Canada to play for gold medal in Para ice hockey

Canada’s Para Hockey Team is off to the gold-medal game after its fourth consecutive shutout of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, a 7-0 semifinal victory over Korea at the Gangneung Hockey Centre Thursday afternoon.

 
•    Tyler McGregor (Forest, Ont.) led the way with two goals and a pair of assists, while Billy Bridges (Summerside, P.E.I.) also scored twice in the win. Dominic Cozzolino (Mississauga, Ont.), Liam Hickey (St. John’s, N.L.) and Greg Westlake (Toronto) added singles. 
•    Corbin Watson (Kingsville, Ont.) got the start in goal and only had to make one save through two periods, before Dominic Larocque (Quebec City, Que.) played the third and shut the door. 
 
Next game:
March 18 – gold-medal game vs. the winner between U.S.A / Italy (12 p.m. local / 11 p.m. ET)
 
Quotes: 
 
“We had some chances early and finally we got the first one and that seemed to get us going more. I thought our best period of the whole game was our first period and that set the stage for the rest of the game.”
            – Ken Babey, head coach of Team Canada 
 
“We were tight early, the first five or six shots we took missed the net. Nobody got frustrated and the bench was really positive which is what you need in big games. Eventually we broke through and got the first one, the next and then we got rolling and that’s a good lesson going into the next game.” 
          – Greg Westlake, Team Canada captain 
 
“One of the things we’ve been working on for the last three years has been the execution of the game plan. Everyone today was playing great both offensively and defensively, but I think I’m most proud of this team the way that we’re playing defence and the way we’re playing a two-way game. The goalies have had chances against them and they’ve been standing on their head and playing great.”
          – Bridges, three points (two goals, one assist) in the semifinal