ST. LOUIS – Canada’s Para ice hockey head coach Ken Babey says he has accumulated some valuable information after Canada split a two-game miniseries against archrival USA, dropping a 4-1 decision on Saturday night.
“The series gives us a good sense of where we are at with our team, but also as individuals and how our guys are matching up with the Americans,’’ said Babey, after the first major tune-up for the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games set for March.
‘’We are playing against the defending Paralympic champions and world champions, and they are the measuring stick for us. We learned a lot about our team this week, but we still have some work to do when we get back home to Canada.”
Four-time Paralympian Greg Westlake scored Canada’s lone goal with under two minutes left in the game to make the score 3-1 on assists from James Dunn and Tyler McGregor. The Americans would add an insurance marker in the final minute.
“I got a solid chance as our power play expired, and any time you can get an offensive position like that you have to make the most of it,’’ said Westlake about his goal. ‘’James Dunn made a great pass to me, and he played two great games this weekend. I thought he was our best player yesterday and he was one of our best forwards again tonight.”
The Americans led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 after two. Adam Kingsmill was in goal for Canada and faced 16 shots while Canada fired nine times on Jen Lee.
“The United States brings out the best in us in terms of competition, and playing them allows us to get better and overcome certain situations that we do not necessarily get to experience in camps,’’ said McGregor. ‘’We hope to have the opportunity to compete against them quite a bit this year, and I think that will be beneficial for us long-term.”
The Canadians won the opening game Friday 4-2.
The full season schedule for Canada’s National Para Hockey Team ahead of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will be announced in the coming weeks, while the final roster for Beijing is tentatively scheduled to be unveiled in February.
With files from Hockey Canada
