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World Para Hockey tourney was a ‘resounding success,’ committee co-chair says

'I don’t think anybody really knew what to expect. Going in, not many of us had actually seen para hockey live, so we were just excited for the opportunity to host an event.'
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Team Canada salutes the 2,838 fans who took in the gold medal final on Sunday night.

The 2023 World Para Hockey Championship was the first time the tournament was contested on Canadian soil, and according to host organizers, the event “was a resounding success.”

Heather Eby co-chaired the host committee organization with Marcy Ramage and, during a banquet on June 5 to honour the Chinese sledge hockey team, spoke about how successful the tournament was.

“I don’t think anybody really knew what to expect. Going in, not many of us had actually seen para hockey live, so we were just excited for the opportunity to host an event,” Eby told the Express. “And once we got to see the players hit the ice and the teams practising, we knew it was going to be great.”

The crowds at the Events Centre were small for the first few days, but more fans began coming out after hearing how exciting the action was from other fans, Eby continued. The increase in crowd size was most evident during the two games between the United States and Canada, while during the gold medal game, it was exciting to see many Canadian fans with flags, jerseys and painted faces.

The U.S. defeated Canada 6-1 to win the gold medal.

Eby thought the community stepped up to support the event, while she thought the tournament created a dedicated fan base for Team Canada’s para hockey team. Also, now that the Events Centre has para equipment, it will host similar exciting events in the future.

The volunteer support was also “phenomenal,” she continued. After their first shifts, many people asked if they could work more and encouraged host organizers to call them if help was needed.

“I’m just really grateful to have been part of this event. To me, when I think about the Events Centre, build it and they will come,” Eby said. “And they did and they are going to come again because we knocked it out of the park and Hockey Canada is over the moon with what happened here.

“And I was told by one of the top guys of Hockey Canada that there are only two (arenas) like (Moose Jaw’s) in Canada that can host this event the way we did,” she continued, “with the number of dressing rooms and with the curling rink attached and (being) able to accommodate the players.”

Eby pointed out that the venue had enough dressing rooms to accommodate every team. This meant when players moved into their rooms on the first day, they stayed there permanently — they could leave their equipment there — until they moved out the morning of June 5.

All told, the United States captured gold, Canada silver and the Czech Republic bronze.  

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