By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

Due to a birth defect, he was born without all his fingers and without a bone in his right forearm. A pinky finger doesn’t exist on his left hand. His right hand consists of the thumb and either the index or middle finger – exactly which it is remains a mystery.

STICK-TO-ITIVENESS – Dave Levesque, Hooksett resident and special education teacher in Concord, is one of 20 athletes in the country who plays for the American Amputee Hockey Association’s national team. Levesque was born with birth defects to his fingers and right arm. His passion for hockey keeps him on the ice. (M Thaler Photo)

The missing bone in his forearm prevents him from rotating his right limb at the elbow. To twist his arm, he must do so from the shoulder.

But talk to him. A doctor’s diagnosis isn’t needed to determine this Hooksett resident and Concord school teacher has the heart of 100 men without a single disability.

Meet Dave Levesque, one of 20 athletes nationwide who plays for the United States Standing Amputee Hockey team at the center position.

And aside from his family, Levesque said his heart belongs to ice hockey.

As a young boy growing into his body, Levesque wouldn’t give in to the frustration of having the glove continually fall off his right hand. Likewise, possessing little upper body strength to hold the stick wouldn’t slow him down.

Levesque just worked hard, wishing to emulate his older cousins and older brother. All played hockey.

“(The rink) was the one place nobody knew I was different,” said Levesque, whose parents didn’t want him to play for fear of injuring his right arm, which underwent three operations by the time he was 3. “It was the one time people weren’t watching my hand because I had a glove on. I just wanted to not be different. (Hockey) was my way of saying, ‘I’m not any different. Put on your skates and let’s play.’”

Levesque grew up in Derry and attended Trinity High School of Manchester, where he donned the Pioneers sweater.

During his days at Trinity, Levesque, then 16, was featured in USA Hockey Magazine for his accomplishments while playing with a physical disability. The notoriety from the article resulted in a phone call from the parents of a young boy with a similar impairment.

“He was 3 or 4 at the time,” Levesque said of Berlin’s Shane Warren, who’s now 17 and also a member of Team USA. “His mother’s uncle was my assistant coach at Trinity.”

Back then, the Warrens were tentative about letting their son play hockey. Levesque helped persuade them.

Out of the blue, Levesque received a phone call from the Warrens 10 months ago. They informed him the American Amputee Hockey Association was searching for participants to compete at the international level.

“I had never heard of such an organization,” said Levesque, a kindergarten- to-second-grade special education teacher at Concord’s Dame School. “I didn’t know anything existed.”

After researching the AAHA, Levesque learned it was “a nonprofit sports organization founded in 2000 to develop opportunities for amputee and other disabled athletes to learn and play competitive hockey,” according to the Web site.

Levesque was intrigued by the notion of playing hockey for Team USA. But he was unsure of his eligibility because he wasn’t an amputee. Nonetheless, he was invited to attend an open tryout last October in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“It was determined I was eligible to compete as an amputeed athlete,” Levesque said.

Earning a spot on the U.S. national team was overwhelming, said Levesque, considering he missed making other national squads at 16 and 17, after twice suffering knee injuries.

“Year No. 1 was arthroscopic (knee surgery),” he said. “Year No. 2 was open-knee.”

But for all the tough times Levesque experienced as a child and teenager, a single moment put everything into perspective: The day he first walked into the locker room in Colorado.

“I went there not knowing what to expect,” Levesque said. “I asked myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ There were people with fake arms, someone with a steel claw. I just saw people who were worse off than me.”

Levesque said he realized he was extremely fortunate. He couldn’t do anything but shake his head in astonishment.

“What I have of an arm is flesh and bone,” he said. “They don’t have that.”

As a member of Team USA, Levesque has already attended camps in Colorado and Detroit. And before he heads to Calgary, Alberta – where the battle for the North American Cup will take place from May 11 to 15 – Levesque and his teammates will skate against the Canadian team at Boston University on April 22 and 23.

The exhibition will serve as the national team’s final preparation before the May event in Canada.

“Team USA hasn’t beaten the Canadians in the past two years,” Levesque said.

Win or lose, Levesque said the overall goal is to have Standing Amputee Hockey recognized as a winter “paralympic” sport.

Eight participating countries are needed to grant Olympic status to a sport. To date, six countries including the U.S. and Canada are involved with Standing Amputee Hockey.

So when he’s not training or skating – all team members are responsible for their own conditioning – Levesque is doing his part to raise awareness.

Since each player must currently pay the costs to travel to the camps around the country, Levesque asked for help from the Manchester Monarchs.

In a recent fundraising raffle, the popular minor-league hockey organization provided the top prize.

Among the items in the pack were two player jerseys and four game tickets.

“The Manchester Monarchs are proud to have partnered with the American Amputee Hockey Association,” said Cheryl Abbott, director of community relations and special events for the Manchester Monarchs. “Through the Monarchs Care Foundation we are able to make a difference in the lives of countless people. We take a great deal of pride in giving back to the community. It was our pleasure to assist such a wonderful organization.”

Even though U.S. Standing Amputee Hockey is in its infancy, Levesque said it’d be a dream to someday work with the AAHA and teach young athletes with similar disabilities to play hockey.

Until that day, however, this tremendous local athlete is content serving the roles of player and ambassador.

“Hockey helped me overcome a lot of adversity,” Levesque said. “When people in life tell me I can’t do something, that’s when I want to prove them wrong, quiet them.”