye out of a snake with his shot and made a habit of filling opposition nets.

Years later as an oilpatch worker he put his love of hockey aside and developed habits that were not so healthy. He lived life to the fullest and had a hard time saying no to the party lifestyle that nearly consumed him.

At age 24, Gemmell was involved in a car accident in August 2004 that forever changed his life. He was ejected from a car being driven by a drunk driver, left with injuries that resulted in the amputation of his right leg above the knee.

"I sat around feeling sorry for myself for two years until I found sledge hockey," said Gemmell, a native of 100 Mile House. "I don't know where I'd be without it. When I was in my accident I was working in the oil field and I was not up to a lot of good. I got myself into a lot of trouble and got away from hockey for awhile and was brought back to it because of my accident.

"I always tell everybody sledge hockey saved my life. It got me back to living a positive life. Now I travel the world playing hockey and get to go talk to kids in every city we go to and be a positive role model for kids all over our country, which is one of the best feelings in the world. There's nothing else you could ever want."

Now in his ninth season with the national team, Gemmell won the IPC world championship with Team Canada twice (2013 and 2017) and has two Paralympic Games medals - silver in Pyeongchang in 2018 and bronze in Sochi in 2014.

Last Sunday, Gemmell came to Prince George with some of his friends from Quesnel to join forces with a local group from the Northern Adapted Sports Association (NASA) and provide a demonstration of the sport.

This is the first year NASA has offered para ice hockey, adding to its list of team activities which also includes wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. Sunday's hockey practice was the fourth of 10 NASA sessions. As many as 17 players (able-bodied as well as those with physical disabilities) have participated in the weekly practices.

"The biggest feedback we've gotten is people want more icetime," said Brandy Stiles, NASA's program director. "There's definitely an interest and we're just excited to have an opportunity to get out and play and get people active and involved, and if we can one day bring it to a higher level that would be super-exciting as well."

The Prince George group has 25 members and 23 sledges. On average, about 15 players have been turning up. Quesnel also has an entry-level group playing para ice hockey and with Gemmell's assistance Stiles hopes to eventually have games involving players from both cities.

Gemmell first discovered what was then known as sledge hockey after watching the 2006 Paralympics in Turin, Italy, while he was recovering from his accident at G.F. Strong rehabilitation centre in Vancouver. He started playing that year for the Surrey-based B.C. Eagles, and by 2008 he was on the national squad, the first B.C.-born player ever to play for the team.

"I saw a bunch of other one-legged guys out there playing a really physical game and I just fell in love with it," said Gemmell. "I grew up playing hockey and it's always been part of my life and I had the opportunity and took it."

At 38, he's now the oldest player on Team Canada. Gemmell plies his trade on the ice as a defenceman, a position nobody else wanted when he first started playing with the Eagles. Seven months later he was invited to his first national team camp.

Para ice hockey players are strapped into sleds that are balanced usually on one blade. Each player holds two curved sticks with metal teeth at the butt end which they drive into the ice to propel their sleds. They use their sticks on either side to shoot or pass the puck.

"It's physically demanding, your arms aren't meant to skate with," said Gemmell. "It's just a challenging game all around, but I wouldn't want that to scare anybody away. It's rewarding. It's hockey, the greatest sport in the world. I'd highly recommend anybody giving it a shot."

Sledge hockey has been part of the Paralympics since 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway.

As the lone wolf from B.C., Gemmell has had offers to move to Toronto, where most of the national team players live, but he doesn't want to leave his home province where he has his own business, Ridgetop K9 Boarding Kennels in Quesnel.

After nine years of playing the sport at the highest level, Gemmell is at a point now where he's never felt better about his own skill level, but he admits he's still evolving as an athlete.

In February, Gemmell will gather with his teammates for a national team training camp in Toronto. They'll have a series with the U.S. national team, then head to the Czech Republic for the IPC world championship in May. He's hoping the Russians will be there.

"We haven't seen Russia since 2014," he said. "We'd love to have them around - another competitive rival. The first time we played them it was an instant rivalry."

Trevor Adelman, a friend of Gemmell's from Quesnel, plays para ice hockey for the B.C. provincial team and was among the group demonstrating the sport Sunday at Kin 1. Adelman lost the use of his legs in a car accident but hasn't let that get in the way of a successful career as a stock car racer who wins regularly in the provincial WESCAR late-model racing series. Like Gemmell, Adelman was a hockey player all through minor hockey and was still active in the sport at the time of his accident in 2004. He played para ice hockey for a few years in his early-20s and came back to it a few years ago.

"Physically, it's tough to stay in good shape when you're disabled and to have other people to guide you, like James, it really motivates you," said Adelman.

"He tries harder than anybody and he knows what it takes to be a pro athlete. Even if I never get to his level it still gives me personal satisfaction training and pushing myself to be a better person all around."

Adelman is preparing for the national tournament in May in London, Ont. One of the Team B.C. goalies is Trent Seymour of Prince George, who lost the use of his legs a few years ago in a hunting accident.

For more information on NASA's para ice hockey program go to northernadaptedsports.ca or call 250-649-9501.