By Jacob Rosser
The 2025-26 NHL (National Hockey League) season began on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 and hockey fans around the world (including me!) are excited to pull their hockey jerseys out of summer storage. This is even the case if you are a Toronto Maple Leafs fan lol! Let’s be honest, the Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967. This hockey season will be special as it will include a break for the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy which will add more hockey excitement to the season.
Truth be told, I have mixed loyalties. I live in British Columbia, Canada so I am a natural Vancouver Canucks fan for the Western Conference but having lived most of my life in Ottawa, the Ottawa Senators are my Eastern Conference favourites. They are not really rivals so I feel I am ok to support both teams.
However, the Canucks have impressed me because of their involvement in the community and in particular I am thinking about the Canucks Autism Network. It was established by Paolo Aquilini and his wife because they had an autistic son. (The Aquilini family have owned the Canucks for a long time.)
The Canucks Autism Network does a lot of work educating the population and the business communities about our superpowers but also provides opportunities for autistic people around B.C. (Actually, I will do a blog post on them at some point but this is all about HOCKEY so now onto floor hockey.
So, when I turned 19, I connected with Community Living British Columbia (CLBC.) It is a unique government organization, created by a grassroots movement of people with disabilities, families, service providers and other community and government partners. CLBC runs a floor hockey program called Hockey Without Limits and I am a proud goalie in the league.
Floor hockey has helped me out in many ways. To be able to play a sport that is therapeutic for my mental and physical health (it is great exercise!) is amazing but it is pretty awesome for my social well-being because I’ve been able to make friends with people who are like me.
The games are demanding and competitive but we also have a really good time playing together. We started our season in September and we are picking up steam as we go along.
Here is a link to a news story from a TV station in Victoria, British Columbia — CHEK News — about our first tournament. It was in June but it was such a great experience I am sharing this article and video now. Be sure to click on the embedded video! I mention the video because in it you will see a gift I got from a former Edmonton Oilers goalie, Curtis Joseph. The black goalie mask I wear every week was a gift from him that he even signed for me. He is a big supporter of mental health advocacy as is my good friend, former Anaheim Mighty Ducks player Scott McKay, who is a super amazing person. He introduced me to Hockey Night in Canada legend Ron MacLean — ANOTHER mental health advocate — stay tuned for a blog on them later. As you can see, I love hockey but I, too, have done some mental health work in Canada. Stay tuned for more on that.
But for now, let’s celebrate the beginning of the hockey season both on the ice and in Victoria in my floor hockey league. I will keep you posted on my hockey stats!
ABOUT ME:
Hello. My name is Jacob. I had a major stroke when I was a baby and my brain’s wiring is different. I have two big holes in my head that have caused me lots of challenges. I have a cluster of letters after my name, like autism, severe OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder,) epilepsy, to name a few. I walk a little differently because of the stroke, but I call it my swagger. I write a blog now to celebrate and share my superpowers, to promote awareness and understanding of neurodivergent people like me, and most importantly to interview cool people and share cool stuff I do, because we are able, just like everyone else.
