Rink will be dedicated to Roy

By Jess Dhaliwal, Dailey Free Press Staff

After Travis Roy was paralyzed 11 seconds into his first Boston University hockey game, he vowed he would never return to his hometown ice rink in a wheelchair.

But on Saturday, when the rink in North Yarmouth, Maine, will be named in his honor, Roy will head back to the arena where his dreams of playing the game he loves began.

"I honestly hadn't planned on going back until I was ready to put the skates on again," Roy said during a news conference at Shelton Hall yesterday. "I was never handicapped in there. That's where I could skate, that's where I could move, that's where I could experience everything that I wanted to experience.

"I'm excited to go back, but it's hard going without my stick and skates."

Roy began playing hockey at the North Yarmouth Academy rink even before he was in grade school. When Lee Roy, his father and coach, became the rink's manager, Travis worked there, running the zamboni and sharpening skates.

And having a key to the rink meant Roy could practice alone at night or scrimmage with friends.

"I played my entire life in that rink, getting up at 6 o'clock on Sunday morning when I was 5 and 6 years old," Roy said.

Roy was paralyzed when he mistimed a check and crashed into the boards against North Dakota on Oct. 20, 1995, in the Terriers' season opener. Since then, Roy has had his Tabor Academy jersey retired, appeared on a hockey card with Hall-of-Famer Bobby Orr and wrote a book about his experience.

But Roy said the dedication of the "Travis Roy Ice Arena" will be his most meaningful moment yet.

Roy, who would have been a senior this year, now works on what he calls "maintenance therapy," a daily routine of stretching and keeping his joints strong. If not for his injury, he could have been a team captain and a contender for the Hobey Baker Award, he said.

Regardless of whether he is able to walk again, Roy said he plans to teach skating at the Maine arena.

"When that day comes, I'll get up at 6 o'clock with my kids and take them to the rink," Roy said. "That's my dream now and that's my goal."

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