The Stayner Community Center hosted an exhibition blind hockey game Saturday afternoon, featuring completely blind players and goalies.

The game featured more than 20 players aged 16 to 85 from the Toronto Ice Owls, a hockey program for people with visual impairments. Their mission was to let the hundreds of people in attendance know that people with visual impairments can still play Canadian football.

“People are going to be blown away by how good some (of the players) are in this game,” said Randy Banks, a player with the Toronto Ice Owls. “There are still a lot of people who don’t know about it and so we’re trying to promote it to get children and youth who are visually impaired or blind to participate in Canada’s sport and get back on the ice.

The main adaptations are a larger puck with metal ball bearings that vibrate inside and nets measuring three feet high instead of four feet.

Each team also had a flashy player who could only pass and was not allowed to score. They should complete at least one pass after crossing the blue line and entering the opponent’s zone. Once this pass was completed, the on-ice referee would blow the whistle and allow the offensive team to attempt a shot on goal.

“We are here because we love hockey. Some of us grew up playing hockey and lost our eyesight due to accidents or health problems, often had a long, long break and thought we would never play hockey again,” said David Brown, Toronto Ice Owls goaltender. “Thanks to these adaptations, many of us have been able to get back to playing the game we love.”

The exhibition game was also a fundraiser with the goal of raising $10,000 to support Clearview Minor Hockey.

The Ice Owls play every Sunday in Scarborough and hope to grow enough to be able to support multiple teams.

The blind hockey season runs from the beginning of October to the end of March and culminates in an international tournament that sees around 200 blind hockey players from different countries compete for a world title.