Suburban leader of U.S. Paralympic hockey says team aiming for gold
The U.S. men's hockey team's thrilling Olympic victory Sunday over Canada fans the flames for next month's Paralympic rivalry between the border teams.
"Rock 'N' Roll," says J.J. O'Connor, general manager of the U.S. Paralympic hockey team. "Oh man, what a game. I was on the edge of my seat. I was fired up."
Not that O'Connor, 31, of Mount Prospect, needs any more inspiration for his Paralympic team of double-amputees and athletes who can't use their legs. Officially known as Ice Sledge Hockey, the game gets O'Connor's competitive juices flowing.
"Canada is definitely our No. 1 rival," O'Connor says. "We go at it with Canada. When our guys and the Canadians play, it's a war."
O'Connor pauses a second before sheepishly mentioning a YouTube video from 2008 that shows the Paralympic athletes from the U.S. and Canada erupting into a full-fledged, punches-flying hockey brawl with referees scrambling to separate the players.
"There's no question it's competitive and physical, the same as the USA-Canada game," O'Connor says, referring to Sunday's Olympic matchup between some of the NHL's best players.
In sled hockey, the players hold short hockey sticks in each hand. One end of the stick is serrated to help players grip the ice and use their arms to propel the sled, turn and stop. The other end features a curved hockey stick for shooting.
After coming home with the bronze in 2006, the U.S. Paralympic hockey team aims to take the gold from Canada in Vancouver next month.
"We're ranked No. 1, but Canada has a fantastic team," O'Connor says.
The U.S. squad will get a boost from the addition of some new sleds, specially made by Scheck & Siress, a Chicago orthotics and prosthetics firm with centers in Bannockburn, Naperville, Oakbrook Terrace, Schaumburg and throughout the suburbs.
"We made three custom buckets for people missing both legs above the knee," says David Rotter, 41, chief clinician and lab manager at Scheck & Siress' laboratory at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The firm also made sturdy, custom veneer shells with the USA logo for all 15 sleds.
"They worked great and will hopefully give the guys a competitive edge to beat Canada," Rotter adds.
"They did a heck of a job and hit the nail on the head with everything," Paralympian Bubba Torres, 18, of New Jersey, says on a video made last month when he tested his bucket at hockey rinks in Chicago, West Dundee and Hoffman Estates. "I'm sitting up higher than my old bucket, so it gives me more leverage and helps give me a longer stride."
Taking molds of player's bodies, Scheck & Siress spent six days to make the three sleds, and donated much of that labor and design work, Rotter says. Each sled weighs less than a 16-pound bowling ball.
Rotter got involved with the Paralympic hockey team after meeting O'Connor, who broke his neck crashing into the boards during a hockey game at age 16 and is paralyzed. O'Connor has some movement in his right arm and can stand, but he can't play the sled version of the game he loves.
"I just kind of let that be, but I help other players to enjoy it. I just love the sport," says O'Connor, whose passion for bringing hockey to athletes with disabilities is legendary. The handicap-accessible ice rink in West Dundee is named in his honor.
A co-owner of two Sport Clips hair-cutting franchises (1920 Route 83 in Round Lake Beach and 3452 N. Clark St. in Chicago), O'Connor is webmaster for the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois. While the Paralympic athletes on the sled team are age 17 to 42, O'Connor welcomes younger kids and anyone interested in sled hockey to e-mail him at dublj95@aol.com. The suburbs offer plenty of chances to play.
"I think the double-amps have an advantage," O'Connor says, noting players missing both legs are lighter and tend to be more agile in the sleds. In some ways, sled hockey takes more skill than traditional hockey because players must use their arms to move across the ice and then switch to the other end of their sticks to control the puck and shoot, O'Connor says. The rest of the game, including checking someone into the boards and penalties, is the same.
People who think the Paralympics are nothing more than a friendly gathering where the goal is simply to participate "should get on the ice with these guys and take one check," Rotter says. "It's hockey. These guys are banging into each other. Paralympic athletes are pretty amazing athletes. If it got any television play in the U.S., people would be blown away by the athletic ability of the competitors."
While O'Connor appreciates the chance to show the world sled hockey in the Paralympics, he's got a bigger goal.
His U.S. team takes on Korea on March 13. Then the Czech Republic the next day. Then Japan. If things work out right, the U.S. team will dispose of Canada to bring home the gold medal on March 20.
"We don't like losing," O'Connor says. "And we're a better team than before."