Calgarian orthotist hails para hockey team’s win
“I felt like a proud parent or something,” says man who helped make gear for them
When John Rahman heard about the Canadian para ice hockey team’s recent victory against the U.S. in the sport’s world championship in South Korea, he was “ecstatic.”
“I felt like a proud parent or something,” said Rahman, a certified orthotist and owner of Rahman Orthotics in Varsity.
Rahman quickly became a fan of the sport as he spent time with the para hockey team members during the process of fitting their sledges with customized seats. He and his friend Dave Lysay, along with a colleague in Kitchener, Allan Moore, adapted the seats for 17 out of 19 athletes on the team.
“They’re an incredible bunch of guys,” said Rahman.
“When we went to their hockey camp last August, it was so impressive to see them on the ice and to see them practising, playing, doing drills. When these guys do a turn, it sounds like a freight train ... They are so fast and so skilled.”
The Canadians defeated the U.S. team 4-1 April 20 to capture a gold medal at the World Para Ice Hockey Championships. While Canada has won four gold medals at the biennial tournament, this was their first since 2013.
Rahman said he and Lysay had done work with one of the Paralympic team skiers in 2015, and the athlete went on to win the World Cup.
“So the Canadian Paralympic high performance coaching staff and the Own the Podium program contacted us and asked for a meeting to see if we would discuss doing something with the hockey players,” he recounted.
The seat designers used a mouldable foam called Intuition Foam, a product that Rahman has used in his work in amputation prevention for people with diabetes. While he is most well-known for this work, Rahman also makes braces, splints, mobility aids and bio-mechanical devices for people who have had strokes, paralysis, injuries or other kinds of loss of function.
Rahman said the fitting process for the hockey players began in September and wrapped up in February.
“We would see each athlete, do a little bit of an interview, determine what their comfort problems were and what their performance problems were, and then we would tear apart their seats and re-mould new inserts,” Rahman explained.
The seat builders also used ratchet straps like those that might be found on a snowboard or on a ski boot, but on a much larger scale, Velcro straps with seatbelt material, “and a whole lot of glue.”
Rahman said he’s still thrilled about the team’s win.
“It was exciting to hear about the gold the day after the Flames got bounced out of the playoffs,” he said.
When we went to their hockey camp last August, it was so impressive to see them on the ice.