It might seem rather strange that the World Para Hockey Championship hasn’t been contested on Canadian soil in the past, but that’s all about to change in a couple months time.
And when the tournament takes centre stage at the Moose Jaw Events Centre at the end of May, it promises to be an exciting time for a group of players who’ve never played for a world title in front of home country support.
“To compete at a major event, on home ice, with our fans cheering for us, it’s such an exciting opportunity and I get goosebumps thinking about it,” said Team Canada captain Tyler McGregor. “As a team we’re trying to be a lot more process-oriented, but you can’t help but think about the chance to win a gold medal on home ice and what that would feel like. So we’re thrilled to have a chance to do that.”
Canada has won worlds four times -- in 2000, 2008, 2013 and most recently 2017 -- and have silver medals the last two times the event was played in 2019 and 2021.
The United States has won three of the last four world titles and remain the defacto favourite heading into the 2023 tournament.
Team Canada isn’t that far off, though, having recently played a three-game series against the U.S. and ended up with a pair of one-goal losses -- one in overtime, and another when the U.S. scored with 1.6 seconds to play.
“Two of those three games were right within reach and we’re pretty happy with that,” McGregor said. “We had so much turnover after the (2022 Bejing) Paralympics, I look at the team this year compared to last year and two of the top three all-time scorers on our team aren’t with us this season. So we’ve made some critical changes, and while we have what looks like a really young and inexperienced team, the core of our team has stayed intact.”
That core won the silver medal in Beijing, with the U.S. claiming gold and China bronze, and seeing how the new players on Team Canada have progressed this season has McGregor and his fellow veterans hoping for big things in the near future -- possibly as early as this June.
“There’s been some amazing growth so far, and it’s been an amazing first five, six months of the year,” McGregor said. “Not only has the core of our team taken on expanded roles, we’ve been injected with youth and positive energy. We’ve been committed right from the start and we’re starting to see the benefit of that as we move through the season.”
Finding themselves within striking distance of the U.S. is certainly a positive sign.
“The U.S. for the last few years has been the best team in the world, and while we don’t want to use that as a measuring stick, we want to focus on ourselves, but just the strides we’ve seen playing them have been incredible,” McGregor said. “So they’re within our grasp and I think between now and then we have the opportunity to get better and improve even more.”
One thing that’s for certain is Team Canada will be coming to Moose Jaw with gold on their mind, regardless of their opponents. And they remain confident that with fan support and playing at home, contending for a title will happen.
“To have the opportunity to do that at home is going to be extra special.” McGregor said. “There’s the expectation that comes with it, to at least put yourself in a position to win a gold medal and we hope we’re in that position in a couple month’s time.”
