AHL San Antonio Rampage

Gliding towards Vancouver

Published on July 21, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Antonio Rampage News Release


The world's attention will be focused on Beijing this summer, but in 2010 the focus shifts to Vancouver when the Olympic Games return to North America for the first time since the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. The Olympic motto of "Citius, Altius, Fortius', Latin words that mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger", inspire the athletes to endure the long and often arduous road to competition.

Local San Antonio residents Lonnie Hannah and Chris Leverkuhn are two such Olympic hopefuls, although their road traveled is slightly different. You could say they're gliding towards Vancouver.

Both are striving to be part of the 2010 Paralympics Games, which are a biannual event that follows each of the summer and winter Olympic Games and are geared towards athletes with a disability. The Paralympic Games are held at the same site and venues as the Olympics with athletes representing their countries.

Hannah and Leverkuhn are members of the Rampage Military Sled Hockey Team (RMSHT), and while both are searching for gold in 2010 they are also part of something much bigger.

The RMSHT was formed at the end of the summer of 2006 and is a two-way partnership between the San Antonio Rampage Hockey Club and Operation Comfort. When members of the U.S. Armed Forces are injured they are sent to one of three rehabilitation facilities in the United States. Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) here in San Antonio is one of the best. Operation Comfort helps injured soldiers at BAMC to recover and also to prepare for the next productive stage of their lives as well as provide a diversion while they undergo rehab.

Ice sled hockey was invented at a Stockholm, Sweden rehabilitation center in the early 1960s by a group of Swedes who, despite their physical impairment, wanted to continue playing hockey. The men modified a metal frame sled with two regular-sized ice hockey skate blades that allowed the puck to pass underneath. Using round poles with bike handles for sticks to swat the puck, the men played without any goaltenders on a lake south of Stockholm.

The first inclusion of sled hockey in the Paralympic Games came in 1994 in Lillehammer. Canada, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, the U.S., Japan and Estonia have dominated international competitions, but the sport is growing with club teams now established in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Russia and Korea. *

Hannah, who now resides in Boerne, TX., became paralyzed at the age of 20 when a shelving unit fell on top of him in a warehouse accident, rendering his legs immobile. He is a two-time Paralympian helping the United States to capture the Gold Medal in Salt Lake City in 2002 and a Bronze in 2006 in Turino. After being part of the U.S. National team from 2001-2006 he retired from playing, but not from sled hockey.

"We originally started a sled hockey team in Dallas, so when I moved to San Antonio the goal was to start a team so that the Dallas team had someone to play," said Hannah. "Unbeknownst to us, Janis Roznowski with Operation Comfort had seen a demonstration of sled hockey and was already trying to put together a team. It turned out to be great timing and I was asked to coach."

Upon hearing about the team the San Antonio Rampage Hockey Club got involved with donations of equipment and jerseys. Over the last two years the Rampage have raised more than $20,000 from specialty jersey auctions to help fund the RMSHT.

The RMSHT began practices in 2006 at the Ice Center at Northwoods, which donated the ice time, and has continued to evolve.

"Our goal is to build the team up and start traveling to other cities for games so we can be competitive on a national level," said Roznowski.

To develop to that elite level the RMSHT team has to overcome challenges that other sled hockey programs don't face.

"Part of the challenge that we face is that when players on the team get discharged they go back home," said Hannah. "We were by far the most improved team as the season went along. We make it accessible to any soldier who wants to play."

The coaching also rekindled the 44-year old Hannah's desire to play and he recently participated in tryouts for the U.S. National Team that were held in Rochester, NY and was selected as part of the 15-man squad.

"Players for the U.S. National team come from all over the country," Hannah explained. "A lot of times it comes down to who has the strong club programs and currently we have a lot of guys from the Northeast, especially Buffalo.

The team consists of 13 skaters and two goaltenders. The tryouts for the team that will represent the United States in 2010 in Vancouver will take place in the summer of 2009.

Despite being the oldest player on the team Hannah knows what is expected.

"I think what the team is looking for is leadership and that is what I provide. That really defines my role, someone who has been there."

With one more challenge conquered Hannah moves right along to another.

"My goal now is to develop a strong San Antonio team (RMSHT) over the next couple of years and get some guys on the U.S. National team starting with Chris."

Leverkuhn represents a different story from Hannah as he is a graduate of Operation Comfort. The retired sergeant was injured in Iraq and lost his right leg to amputation in January 2004, after a homemade bomb and rocket-propelled grenade hit his truck near Fallujah. He admits that when he first saw his injuries, he thought he'd never walk again.

Leverkuhn said his tendency "to look for the silver lining" in life helped him immeasurably as he adapted to life with a prosthetic leg.

"The only thing that can hinder me is my mind. A lot of the recovery process has to do with the patient's will," he explained. "The way I look at this is, it changed my body, but it didn't change me as a person." **

When he reached BAMC he discovered sled hockey and it immediately peaked his interest.

"You get to go out on the ice and take out your aggression," said Leverkuhn. "I love the sport. It's a great way to keep busy and experience something new." ***

As for his hope of making the U.S. National Team?

"Chris was very impressive in the tryouts. He has only been playing for a year and a half," said Hannah. "He needs to refine his skills on the sled and understanding of the game. A lot of hockey isn't just being fast, its knowing where to be and when."

Both Hannah and Leverkuhn hope to answer the question of where and when by saying "Vancouver 2010".

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American Hockey League Stories from July 21, 2008


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