THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
Ex-pro connection to deaf hockey
No whistles, no shouting for the puck, no heated exchanges with the officials ... no sound at all.
Not what you’d generally associate with hockey, but it’s the standard for hundreds of hockey players across Canada.
Deaf hockey is not new. The Canadian Deaf Hockey Ice Federation was founded in 1983; the national team program in 1986.
Here in Ottawa it is most notable for one of its biggest proponents, and several of his closest family members. Jim Kyte, the first and only legally deaf NHL player, has been an advocate for deaf sport — almost by default — since being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round in 1982.
“Back then I had to advocate for myself. I had to educate people, educate coaches on what I needed,” said Kyte whose 598-game career included a cup of instant coffee with the Senators in 1992-93, playing in all of four games. “Has it changed (now)? For sure. I am proud I could be a part of that.”
Jim’s dad was deaf, as are his four brothers. One of his brothers, John, has two sons and two daughters with varying levels of impairment.
And as we follow the branches of this considerable family tree, those two boys are now walking in their uncle’s footsteps, where success doesn’t succumb to challenges.
John Kyte, 19, and 18-year-old Thomas returned this spring with silver medals around their necks — thanks to a strong showing at the 2015 Winter Deaflympics. Another Ottawa-area native, Ryan Chramtchenko, 25, was also part of the team that lost to host Russia in the gold-medal game.
All three play “regular” hockey. Johnny is a defenceman for the Kanata Lasers of the CJHL. When he skates for Kanata, Johnny wears a hearing aid.
When he started playing “deaf” hockey, the hearing aid was dropped.
Suddenly, it was truly a whole new game.
“You have to constantly think. You have to read and react. It’s all visual. And sometimes that’s a lot harder than communicating through talking,” said Johnny.
“When I play for the Lasers I have my hearing aid in and I can hear my coach yelling from the bench. When I play for the Canadian team I find that you have to ‘look’ a lot more. When you’re calling for a pass you have to have that eye contact. A lot of it is practice and repetition. Doing it over and over and over so you know exactly where that player’s going to be.”
To be eligible for deaf hockey, skaters must have a hearing loss of 55 decibels or greater. Hearing aids aren’t allowed.
Thomas said the adjustment takes time.
“Growing up and playing hockey, I always had hearing aids in. Deaf hockey was the first time I had to take them out to play. Getting used to that was tough, with the strobe lights. It took time to get used to it.”
In Canadian deaf hockey, strobe lights are used to indicate a stoppage in play. Another adjustment for the Canadian team was that the Russian hosts employed a string of red lights around the rink, instead of strobe lights.
“When the whistle blew, that red light would go on. The refs almost give you a second chance, too. If you’re offside, they’ll come in, tap you on the shoulder and wave their hands. The play can get very, very rough because a lot of times you don’t know that the play has stopped,” said Johnny.
He added that although he suffers with the impairment, some things were fairly discernible: “Well, I can tell you I could certainly hear 5,000 Russians screaming at me,” he cracked.
Ryan agreed regarding the adjustment, especially when dealing with the referees.
“Over there, of course, they were Russian so communication was very difficult, but they did a very good job.
“When they blew the whistle they put their hands up and made sure the play was stopped.”
The three players had a lengthy road to make Team Canada. Initially they were scouted by the Canadian Deaf Ice Hockey Federation (CDIHF) locally. If players (across Canada) were deemed good enough, they landed a spot in the main CDIHF tryout camp in Toronto last August.
A select group was then chosen to represent Canada.
Johnny said the stigma of being deaf, and being an athlete, is not the same as during his uncle’s early days.
“No. I was very fortunate to not have to deal with that. I know my uncle Jimmy had to face a lot growing up. But like he always said, you don’t hear them, you just keep playing hard.” However, back in the day? “Well the style of game I played, the front of the net was a no-rent zone. Guys nicknamed me Radio Shack because I had the hearing aids under the helmet.
“Nothing was off-limits ... It was part of the territory for me,” said Jim.
Thomas added: “The only time that comes up in games is when I play against guys I played when I was younger. They’ll kind of chirp me in a friendly way. I never actually came up against someone that was (mean).”
All three of the silver medallists agree, growth is inevitable in deaf sport as more doors get opened.
“I think it’s changed over the years,” Johnny said with a smile.
“I have twin sisters who are deaf as well. While there is no hockey for girls, they have been asked to come to the summer Deaflympics, where there’s volleyball and golf and basketball.
“I think deaf kids are becoming more active in sports because there are opportunities now.”
“I’m proud of the boys,” Uncle Jim said, “for sticking with it and competing hard.”