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The dream to one day play hockey for Team Canada has come true for Curt Minard, even after suffering the amputation of his left hand and wrist. Curt played hockey at many different levels while growing up in Weyburn, and now has the opportunity to play at the ISIHF World Championships in Finland.

"I played for the love of the game, that's what we did growing up in rural Saskatchewan," said Minard. He is the son of Brian and Irene Minard, and graduated from the Weyburn Comp in 1997.

Curt had his left hand and wrist amputated after an electrical accident in 2008, while working as a power line technician in B.C. The damage also caused significant nerve damage and scar tissue to his right hand.

He spent 10 weeks in the hospital recovering from the accident. "With the will to continue and after numerous surgeries, I survived. Unfortunately, my left hand did not. I believed that everything I loved to do was no longer a possibility, hockey 小蓝视频 at the top of the list."

"The one true passion I have is obviously hockey, and after my accident I came to terms that those days were done."
Curt attributes unconditional support from his friends and family, especially the determination of his two sons Maddex and Hunter, to why he got back on the ice. "As I got stronger, both mentally and physically, I kept seeing other amputees playing sports, and I asked myself why was I giving up on my dreams."

Then in 2011, he "finally strapped my hockey gear on for the first time in three years. Re-learning how to play the game with my limitations was a challenge, but I was determined to compete and play again."

"Skating and everything came naturally to me, it always did. But the difficult part was learning how to play hockey with my prosthetic device," said Minard. He noted that since he has a prosthetic device for his left hand, and significant nerve damage in his right hand, that "it was learning how to have hands with no hands."

"I had to learn how to shoot, how to accurately pass, and how to maneuver around people," added Minard. "In the last few years, I gained better skating abilities, and my body channeled my restrictions with my hands in other ways."

Earlier this year, Curt was invited to Toronto to try out for a spot on the Canadian National Amputee Hockey Team. Playing with the national amputee hockey team has been "one of the best experiences I have ever experienced in hockey," said Minard. "No one judges you on your disability, and it was one of the greatest dressing rooms."

"Everyone (in the dressing room) has their own story. My accident was quite traumatic, but there are others on the team who had more traumatic experiences," explained Minard. "We are from all walks of life, and only we can understand where we came from."

He made the national selection team and at the end of March will attend a pre-world camp, where a select group of players will be chosen to represent Canada at the ISIHF World tournament.

"The thought of 小蓝视频 one of the top 27 amputee hockey players in Canada is a pretty humbling experience," said Minard. "I was ecstatic when I found out that I was six spots away from making the world tournament."

In April, the Canadian National Amputee Hockey Team will be in Tampere, Finland to compete for Canada's sixth consecutive gold medal at the world championships.

The Canadian Amputee Hockey Committee (CAHC) is a committee of the non-profit Canadian Amputee Sports Association (CASA), and a member of the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC). The CAHC was established in 2001, and will be marking their 10th year at the 2012 ISIHF Worlds.

Copies of the 2012 CAHC sponsorship package were sent to several local businesses, and Curt noted that the team has received financial support from some companies. "Weyburn will always be home for me and my family. I can't wait to see where hockey takes me."