London Blizzard takes silver medal in 20th anniversary Sledge Hockey Tournament

The London Blizzard took home silver in its 20th annual Sledge Hockey tournament.

For two decades, the London Blizzard Sledge Hockey team has been growing their annual tournament.

“We had a wonderful 20th anniversary, teams from all over as far as Calgary and Atlantic provinces showed up,” said Chris Wood, president of the Blizzard and goaltender for the Intermediate B team.

“We had about 40 teams across all skill levels including some junior teams. It’s always nice to see the young ones out there skating.”

The Buffalo Sabres Sledge Hockey Team, who faced the Blizzard in the finals, are one of the few teams who have attended every year since the inception.

“20 years ago, I believe it was just a six-team tournament,” said Harold Coathe, head coach of the Sabres.

“We love coming up here to London. Great hospitality and the organization that hosts, the tournament is absolutely great.”

In the Int. B final, the Blizzard took a quick 2-0 lead on the Sabres, but the second period was a completely different story.

Buffalo scored six unanswered goals and would go onto win 6-3 to capture the gold medal.

“It’s always a shorter ride home when you go home with a gold,” joked Coathe.

The Blizzard is disappointed in silver, but understand they were up against a really strong club.

“They are tough,” said Wood.

“They found our weak spots and picked us apart. Next year, gold all the way for sure. We had tough competition with Buffalo, but it was great.”

Wood added the goal is to expand the tournament next year, bringing in more teams from across Canada and the United States.

Until then, they’d love to see their numbers grow.

“Everyone is welcome to play sledge,” said Wood.

“If anyone wants to come out and try it, you’re more than welcome. We play Wednesday nights at the Western Fair. We’d love to grow the program bigger in London.”