After an action-packed first day of camp, the Sled Hockey Player Development Camp continued Tuesday in Amherst, New York. The overarching theme of Day 2 focused primarily on health, wellness and nutrition.
The players took to the ice in the morning for another productive 30-minute practice. All athletes attended an afternoon classroom discussion to talk about nutrition tips and developing a nutrition plan that works for each individual. Continuing with the theme of health and wellness, teams paired off into two groups for an afternoon yoga session to prepare for the games that night.
After an hour of down time and a nutritious dinner, players made their way back to the rink for their second scrimmages of camp, with the white team taking on the gold team and the royal blue team facing the red team.
It all came down to the wire in the white vs. gold matchup and in the end the result was decided in a shoot out. Drew Rigney gave team white an early 1-0 lead, but Ben Maenza evened the score just over 10 minutes later. Regulation ended locked in a 1-1 tie and the game went into a shootout where team gold claimed the victory. Click here for the box score.
Rob Easley notched two goals and Catherine Faherty added another for the royal blue team and to lift them past the red team, 3-2. Five different players recorded points for the red team, including Kasey Yates and Evan Nichols who both scored for the red team. Red team goaltender Chase Molinari recorded 11 saves while team blue goaltender duo Sean Gallagher and Taggart VanderMolen combined for 15 saves.
Two-time Paralympic gold medalist and two-time world champion Rico Roman is serving as one of our Paralympic mentor coaches for the 2019 Sled Hockey Player Development Camp.
Rico, who has played eight seasons with the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team, is coaching the white team. Noah Grove (gold), Luke McDermott (blue) and Jack Wallace (red) are serving as the other Paralympian mentor coaches. All four helped Team USA bring home gold medals at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games and the 2019 Men’s Para Ice Hockey World Championship.
A native of Portland, Oregon, Rico has represented the United States in two Paralympic Winter Games, four world championships, eight Para Hockey Cups and other international events.