Liam Hickey moves to defence

One of Canada’s top goal scorers to help out on defence
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CALGARY – Liam Hickey of St. John’s N.L., is one of nine returnees from the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games named to Canada’s National Para Hockey Team following last week’s selection camp.

Hickey, one of Canada’s top goal scorers however has been selected to the team this season as a defenceman.

“(Coach Babey) called me up, wanted to know my thoughts about playing ‘D’,’’ Hickey told the St. John’s Telegram. ‘’I’m up for anything, and I told him that. So we’ll start the season on defence and see how it goes. It went pretty well at camp.”

The 18 players named to Canada’s 2018-19 National Para hockey team are:
•    Goaltenders Dominic Larocque (Quebec City) and Corbin Watson (Kingsville, Ont.)
•    Defencemen Rod Crane (Clarksburg, Ont.), James Gemmell (Quesnell, B.C.), Liam Hickey (St. John’s, N.L.), Zach Lavin (Okotoks, Alta.) and Kevin Sorley (Petersburg, Ont.)
•    Forwards Alexis Auclair (Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.), Billy Bridges (Summerside, P.E.I.), Dominic Cozzolino (Mississauga, Ont.), Cody Dolan (Calgary), James Dunn (Wallacetown, Ont.), Anton Jacobs-Webb (Gatineau, Que.), Micah Kovacevich (Edmonton), Antoine Lehoux (Thetford Mines, Que.), Tyler McGregor (Forest, Ont.), Garrett Riley (Brantford, Ont.) and Corbyn Smith (Monkton, Ont.)

The other eight players from the silver medal winning team in PyeongChang are  (Bridges, Cozzolino, Dunn, Gemmell, Larocque, McGregor, Smith, Watson).

“We were very excited about this group of players coming into camp as we had a good mix of veterans and prospects, and the level of competition throughout the week showed just how strong this year’s group was,” said head coach Ken Babey of Saskatoon. 

Babey led the selection process for the 28 players invited to the camp, with assistance from Hockey Canada’s management group.

The 18 players chosen will continue to train and compete in international competitions, including the Canadian Tire Para Hockey Cup, Dec. 2-8 in London, Ont., as well as a cross-border series with the United States in March. The season will culminate at the IPC World Para Hockey Championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic in April.