Boston Bruins alumni will compete in a 30-minute sled hockey game as part of USA Hockey's 24-Hour Hockey Game Friday, Feb. 29. The event will serve as a preview, of sorts, for the 2008 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championships in March.

The ice sledge hockey game featuring Bruins alumni will serve as an exciting component of the first-ever 24-Hour Hockey Game, in which one 30-minute running-time game in each of the nation's 50 states will be played consecutively. The first game starts in Maine at noon EST on Friday, Feb. 29.

The IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships competition will host over 150 athletes with physical disabilities and will be held by U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, in collaboration with Massachusetts Hockey. It will also serve as the most critical stop on the road to the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.

Charlie Huebner, Chief of U.S. Paralympics, said the 24-Hour Hockey Game will provide great momentum for the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Championships and will also help create awareness about the sport of sledge hockey.

“The fact that this illustrious game will be featured in Marlborough is invaluable to the promotion of Paralympic sport,” Huebner said. “It gives the general public the opportunity to learn more about the sport of ice sledge hockey, and it provides Americans with physical disabilities the ability to learn about the many opportunities that exist in sport.”

For the 24-Hour Hockey Game, one team has been designated as "Stars" and one team as "Stripes" in each state. A national running score will be kept at the event website, http://www.24hourhockeygame.com/

Players of all ages, backgrounds and skill sets will participate in the event. The mite (8 & Under), squirt (10 & Under), pee wee (12 & Under), bantam (14 & Under), midget (18 & Under), high school, junior, college (non-varsity), disabled, inline and adult levels of hockey will be represented, spanning across 100 teams.