jean_underpants

I've been hit after the whistle by other players who "pretend" they didn't hear the whistle.

In deaf games, sometimes a player will carry the puck up the ice with their head down. Often players from both teams will raise their hands and move out of the way. While we are opponents on the ice, and play the body hard against each other during the game, there is almost an unwritten rule that when the whistle goes, you don't take advantage of your peer.

One of my funniest stories... I like to play an aggressive game, so I remember one game I was battling in the corner with another player. I forget what happened, but I'm sure we both were giving it to each other.

The whistle went and the ref called a penalty. I was livid as I didn't feel like I did anything to deserve it. I was yelling at the ref up the ice, put one foot over the boards of the penalty box, then realized that the ref was calling the other player. Boy, my face was red and to add insult to injury, I didn't quite get my leg all the way over the boards, and slid down the boards onto my back. I was pretty humble the rest of the game.

My hockey career in my opinion has been awesome.

I'm 6'7" right now, growing up I was always the tallest player. That impacted my skating so much. For example, one summer my dad would drop me off at the local rink so I could play hockey. My schedule consisted of:

• 1 Hour 16 & under drop in

• 1 Hour of Stick and Puck

• Lunch

• 2 Hours of 19 & up drop in (my size allowed me to get in)

• Gym

Then home. I had an absolute blast doing this. At the 19 and up drop in, there were several players who played pro overseas and I was able to keep up to them. When the minor hockey season would start up, I'd always without fail have a growth spurt, thus feeling awkward with the new height. Not to mention I didn't have self confidence around players my age who would make jokes about my hearing.

Being a part of the deaf hockey program has given me that feeling that I've accomplished something with hockey. I may not have been paid the big bucks, but I have a Deaflympic gold medal and I've been able to play across Canada and Europe.

One story I have that a lot of people have found interesting is that I took my oldest out to public skating and kept my hearing aids in. After pushing her around for a while, it dawned on me that the skates digging into the ice make noise. (This was after playing hockey for almost 15 years). All i could think of was, what would it have been like if I could have heard someone coming to hit me from behind(I missed 2 years from a hit from behind), or knowing who is nearby without looking.

Thank you :)

Hearing aids are not waterproof and they would malfunction after the slightest hint of perspiration under my helmet.

I've grown to really enjoy the silence. When I mentioned earlier about finally hearing ice skates after 15 years, I found the noise to be aggravating after a while.

In difficult hearing situations (background noise, etc) I might only hear part of what someone is saying. I combine what I heard, with what I lip-read to attempt to formulate what someone is saying.

My first ever job, on day one, we went for lunch to welcome me to the team. One of the other programmers asked me a question and I responded saying "Yes", right away I could visibly notice them cringe. I had misunderstood the question and I was too anxious to fix it. So we had a very silent elevator ride down.

Hockey is a very silent game for me. It's almost peaceful. In some ways hockey is like meditation for me.

Communication with other players is hard. My teammates give me physical queues if they want me to be somewhere. If they have to say something, they will come up to me and make sure I'm lip reading, I can hear a little in my right ear if I cup the ear, so sometimes I'll lean in and cup my ear.

I do admit, I'm lucky in my height as it allows me to see more of the ice and who is open.

I think being deaf has molded me into being who I am for sure. Growing up I was this anxious kid who was afraid to talk to other people, and since being involved in the deaf hockey it has allowed me to accept my disability and me for who I am. Nowadays, I have no problem telling people up front, "Hey, I'm deaf, can you speak up", back in they day I would almost avoid people, just so I didn't have to talk to them.

Hi! I think I have an advantage on not hearing other players trash talk. I don't react to verbal abuse. However, the disadvantage is that if a player is trying to talk to me nicely, I don't know the difference.

I've told players to fuck off, when they've congratulated me for something. It's a little embarrassing when you realize later.