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Old Friends In A New Game ���It was the most humbling experience I���ve ever had in hockey,��� Sertich said. ���Seeing these men and what they do renewed my whole feeling about why we play this game.��� ���Mike Sertich approach to things, which is great.��� Reunite old friends like Sauer and Sertich on the rink ��� even for a sled hockey camp ��� and those around are immediately amazed by the camaraderie and the chemistry the pair brings, and the myriad of great hockey stories they tell. Lipsett said he could listen to them for hours, and couldn���t shake the notion that these two had recruited and coached two American hockey legends. ���To these coaches, even guys like Chris Chelios and Brett Hull are just another player, just like us,��� Lipsett said. But for all his great hockey stories and his at-the-ready sense of humor, the first time Sertich hit the ice with the sled team, it was his willingness to stand back and take it all in that most impressed Sauer. ���I brought Sertie down for a weekend last year and the first time he got on the ice with the team, he just stood there, watching,��� Sauer said. ���After a few 36 January. 2013 minutes, I asked if everything was OK, and Sertie said, ���These guys are doing more for me than I could ever do for them.��� ��� For Sertich, one of the biggest revelations about coaching sled hockey is that nearly every aspect of the able-bodied game translates to this brand of hockey. There is more circling than the stops and starts more common in able-bodied hockey, and skating backwards is tough, meaning that the defensive game in sled hockey involves more angling. But the players are eager to take in every bit of wisdom and advice these old pros can impart. ���There���s almost nothing you do with an able-bodied team that you don���t do with a sled team,��� Sertich said. ���It���s just a fascinating game and team. And everything you throw at them is like water on a dry sponge.��� For Sauer, there���s a never-ending sense of wonder at what these athletes can accomplish despite the challenges they���ve been handed, and at how ���normal��� they are as hockey players, complete with good-natured insults in the locker room. Some players have noted that, yes, they���ve been dealt a tough hand in life, but if not for their physical challenges, they USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM would never have had the opportunity to compete for Team USA at the top level of international sled hockey. ���There���s certainly no ���woe is me��� attitude among any of these players,��� Sauer said. ���They want to be the best in the world, and they work very, very hard to get there.��� And in those special moments when their sleds are gliding up and down the ice, and the crowd is cheering and Team USA is filling an opponent���s net with pucks, Sauer also sees these athletes get something important back ��� something that may have been taken away, in some measure, by a childhood illness, or an accident, or an unforeseen injury caused by an explosive device in a far-away war zone. ���For many, the toughest part of sled hockey is getting from the locker room to the ice,��� Sauer said. ���But once they get on the rink, it���s like freedom for them.��� If that freedom comes alongside coaching from a few of the game���s true legends, a chance to skate for your country, and an opportunity to win gold, all the better. N Jess Myers covers the Minnesota Wild and college hockey for 1500ESPN.com. Photos By Gregg Forwerck