2022  p a r a  c a n  u s a preview

Paralympics Preview: Canada vs. United States

Saturday, March 12 | 11:05 p.m. ET | Beijing, China | Gold Medal Game

March 11, 2022
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TV: CBC | Stream: CBC.ca

Four years in the making, Canada’s Paralympic Hockey Team gets its rematch with the United States, looking to dethrone the three-time defending Paralympic gold medallists and return to the top of the podium for the first time since 2006.

LAST GAME

Canada faced off with South Korea in its semifinal, cruising to an 11-0 win. Tyler McGregor celebrated his birthday with four goals and two assists, Billy Bridges netted a hat trick to bring his career total to 199 goals and Liam Hickey added a goal and four helpers as the Canadians outshot the Koreans by a whopping 43-3 margin.

The Americans matched Canada’s offensive effort in their semifinal against host China, posting an 11-0 win of their own. Brody Roybal paced the offence with four goals and two assists, while Declan Farmer had two goals and four helpers. The U.S. outshot the Chinese 37-6.

LAST MEETING

Canada and the U.S. met in the prelim opener on March 5, and the Canadians managed just nine shots on goal in a 5-0 loss. Dominic Larocque made 17 saves through the first two periods before Adam Kingsmill came in for the third, making four stops. Farmer led the red, white and blue with a goal and three assists.

WHAT TO WATCH

The Canadian coaching staff has been making slight adjustments to the lineup throughout the Games, the most significant coming in the semifinal with Liam Hickey moved back to defence. The Newfoundlander spent most of the past two seasons on the back end before returning to forward this year, but the change seemed to work as Hickey put up five points in the first two periods against the Koreans. Offence was lacking in the opener against the U.S., will this move be enough to ignite it with gold on the line?

For the U.S., it begins and ends with Farmer. The overtime hero in the gold medal game four years ago, the 24-year-old has posted a tournament-leading 15 points in three games in Beijing – four against Canada, five against Korea and the six against China. Can he step up again when the stakes are highest?

A LOOK BACK

It’s the 107th meeting between the Canada and the United States as the Paralympics end the way they started.

Canada’s prelim loss dropped its record against its cross-border rivals to 0-4-1 at the Paralympics. That includes the heartbreaking OT defeat in 2018, and a 3-0 semifinal setback four years before that.

Dating back to those 2014 Games, Canada is 1-10 against its cross-border rivals in medal-round games. The lone win came in the gold medal game at the 2017 IPC World Para Hockey Championship, when Tyler McGregor scored twice in a 4-1 victory. Wins have been a little easier to come by in exhibitions or preliminary-round games, including the most recent 4-2 victory during a two-game series in St. Louis last October.

All-time record: Canada leads 59-46-1
Canada goals: 223
United States goals: 189

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

emadziya@hockeycanada.ca 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

ssharkey@hockeycanada.ca

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

jknight@hockeycanada.ca

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