Canada advances to semifinals at World Para Ice Hockey Championships

OSTRAVA – An impressive defensive effort propelled Canada to a 4-0 victory over South Korea on Tuesday to solidify a berth in the semifinals at the World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. 

The Canadians, the defending champions, end the preliminary round with two wins and one loss and are assured a top-two finish in Group A. The top-two in their pool (Canada and USA) advance directly to the semis which are scheduled for Friday. 

Tyler McGregor scored his fourth goal of the tournament, with Zach Lavin (his second), Liam Hickey (third) and Greg Westlake (third) adding goals of their own. Canada led 2-0 after one period and 3-0 after two. Goaltender Dominic Larocque faced only two shots and registered the shutout.

‘’It was a great game, Korea battles hard every time we play against them,’’ said Canadian forward Dominic Cozzolino. ‘’We went out there and played our game. Good thing we’re on the right side of it today.’’

Lavin was named Canada’s player of the game. 

‘’I’m really loving this tournament format with some really challenging good games early on,’’ said Lavin, in his worlds debut. 

The Canadian coaching staff felt the players followed the game plan.

‘’We played a great game, I thought we really controlled the puck,’’ said assistant coach Mike Fountain. ‘’Our game plan was to get pucks on net and drive the net. We played a solid strong, physical game.’’

Canada will find out its semifinal opponent on Wednesday, following the conclusion of the quarter-finals. 

All of Canada’s games will be available to watch via live on the Canadian Paralympic Committee Facebook page, as well as the CBC Sports and Radio-Canada streaming services.