International Deaf Hockey returns to Buffalo

Northtown Center at Amherst will serve as the site for the inaugural Jeff Sauer International Deaf Hockey Series to be held April 11-14.

The four-day event, named after Jeff Sauer, former head coach of the USA men’s deaf team, will showcase men’s teams from the U.S., Canada, Czech Republic and Finland, and women’s teams from the U.S. and Canada. The series is hosted by the American Hearing-Impaired Hockey Association (AHIHA) and the Stan Mikita Hockey School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

A press release stated, “Sauer, a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, spent more than 40 years coaching hockey, and had nothing but success in his varied endeavors. Sauer gained prominence as a college coach, but he is also remembered for his work coaching hockey players with disabilities.”

“He gave endless, endless, endless – you don’t know how much time he gave – energy and love to those kids,” said U.S. Olympic team coach Tony Granato who played for Sauer.

Sauer was president of the American Hearing-Impaired Hockey Association. He helped select the past five U.S. Deaflympic ice hockey teams and led the team as head coach at three Winter Deaflympics, including a gold medal at the 2007 Deaflympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

He spent seven years as head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey team. Sauer led the U.S. to the gold medal at the 2012 International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship. Two years later, he was at the helm of the gold-medal winning 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey team in Sochi, Russia.

The event will be held at the Northtown Center at Amherst – site of the 2017 Deaf Ice Hockey World Championships. The best deaf and hard of hearing hockey players from around the world will compete in a round-robin format.

For additional information, contact tournament director Steve Smart at [email protected] or visit https://ahiha.org/jeff-sauer-international-deaf-hockey-series/.