Canada downs Norway 14-2 in game two of world championships

OSTRAVA – Canada is definitely still one of the global leaders in Para ice hockey. 

Having no trouble regrouping following an opening loss a day earlier, the Canadian squad defeated Norway 14-2 on Sunday at the 2019 World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. 

It was a balanced attack on the Canadian side, with eight different players putting the puck into the net and three others contributing with assists. Veteran Billy Bridges, who has been part of all four of Canada’s world championship-winning teams, and two-time Paralympic medallist Tyler McGregor led the way with respective hat tricks. 

Antoine Lehoux and Liam Hickey netted two each of their own, while the other goal scorers were Greg Westlake, Dominic Cozzolino, Rod Crane, and Zach Lavin. For Crane, Lavin, and Lehoux, it was their first-ever goals at their debut world championship. 

“We had a really good team effort today,” said Hickey. “Everyone put some points up on the board, which was good to see. We’re just getting ready for the next game now. The rest of the week we just want to stay focused on the main goal ahead here, so some small things we’ll need to work on as a team, and that’s what we’re going to work on in practice tomorrow.”

Six-zero after the first period, the game was never in doubt for the Canadians though Norway made the scoresheet in the second period to take away any visions of a shutout. 

Hickey was named Canada’s player of the game following the conclusion of the 45-minute game. Between the pipes for Canada was Corbin Watson, who made six saves.  

“It feels good to see the boys have some really good success with using their skills, and some of the tactics we wanted to clean up after our last game,” said head coach Ken Babey. “Credit goes to the boys; they shared the puck and worked together as a team, and it showed up on the scoreboard.”

Canada – the defending world champion – is now 1-1 through two days of play at the world championships, after dropping a 3-1 decision to the United States on Saturday. 

After a day off, Canada will close out its Group A preliminary action against South Korea on Tuesday at 7 a.m. ET. The Koreans won the bronze medal on home ice at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, its first-ever podium finish in the sport. 

The top two teams in their group will advance directly to the semifinals, scheduled for Friday May 3 while the bottom two countries will advance to the quarter-finals on Wednesday May 1. 

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.