{"id":64436,"date":"2018-03-13T22:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T02:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=64436"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:38","slug":"understanding-para-ice-hockey-science","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/understanding-para-ice-hockey-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the science of para ice hockey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Understanding the science of para ice hockey\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

It brought me such joy and pride to watch the amazing and inspiring athletes at the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. As an avid sports fan, I cheered on Canada\u2019s para ice hockey team<\/a> as it went all the way to final game before losing to the U.S. in overtime<\/a>. As a biomedical engineer, I also have a fascination with how para athletes perform and how I can help to make them better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many years ago, when I played on a men\u2019s recreational hockey team, a good friend and my linemate had an accident off the ice that left him a paraplegic. As he lay in the hospital bed, I introduced him to the local para ice hockey coach to show him there was something to look forward to \u2014 he could still play hockey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As his rehab went on through the years, my friend took his para hockey skill level from requiring a pusher<\/em> to being a goal scorer. A pusher<\/em> is an able-bodied skater who pushes the para hockey player, allowing them to become involved in community level games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His upper body mobility returned. It was inspiring to watch. My friend\u2019s life-changing accident became something that would also change mine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, I have coached many hockey schools and teams. My love for hockey has inspired my research in engineering and science and allowed my research to blossom. I have focused my career on the biomedical and biomechanical analysis of skating \u2014 rehab, performance enhancement, injury prevention and sport development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to para hockey, the biomechanics are completely different than \u201cupright\u201d hockey, so current research on hockey is of no use because the motion is so different. I started to participate in friendly para hockey games gaining respect and admiration for those who played. Skating, let alone stick handling and shooting, was one of the hardest things I had ever done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skating styles and skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skating in para hockey closely resembles double poling in cross-country skiing<\/a>. Sitting on a sledge equipped with two skate blades and chassis (para hockey was originally called sledge hockey), players use two sledge hockey sticks to move themselves<\/a> and the sledge across the ice surface. The sticks have elongated blades at one end for puck control and a flip of the stick with the picks at the other end allows the player to produce motion, the only way to produce motion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
\n Players of the Italian Ice Hockey team during practice at the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (Joel Marklund\/Olympic Information Service)<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I found out there was little research involving para hockey \u2014 and no biomechanical research \u2014 I started working with my co-prof Dean Hay<\/a>, a researcher and professor at Nipissing University, to investigate key skating styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using community and provincial level players, we investigated various skating styles on-ice with video analysis and surface electromyography (sEMG)<\/a> \u2014 a process used to collect biological signals from the muscle of intent to infer the level of muscle activation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As my research progressed, I created an off-ice sledge that replaced the double skate blades of the ice sledge with roller blades. Taking the sledge off the ice allowed me to conduct biomechanical specific research involving motion capture (MOCAP), sEMG and force plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOCAP regenerates three-dimensional marker locations onto a computer screen. From these marker locations, many mathematical and physics laws can be used to gain information regarding the tracked movement. Force plates collect three-dimensional ground reaction forces and positioning during contact. From these impact forces, many physics laws can be mathematically calculated to determine information regarding the body segments and joints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n