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Middleton powers team 'forward'
By Dennis Romboy
Deseret News Paralympic specialist
Boston Bruin great Rick Middleton learned something about sled hockey shortly into his first practice as head coach of the U.S. team.
"I was skating them around in the beginning, would blow the whistle and say, 'Speed up, slow down, stop' and I said, 'Backwards.' They all looked up at me and I said, 'So you don't go backwards?' "
Sled hockey players, who propel themselves like oarsmen with paddles in each hand, don't have much of a reverse gear.
Actually, the team was going backward — at least not forward — when Middleton took over a year ago February.
Sixth-place finishes in 1998 Paralympics and the 2000 World Championships left the squad looking for new direction. Its basic style of play was to chase the other team around the ice. No one knew what they were supposed to do or where to position themselves.
That became evident to Middleton at his first scrimmage. The 14-year NHL veteran couldn't figure out what positions anyone was playing. He couldn't tell the defensemen from the centers and wingers and "who was on what side."
Middleton remedied the headless-chicken strategy with a simple hockey system. The emphasis is on defense, forechecking and getting the puck to the neutral zone if there isn't a play. All five skaters have a role, a place to be, a job to do.
And now the entire team is on the coach's side.
"He's the best thing that's ever happened to U.S. sled hockey — his experiences in the NHL, his leadership, his dedication to the team and his knowledge of the game," said forward Chris Manns. The Buffalo, N.Y., native, who lost his legs when he fell off a moving train, is one of 10 new players on the 2002 Paralympic team.
Middleton spent his first two NHL seasons with the New York Rangers before being traded to Boston, where he spent 12 years. He played in three Stanley Cup finals, leading the Bruins to the title in 1983 with a play-off record 19 points. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player in 1982. He ranks as Boston's fifth all-time leading scorer.
In addition to a system, the former Bruins captain brought discipline to U.S. sled hockey. He placed the C on the jersey of the team's most undisciplined but talented player, Joe Howard. Their fiery forward cost Team USA a crucial game against Norway at the world championships with his on-ice antics.
"It really settled me down a lot. I used to lead the world in penalty minutes," said Howard, a Boston auto mechanic whose legs were severed by a freight train.
Now, "if I can keep my cool, they can keep their cool."
Middleton appreciates passion for the game. He had it as a kid growing up in Toronto and carried it throughout his career.
Long retired from hockey, Middleton works as a rep for a wholesale hair products distributor in Manchester, N.H. A friend and disabled skier hastened his return to the rink. Unable to ski due to an injury, Paul Edwards told Middleton he was trying out for sled hockey and mentioned the team was looking for a coach.
Other than not being able to skate well backward, Middleton hasn't found sled hockey or its players to be much different than their able-bodied counterparts.
"I don't even see the sleds out there," he said.
Middleton recalled seeing the players for the first time at an airport, watching them in their wheelchairs take bags off the carousel, their sleds hanging around their necks, and wheel out to the car rental agency.
"Not one of them had a chip on their shoulder about 'Poor me' or anything like that," he said. "They just wanted to play hockey."
E-mail: romboy@desnews.com
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March 10, 2002
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