There’s the Wayne Gretzky of Variety Village shredding another squad of able-bodied pushovers the other day.
Actually, the visiting Scarborough Ice Raiders are powers on the ice of their east end league. But this is Volt hockey, using electric carts, and the young Village team is the Gretzky Oilers of Volt.
“We’re gonna crush ’em,” growls Gavriella “Gavi” Engel-Yan, 11, via her voice machine, as the Ice Raiders saunter on strong legs into the Village fieldhouse for the “friendly” match.
Queen’s We Will Rock You booms from a speaker.
“They’re going to whip your ass,” I tell a group of Ice Raiders.
“We know,” one replies.
Gavi, who has a breathing tube, is the Mark Messier of Volt. Tough and highly competitive. But even she is in awe when linemate Bhavjeet Sandhu, 17, takes full flight.
Remember how The Great One effortlessly deked rivals out of their socks?
Well, you should see Bhavjeet, twirling his Volt cart on a dime, leaving a trail of discombobulated Ice Raiders. His cart’s toggle is set for max speed and sensitivity. It’s like driving a Ferrari.
“I had to adjust it when Bhavjeet was away for his surgery,” says Simon Rayment, a team member’s dad and de facto equipment manager.
“The other kids were all, ‘Like, I can’t drive this thing.’”
“Bhavjeet can do very precise things, neat little moves, and he’s really skilled. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
As we watch, Bhavjeet scores twice in the first three minutes and the Variety team coasts to an 8-4 drubbing.
“They’re actually pretty good,” Bhavjeet says, charitably. “It’s still hockey and they know how to play. The principals are the same.”
Bhavjeet has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive wasting of muscles, which affects mostly boys.
Bhavjeet’s spine was starting to encroach on his heart and lungs, so he had a 14-hour operation at Sick Kids two years ago, then months of recovery. He was poised to get back in his hockey cart, when COVID called on the world. It stalled Variety’s efforts to grow Volt in Canada.
There are teams in London and Alberta. In Scandinavia, the sport’s birthplace, there are 50 teams and big tournaments.
The Village kids just got their new uniforms in time for the Ice Raiders exhibition — black and silver with a big V. Not unlike the jerseys of the L.A. Kings, one of Gretzky’s former teams.
“I’ve always liked a Wayne Gretzky quote,” says the Gretzky of Volt. “He said, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’”
So Bhavjeet shoots a lot, from anywhere on the floor, with the curved plastic hockey blade screwed to the front of each cart. Or, he dodges rival carts at will. He has Gretzky’s gift of predicting where the puck — or the ball, in Volt’s case — will go next.
“I think strategically, two steps ahead,” he says. “I create my own plays. And, yes, I’m good at the game.”
The best in Canada, in fact. “That’s what they say,” says his mom, Baljinder.
“I hope things open up after this pandemic, and he can go to play in Denmark and places like that,” she says.
In fact, the Variety kids were planning a trip to a Volt Hockey World Cup — this year in Gavle, Sweden — before COVID iced them.
“That’s my dream,” says Bhavjeet, “my Stanley Cup.”
www.mikestrobel.ca
northchannelmike@gmail.com
You can help the young heroes of Volt pursue their shinny dreams by donating at sunchristmasfund.ca, where you can also order my new book, Small Miracles: The Inspiring Kids of Variety Village. Every cent of sales is added to the Christmas Fund.
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