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PHOTOS: USA HOCKEY MAGAZINE ARCHIVES, ELIZABETH BOGER, MHJ ARCHIVES able to score. To help indicate when the attacking team is eligible to score, officials use a different whistle. Players also play in different positions, depending on their visual acuity. The more a player can see, the further up they play. Children and adults of all ages are invited to play. "It's a wide spectrum," said Toni Gillen, disabled programs director for USA Hockey in Minnesota. "Some of them have played hockey before. We have some folks who played hockey as youth in high school and their vision has either been impaired through either a degenerative condition or through injury—so they're just loving to get back on the ice again—all the way down to individuals who were born visually impaired, or it was just kind of a gradual thing through their youth." Looking toward the future During the weekend of August 23-25, 2019, the Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Wild Foundation, Minnesota Hockey and USA Hockey will host the 6th Annual USA Hockey Blind Hockey Summit at TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul. The event will feature a coaching clinic, a try-it session, a community banquet and games for all sizes and skill levels. The location will also soon be a familiar place for the Minnesota Wild Blind Hockey team. During the program's inaugural season, weekly practices were held in various rinks throughout the Twin Cities metro area. But starting with the 2019-20 season, the team's home rink will be TRIA Rink. Gillen and Evans are hopeful that the program will continue to grow. "We're definitely in our infancy," said Lonny Evans, who volunteers his time as a program director. "All it takes, like anything, is one word to the right person and things open up. People understand and see things differently and in a new way … I hope we're giving 100 percent right now to the team as it is, as well as thinking 100 percent for the people who have yet to do it." Volunteers have also played an instrumental role in the program's success. "We have great volunteer support," Gillen said. "From practice to practice, we either have individual volunteers that are coming out, or we have a team that will come out and help our players. It's been amazing, and they're just as interested in this program as our players are." Blind hockey programs across the nation have opened new doors for novices, and made dreams come true for players who used to spend so much of their time on the ice. "For those who have played hockey in the past, this is another way to regain their life back again," Gillen said. "For the majority of our players, especially the youth, they never thought they'd ever be able to play the sport. To be able to be on the ice, to feel so supported and be a hockey player… I literally go home tearing up every night after practices. We're doing something so special here." J 44 / MAY.JUNE.2019 RINKMAGAZINE.COM "IT'S ALL ABOUT SOUND. THERE ARE BALL BEARINGS INSIDE THESE PUCKS AND THEY ROLL AROUND INSIDE THE METAL." – MIKE HUTCHENS REAL PROGRAMS , The sixth annual USA Hockey Blind Hockey Summit will be held Aug. 23-25 at TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul.