Friday 9 March 2018 23:01, UK
With the Winter Paralympics underway in Pyeongchang, we take a look at an increasingly popular sport that hopes to become part of the Games in the future.
The first Winter Paralympics took place in Sweden in 1976 and consisted of just two sports, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing.
The Games have expanded over the years, and the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics will feature 80 events across six different sports. But Matt Morrow, executive director at Blind Ice Hockey Canada, hopes to one day see his sport featured at the Winter Paralympics.
"Blind Ice Hockey has been played in Canada since the 1970s," he told Sky Sports.
"The Toronto Ice Owls had their 45th anniversary last season but it was never organised at a national level. Teams played using different adapted pucks and different rules.
"It was in 2010 that the leadership, three of the main clubs, myself and some other people got together and decided to have a meeting and say we need to get this sport on the same page.
"We needed to have some tournaments, so people can play against each other. That was the turning point for the sport going from being a recreational game to an actual para sport.
"I'm the only staff person the organisation has ever had. I've been working for Blind Ice Hockey for 10 years now and four years ago we started working with some American players to try to bring the sport down to the States (USA), and at that point we formed the International Blind Ice Hockey Federation with the goal of creating the World Championships and maybe one day competing in the Paralympic Games."
There are six major blind hockey events every year in North America. The Canadian National Blind Hockey Tournament is up next, between March 29 March and April, at Maple Leaf Gardens, the former home of NHL team the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now in its sixth year, between 75 and 85 players from across North America are expected to take part.
"Everyone gets a chance to play with and against people at their level," said Morrow.
"At adult level, the youngest tend to be teenagers [and] just for safety they need to be big enough to play with adults.
The youngest we've ever had in the adult division is 14. Our oldest players are in their early 80s, so the sport truly is a sport for life. Most players are in their 20s, 30s and 40s."
The USA Hockey Disabled Festival in San Jose, California takes place a few days later and Oxfordshire 29-year-old Nathan Tree will be the first person from outside of North America to compete in the tournaments.
He said: "Toronto is the epicentre of hockey and I've loved hockey since I was 11. I get to play in an old NHL rink which used to be the Toronto Maple Leafs rink.
"I get to go and see where it all happens, I'm going to go to the NHL Hall of fame and I'm hoping to see an NHL game whilst I'm there."
He explained: "Recently we've done a lot of stuff with the NHL Hockey is for everyone initiative. In terms of generating awareness. Other than that, it's on a club by club basis. Some of the clubs really do have tremendous support. Probably the best one is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They fund their blind hockey team. The Chicago blind hockey team get ice time donated and some other things. The Washington team get some ice time donated. We're trying to build these relationships and access more funding that way."
Morrow highlighted how the sport receives some support from NHL teams, but he hopes to strengthen these relationships in the future.
When asked about his hopes for the future of the sport, Morrow said: "Sometime in the next year we'll probably have the first ever USA v Canada match. From that point there we're really hoping to spurn interest and some European nations starting teams.
"We want to have a four nations cup in 2020 and ultimately see if we can get enough people on board to have a World Championships and apply for the Paralympic games."
How the game is played
Blind Hockey is played by visually impaired players who must be classified as eligible in one of the three International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) classifications ranging from B1 to B3.
B1 players have the least vision, while B3 players have the most vision. The game is played using custom three-foot high nets rather than the traditional four- foot nets to keep the puck low and near the ice so it can make noise and be tracked aurally.
Teams must complete one pass prior to being able to score in the attacking half of the rink - this provides both the low vision defence and the goalie an extra opportunity to track the puck.
The game is played with standard International Ice Hockey Federation safety protocols including no-touch icing, and crease violations to ensure utmost player safety and all players must wear full protective gear including face mask.
Morrow added: "All players are legally blind, your forwards tend to be B3s who have the most vision, they go up and down the ice it just looks like traditional hockey.
"The defensemen sometimes have less vision or are totally blind and some of them choose to stay at their own end to protect the front of the net and that way they don't get disorientated and they also have the goalie to communicate with.
"The goalies have extremely low vision or are completely blind and they wear blindfolds just to make sure it's fair."
