Wildcats set to sled in Texas

When Taylor Chace was checked into the boards and his L1 vertebra broke in an October 2002 youth hockey game, it seemed as if the 16-year-old’s promising hockey career had been cut short in the cruelest of ways. For the rest of his life, Chace’s legs would be partially paralyzed. 

Almost a decade later, Chace has accomplished more on the ice than he could have imagined after that devastating hit in 2002. A two-time Paralympian who helped lead the U.S. to a gold medal in 2009, Chace is also a player and coach on the Northeast Passage/UNH Wildcats, a sled hockey team consisting of UNH students, veterans, and community members. 

Chace, a 2011 graduate of UNH, and the Wildcats are currently down in Dallas, Texas, set to compete in the USA Hockey National Disabled Festival, held April 13-15 at the Dr. Pepper StarCenters. UNH will compete in the top tier of the national tournament against the Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and San Antonio Rampage. 

“We’re very excited. We’re certainly a favorite in this tournament,” Chace said. “To make it this far, that’s a good accomplishment in itself. But I think past history has shown that we’ve played well against all the top teams.” 

For athletes like Chace and others on the team, the Northeast Passage team has given them a unique opportunity to play hockey competitively. 

Chace joined the program in 2005 and has taken full advantage of all the team had to offer. One of the top junior hockey players before his injury, Chace is now the captain of the U.S. sled hockey team. 

“It’s been unbelievable,” Chace said. “I didn’t think I’d have an opportunity to play on a top-level again. And it also gave me an outlet, gave me motivation to push forward in life. It’s done a lot for me as a person. … Well as an athlete first, and more as a person, just for my psyche every day.”  

The Northeast Passage is a world-renowned UNH program founded in 1990 that provides recreation programs for people with disabilities.  

One of those programs is the sled hockey team, which competes in the Northeast Sled Hockey League. Players move around on adaptive sleds, using shortened sticks, one end a hockey blade, the other a metal point used for maneuvering. 

UNH has grown into one of the top programs in the country. Chace explained one reason for the Wildcats’ ascendance is their ability to recruit their players.

“We re-tool and set the standards high over here,” Chace said. 

Accordingly, the Wildcats have high expectations for the tournament down in Dallas. 

“It’s stiff competition,” assistant coach Kait King said. “It’s not going to be a cake walk like it has been in the past.” 

King said that the host team out of San Antonio is talented, while the Buffalo Sabres have become a sort of rival for UNH and are always tough to beat. Nevertheless, the Wildcats are looking forward to the challenge. 

“We’re definitely thrilled and very excited,” King said. “This isn’t our team’s first trip to nationals, so we’re a little bit seasoned and kind of know what to expect, but we have a very young team. … We don’t really know what to expect.”