UNH student to compete in Paralympics

On the night of Oct. 6, 2002 Taylor Chace flew down the ice toward Ontario's goal. The 6 foot 1 inch, 180-pound left wing from Hampton sent the puck flying with a flick of his strong wrist a half-second away from taking the hardest hit of his life.

The puck sailed past the net and Chace flew head over heels into the boards.

"I never even saw it coming," remembers Chace. "The defenseman hit me harder than I had ever been hit in my life." Chace's back hit the plywood edge of the boards before he slid to the ice. Teammates gathered around, telling him to get up and shake it off, but he couldn't.

His vertebra was shattered.

But that has not stopped the 19-year-old, who is partially enrolled at UNH and will become a full-time student in the fall. While the 2006 Olympics kick-off today, Feb. 10 in Torino, Italy, Chace will be competing in a different kind of athletic event this year-the Paralympics in March.

Chace's injury had shattered his L-1 vertebra, which sent shards of bone into his spinal cord causing incomplete paralysis. The EMT's were unable to administer anything for the pain without knowledge of allergies. All Chace recalls of the hours after the injury is through a haze of pain. After roughly six hours of surgery, the doctor had removed all the bits of bone from his spinal cord to prevent further injury.

"The doctor told me I would never play sports again. There was a small chance I would walk again with the use of a cane. That was my focus, I knew I would walk again."

Now Chace is in Colorado skating for the U.S. Men's Sledge Hockey Team competing for the U.S.A. Cup. The focus of the team in Colorado will be power plays and forging the bonds they will need to overcome Norway's dominant size and passing game; seven of the U.S. players are under the age of 20, including 19 year-old Chace. In March, Chace will be competing in the 2006 Paralympics, fulfilling a goal that once seemed impossible.

The road to Torino was long and uncertain for the former stand-up hockey player. Chace struggled the last couple of years to start a remarkable recovery at the Northeast Rehabilitation Center in Salem, N.H. He returned home on Nov. 9 continuing his rehabilitation with four three-hour sessions each week.

By December he was able to walk with a cane and in the spring of 2005 he could walk unassisted, but traditional skating was out of the question and hockey-only a dream. It was through his sister, Meredith, that Chace was introduced to sled hockey. "She was helping out with Northeast Passage and she was like 'Here's a sport you can try even thought you can't play stand up hockey.' I had to try it."

Northeast Passage is a non-profit organization affiliated with UNH that provides sports and competition for people of all abilities.

According to the International Paralympic Committee Web site, sledge hockey "follows the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation, with a few modifications. Instead of skates, players use two-blade sledges that allow the puck to pass beneath. They also have sticks with a spike-end for pushing and a blade-end for shooting."

Chace embraced sledge hockey with the same passion he shared for hockey. While he said at first the feeling of being on a sled was foreign and awkward, his knowledge of where to be to make plays earned a spot on the roster of the New England Bruins, a regional program that leads the development of sledge hockey.

"Competing on a national level, the games are a lot more intense," Chace said. "They guys are aggressive and hit hard. They got nothing to lose; they give it everything they have. They don't play for money, they play because they love it."

Two of his teammates on the Bruins had been members of the 2002 Gold Medalist in sledge hockey and encouraged Chace to try out for team. Initially there were 30 men selected and then narrowed down to 20 at training camp last December. At the last moment three players were let go because of their age; now only two of the 17 players would be sent home.

That night sleep came to Chace quick and easy. Exhausted from having hustled at every opportunity on the ice, he knew he had done what he had always done, given a 100 percent and left no regrets behind. The next morning Chace walked down to the join the rest of the players for breakfast. After sitting down it took Chace a moment to realize that only 15 players were at the table.

"It was the greatest feeling in the world," recalls Chace. "It was just this huge burden that had been lifted from everyone's shoulders. We could now start working as a team."

Chace called his parents immediately. His mother was ecstatic, raving about her son from the other end of the line. His family's support and devotion for his hockey career has never wavered for an instant despite adversity and transitions in the sport.

"I'm just so happy, because it's been such a struggle the past couple years with my injury," Chace said. "Hell, I thought I would never be playing another sport again and I'm representing my country and that just the most important thing to me right now. That just means a lot to me and it means a lot to me to represent my family too. I want to win it for them as much as I do for my country." The entire Chace family will be at the Paralympics as well as his former coach, Tremblay.

The team has its fair share of jokers. Joe Howard from South Boston, who lost both his legs in a train hopping accident, has been known to remove his prosthetics and climb up into the baggage compartments on airlines to surprise unsuspecting flight attendants. Other players come from Buffalo, Dallas, and anyplace in between. They are a young team who are undaunted by the expectations of gold medals a second time around.

"You have to take advantage of every second you're on the ice and every second your training just to make sure you are a 100 percent, because you don't want to leave Turin with any regrets," said Team USA's left wing.

UNH students Laurie Stephens, and Tyler Walker will also be competing in the upcoming Paralympics. Both athletes will be competing in the alpine skiing events.