Massachusetts sled hockey Paralympians see their journey come full circle at Reeve Hockey Classic
“We all have to deal with our disabilities every day. But then once we come together, we don't even really see that.”
SAUGUS — Sled hockey has taken David Eustace and Griffin LaMarre all over the globe.
The Massachusetts natives and Team USA Paralympians took home gold with their teammates at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
They’ve competed at the Sled World Championships in both Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and Calgary over the last two years.
But for all those travels charted out in recent years, a trek down Route 1 on Wednesday stands as a journey that has come full circle for both athletes.
During a week where the growth of hockey has been celebrated via the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, both Eustace and LaMarre took to the ice in front of their loved ones at Saugus’ Kasabuski Rink — the site of the first-ever Reeve Hockey Classic on Wednesday.
“I’m right around the corner,” Eustace, a Stoneham native, said of Wednesday’s venue. “My family and friends have never really got to see me play, so I’m extremely excited.”
“I have probably 20 of my buddies from my hometown coming, and all my family coming,” LaMarre, a goalie who hails from Haverhill, added. “It’s something I haven’t experienced in being on this team.”
As the NHL’s top stars brace themselves for an anticipated bout between Team USA and Canada during Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off title game at TD Garden, Wednesday’s Reeve Hockey Classic held a similar international flair.
The Reeve Hockey Classic featured a matchup between both the U.S. and Canadian national sled hockey teams — with the event organized by the NHL in cooperation with USA Hockey and Hockey Canada.
Much like the competitive fire sparked between their NHL counterparts, Team USA sled hockey captain Josh Pauls acknowledged that Wednesday’s matchup would feature both rosters giving it their all — especially after Canada won ‘24 Worlds up in Calgary.
However, that animosity is also balanced with a desire to further grow the game of sled hockey.
“I think it’s evolved,” Pauls said of the rivalry between the US and Canada. “When I first started [with Team USA] when I was 15 — we absolutely hated those guys. I think on the ice, the hate is still there.
“But I think we’ve realized that in order to grow the sport — we’re the two best teams, and we have the best players, and in order to grow it, we’re gonna have to cooperate a little bit off the ice.”
Wednesday’s showdown in Saugus accomplished several goals when it came to attracting new fans and players — as well as financially supporting the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s Quality of Life Grant Program.
The Quality of Life Grant Program provides grants to nonprofits in order to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. Since 1999, the program has awarded $46 million to more than 3,900 nonprofit programs across the US, including sled-hockey initiatives.
Beyond the competition put forth on the ice Wednesday in front of a packed crowd, the Reeve Hockey Classic harped on outreach and engagement — with the NHL hosting a “Learn to Play” event on Tuesday for individuals interested in learning more about sled hockey.
(Team USA practices in Saugus on Tuesday morning.)
Those first skating sessions years ago paved a path toward gold medals for both Eustace and LaMarre.
“I’ve always wanted to be a professional athlete of some sort,” Eustace, a defenseman, noted. “Obviously, I never really got the chance to play able-bodied sports at the same level as some of my friends. But representing the USA is a dream to me.
“You don’t always get that opportunity through what your friends are playing: baseball, lacrosse, football,” LaMarre added. “So I think sled hockey just offers you that opportunity to play a real, actual sport at a high level, and then also provide you with that experience of building a brotherhood.”
That brotherhood is one forged by a sense of belonging and camaraderie on a Team USA comprised of athletes hailing from all corners of the country. While each player on Team USA charted his own path on the ice, each journey is linked by a prevailing sense of perseverance.
Eustace’s dreams of pro sports didn’t dissipate, even when he lost part of his left leg at age 5 — the result of a car crashing into a crowd of children at Stoneham’s Central Elementary School in 2004. He picked up sled hockey at eight years old, and the 25-year-old is now a pillar of Team USA’s blue line.
“I know whenever he’s on the ice and I’m not, I’m yelling on the bench, ‘We’ve got some dogs out there,’ ‘because, man — he just hunts down pucks like nobody’s business,” Pauls said of Eustace. “He never gives up.”
LaMarre, 28, was born with spastic paraplegia — a hereditary condition that impacts some of the strength in his legs, as well as his balance. After years spent honing his craft with the Team USA development sled hockey team, he earned his shot with the national team ahead of the 2022 Paralympics and is now part of goalie tandem with three-time gold medalist Jen Lee.
“We’re all brothers, really,” Eustace said of Team USA, which also features Purple Heart recipients like Travis Dodson, who lost his legs while serving in Iraq with the Marine Corps. “At the end of the day, the camaraderie is like nothing else, because we have gone through similar walks of life.
“We all have to deal with our disabilities every day. But then once we come together, we don’t even really see that.”
(Both Eustace [37] and LaMarre [29] played key roles in Team USA’s win over Canada on Wednesday.)
Both Eustace and LaMarre were in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s dramatic 4-3 win over the Canadians — with each local product drawing a chorus of cheers on a night filled with chants of “USA!” and the electric echoes of the guitar solo from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” reverberating through the rink.
Eustace and LaMarre felt at home — their hockey dreams realized amid the trials and tribulations planted in front of them at an early age.
But as Team USA braces for another shot at gold at the 2026 Paralympics in Italy, events like the Reeve Hockey Classic will ideally inspire that the next generation of para-athletes to join them on the ice one day.
“I think it has the same thing to offer anybody in sports, right,” Pauls said of what sled hockey has to offer athletes. “It offers the chance to compete, to learn life lessons of hard work paying off. And just the fact that failure isn’t the end.
“Like failure is a natural part of life, and it’s something that you have to get used to. … I’ve told plenty of people, ‘I know I’m never going to score every shot. That’s not going to stop me from trying every single time.’”
(Team USA defeated Canada, 4-3, on Wednesday night in Saugus. Footage courtesy of the NHL).
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