PARK CITY, Utah — This weekend, the state of Utah will be hosting its first-ever sled hockey tournament in Park City. "And really it's a great feeling to see how this team has come together in such a short period of time, so we're really excited about that," stated Dave Nichols, goalie for the Utah sled hockey team.
The event is special for the athletes. For a variety of reasons, most are now confined to wheelchairs, but they're turning a perceived disability into an ability to play the greatest game on ice, hockey. Dave Nichols has played a big part in getting Utah's sled team up and running.
If you ask Nichols, he says he was always pretty competitive. Skiing collegiality in slalom, giant slalom, and downhill events. But a collision during what should have been a routine practice put him on a very different course.
"... an out of control snowboarder hit me from behind, that was it," Nichols remembers. "Broke part of my neck and my back and just a big change in life right there."
Dave admits to going through many of the emotions connected to suddenly having to use a wheelchair; anger, grief, and denial. But the athlete in him refused to quit and he first tried bobsledding after being invited to Utah's Olympic Park in Park City.
"I finally went up there, and I saw a guy in a chair, climbing out of his chair into a bobsled. And I was like; I gotta do this, I gotta try this."
Following years of screaming down mountains on a bobsled, a friend invited Dave to check out a different kind of sled at the Salt Lake City sports complex. "...it was at this rink about 16 or 17 years ago where the National Ability Center said; 'Hey, you know why don't you come on down?' They put me in a sled and it was amazing..."
Nicholls went from never having played hockey before to what's now his passion and basically his profession. He started and played goalie on a team in Las Vegas for five years before moving up to Salt Lake City. He's now helping put together a Utah sled hockey team.
"And just to see the excitement on their faces when they're playing and the competitiveness," Nichols said explaining what draws him into the sport. "This guy’s missing a leg, this guy was blown up in Iraq, this guy had this happen and that happen, whatever. But when you’re out there on the ice and you’re just giving it your all, it’s just super competitive, super fun.”
He's also helping organize Utah's first-ever, sled hockey tournament, happening this weekend in Park City. Eight teams will be competing in what's also a fundraiser for the new Utah team.
"We have the L.A. Kings coming, the Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken. We have a developmental team from Boise, and a developmental team from New Mexico coming," says Nicholls.
Even though they are basically a brand-new squad, Nicholls says they plan on icing the competition.
"With the guys that we have on defense, with me trying to stop a few pucks, I think we're going to be a team to be reckoned with. So we're gonna make Utah proud."
The games are happening this Friday at the Park City Ice Arena. The puck drops at 2:15 p.m. on Friday. Then the games will continue through Sunday and the 1:00 p.m. championship game.
At 7:00 p.m. Friday night, members of the Utah Grizzlies will also take part in an All-Star competition against veteran, sled hockey players. That's also a fundraiser for the new Utah Sled Hockey Team.
You can find more information on the team and get tickets at Utahsledhockey.com.
