AMP Sledge Hockey Program

Your support is needed to provide life-changing opportunities for kids living with physical disabilities. 

As featured on NHL network: https://www.nhl.com/flames/video/px3-amp-sledge-hockey/t-277437092/c-4484164

To us, sledge hockey players exemplify what it truly means to be an athlete and a champion.  No matter how hard life tries to beat them down, or society tries to tell them they can't do or be something,  they consistently find a way to defy the odds and overcome obstacles that would normally and permanently destroy most people.   

WHO WE ARE:
We are the PX3 AMP Hockey Academy, a non-profit organization run exclusively by former Pro, Olympic, and Paralympic athletes that is based at the Canadian Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta.

Our mission is to build a stronger and safer future for hockey in Canada. We offer accelerated multisport development programs for regular hockey and sledge hockey players. 

WHAT WE DO:
We provide a completely unique Sledge Hockey Development Program at no cost to aspiring athletes with physical disabilities.  We fundamentally believe that when athletes are in their earliest and most critical development stages, they need to have the most experienced coaches along with experience and age appropriate surfaces.    

All of our coaches are all former Pro, Olympic, or Paralympic players that are dedicated to giving back to the game.  Our Sledge Hockey Director, Chris Cederstrand, was a world-class athlete before sustaining a permanent injury and amputation.   As a coach and mentor to these athletes, not only does Chris have first-hand experience playing sledge hockey at the highest levels in the sport, he also has a very intimate understanding of the ongoing challenges that come with a life-altering injury.   The combination of having both is invaluable. 

WHY IT MATTERS:
The power of what the Program is doing can be seen on many levels, both on and off the ice.   One of the most inspiring examples is the transformation that former Humboldt Bronco Ryan Straschnitzki "Straz" has had with our program and most specifically with working one on one with Coach Chris Cederstrand.  Straz joined our program last season after a horrific bus crash which killed 16 members of the team and left him paralyzed from the waist down.  Rather than let that event destroy him, it drives him to do as much as he can every day, dedicating this second chance he has been given and in doing so honoring his fallen teammates.  

In a little over a year with us, Straz has developed to a world-class level where he is now competing for a roster spot on Team Alberta.  His story is incredible, and it has just begun.  

SEE YOUR DONATIONS AT WORK:
100% of your donation goes to supporting our sledge hockey program, which includes offsetting costs for ice, facilities, equipment, apparel, player equipment, medical treatments, and participating in major events. 

In November 2019, our AMP Senior players will be heading to St. Louis to compete in the NHL's 2019-2020 Sled Classic.  All participating teams must be affiliated with an NHL club to qualify.  This marks the first time that the Calgary Flames will have an affiliated team at the event, and the first time in Canadian History that a Tier 1 team will be playing at the event.  

It is such an exciting and inspiring program to be a part of; we are sincerely privileged to be part of it.