From War In The Desert To 'Murder Ball On Ice'
It might not exactly be doctor's orders, but it made perfect sense to Josh Sweeney.
"If you hit somebody, you feel a lot better," he says, making his way off the ice from a grueling practice with the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey team — a sport also known as "murder ball on ice."
Sled hockey might be the fastest sport in the Paralympics; players strap on to a tiny sled perched a few inches off the ice, balanced on one double-runner skate. They use two short sticks like ski poles to fly across the ice. Then the sticks flip around, with a hockey blade on the tip. Players can switch the puck quickly between left and right, and shoot from either side.
The Paralympics movement started with disabled veterans after World War II. Today, there are many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in Sochi with the U.S. team; Sweeney is one of them.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/theedge/2014/03/07/286259707/from-war-in-the-desert-to-murder-ball-on-ice