Blind Hockey Summit skates into Cranberry

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The public is invited to come watch and learn about blind hockey this weekend at the USA Hockey Blind Hockey Summit at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

The fourth annual exhibition features some 60 blind and visually impaired athletes from across the U.S. and Canada. Some elite players will compete in a three-game series that started Friday and runs through Sunday. There are noncompetitive sessions and games for young and new players.

It’s being organized by the new Hockey Sticks Together Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Penguins Blind Hockey, Mighty Penguins Sled Hockey and other programs for individuals with disabilities. (In fact, the local sled hockey team will be holding its second annual Faceoff Tournament, featuring 16 teams from as far away as Florida and Texas, Saturday, as well, and the public is welcome to watch and even volunteer with that. That schedule: drive.google.com/file/d/ 0B3CnJQBuCe2LUdYV2d1elQyR0U/view)

Pittsburgh is a leader in blind hockey, which is played with a larger, metal puck filled with bearings so players track it by sound. The net is a foot shorter to help goalies who tend to be completely blind. Defensive players tend to have the next-worse vision. The three legally blind forwards must make one pass, and then the referee blows a signal whistle to alert the goalie, before they can shoot and score.

The event schedule:

Saturday

8 to 9 a.m. — Low Vision and Development Division: Practice & Game 1 9:10 to 10:10 a.m. — Youth & New Skater Vision: Practice and Game 1 1 to 2:15 p.m. — Adult https://Advanced Division: Game 2

2:25 to 3:10 p.m. — Low Vision and Development Division: Game 2

3:10 to 3:50 p.m. — Youth & New Skater Division: Practice and Game 2

Sunday

8 to 8:40 a.m. — Youth & New Skater Division: Practice and Game 3

8:40 to 9:25 a.m. — Low Vision and Development Division Game 3

9:35 to 10:50 a.m. — Adult Advanced Division Game3

11 to 11:15 a.m. — Awards Ceremony

For more information, visit https://hockeystickstogether.