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Lewiston Veterans of Foreign Wars Downriver Post 7487 is raising money to help the Buffalo Sled Vets defend their Toyota USA Hockey Sled National Championship adult tier 5 pool A title. The team’s leading scorer, Matthew Daniels, is a member of the VFW, and attended Lewiston-Porter and Niagara Wheatfield high schools before serving in the U.S. military.
“I play for the Buffalo Sabres’ sled vet team, and we're nonprofit; so, basically, we run and operate it through donations,” Daniels said. Right now, funding “is not enough to be able to go through a season and do what we need to do. So, we try to do funding throughout the year, and then get to as many tournaments as possible.”
He explained, “In our tier, we won the national tournament last year in tier 5, and that's the (tournament) that's going to be in Florida (in April 2025) that we're trying to go to. But right now, we have no funding. So, as of right now, we're not able to go.”
Daniels noted, “Because we won last year, we're kind of like, ‘Man, we want to go back, at least defend that tier, and see if we can win it again.’ ”
Former VFW Post Cmdr. Bill Justyk said, “We wanted to do something special, especially (Matt) being a part of our post.”
“We're here to help. We're here to help the sled hockey, because it's a veterans organization. We're here to help these guys.
“And this community has been good to this VFW in more ways than one – and you could see behind us,” he said, pointing to the “Circle of Honor” monument in Academy Park.
The VFW is looking to raise several thousand dollars.
Daniels said, “On our team actively, we have between like 10 and 12 (players) or so. When we travel, sometimes it's like eight or so – between eight and 10 that are, for the most part, making it to these tournaments. But I'd say, like, on average, it'd be around 10 players or so.
“I talked to our team manager, and he said that – and this is just a roundabout figure – but for our team to be able to travel to Florida with flights and hotels and everything else – with our whole entire team – it's probably going to be somewhere between $8,000 and $10,000, I think. … It really depends on hotel and everything else, and flights.”
USA Hockey describes sled hockey as following “most of the typical ice hockey rules,” with the exception of some equipment. “Players sit in specially designed sleds that sit on top of two hockey skate blades. There are two sticks for each player, instead of one, and the sticks have metal picks on the butt end for players to propel themselves. Goalies wear basically the same equipment but do make modifications to the glove. Metal picks are sewn into the backside to allow the goalie to maneuver. Sled accessible rinks allow players to remain in their sleds and skate off the ice into the bench area.”
Daniels is a paraplegic veteran. For him and his teammates, sled hockey means more than winning or defending a title.
“Especially for being a veteran, it's a huge outlet,” he said. “I could tell you that, once I got out of the military, I felt completely lost for a while. I didn't know what I was going to do. And then, sled hockey kind of just popped up in my life, and it's honestly been the most positive thing, post-military, to help me to have that team camaraderie again, like we used to do in the military. To be able to share that with other veterans. And it's a great outlet, being able to compete with, like I said, other veterans.
“People aren't going to realize how much of an impact it has on a lot of us with our PTSD, with even like a (traumatic brain injury), all the other factors that are involved. This is an amazing outlet for everybody to go out there and play with other veterans, other people you are comfortable with. Which makes it fun, though, too. And I'm getting my exercise in. My mental health is probably at its best because of it.
“Without that, a lot of people, without certain outlets, some people go on a mental spiral. Adaptive sports, specifically sled hockey, has got me to a real comfortable point where I know this is something that I'm going to continue until I'm probably in my 70s or so, to continue to play.”
To make a donation, send payment to Lewiston Veterans of Foreign Wars Downriver Post 7487, P.O. Box 1164, Lewiston, NY 14092; or contact Vince Canosa at 716-343-4358.