Para sport Notebook: Canada beats USA for first time this season in Para ice hockey

THOROLD, Ont. – Vincent Boily scored the winning goal early in the third period and Canada held on for a 2-1 victory over the USA on Saturday to conclude a three-game series against their archrivals at Canada Games Park.

It was Canada’s first victory against the Americans since the gold medal match at the Para ice hockey world championships in Calgary last May. Canada also won that game 2-1 for its first world title since 2017.

Before Saturday’s win, the Americans had reeled off eight straight wins against Canada this season.

“We were better with the small details tonight,’’ said Boily, from Alma, Que. “Getting pucks out of our zone, managing the puck at the blue lines and I think it made the difference—it gave us more time with the puck and chances in the offensive zone.

‘’The effort in the last minute was a lot like the world championship game in Calgary. Everyone was ready to face what was coming down 6-on-5 and we put our bodies on the line, got in the lanes and made sure nothing got to Adam (Kingsmill).”

Kingsmill stopped 16 of 17 shots. Mathieu Lelièvre of Lévis, Que. provided a Canada a 1-0 lead early in the second.

Four-time Paralympian Adam Dixon of Midland, Ont. played in his 251st career game, tying Billy Bridges’ record for the most games played with Canada’s National Para Hockey Team.

Earlier in the week, the Americans won the first two games 2-1 and 5-1.

‘’We held an offensive juggernaut to less than 20 shots and we endured the pressure down the stretch with the extra attacker on and it was a great bounce back effort,’’ said Canada’s head coach Russ Herrington.

‘’We showed tonight what Canadians are all about.”

The series was a tune-up for the World Para Ice Hockey Championships May 25-31 in Buffalo, NY. The top-five finishers earn spots for the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

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Americans sweep in women’s Para ice hockey series

At the same time in Thorold, a Canada-USA women’s Para ice hockey three-game series was taking place.

Those squads are preparing for the inaugural women’s world championships set for August 26-31 in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia. This landmark event marks a significant milestone in the sport, offering a global stage for female athletes in Para ice hockey.

The U.S. took all three games 2-1, 5-0 and 4-3. The games can be viewed HERE.

For us, we are a team that honestly is focused on the process, on the controllables on what we can do, no matter who the other group is at the other end of the ice,” said Tara Chisholm of Medicine Hat, Alta., to the St. Catharines Standard. She is in her 12th year as the national team coach.

“We wanted to make sure that the team that is leaving tomorrow is a better team than the one that arrived on the previous Sunday. This is about making ourselves better as a team so it doesn’t matter who we face at the worlds, we are going to be coming as our best selves.”

Team Canada includes Christina Picton, also a member of the Para nordic national team.

“You never like to hear that your team is swept,” Picton said. “In that way, we can feel a little sad, but I think what we’re going to come away from this week is we’re going to focus on all the little process pieces that we were executing successfully.

“There were so many things that we improved upon from the last time that we matched up with the U.S.

Canada concludes World Boccia Youth Championships with four-medal haul

Canada’s future stars in boccia continued their strong showing at the Curitiba World Boccia Youth Championships on the weekend.

Andrew Woodrow (St. John’s, NL) secured gold in the BC4 pairs competition, Carter Plumb (Brampton, ON) took silver in the BC3 pairs event, and Joe Philpott (St. John’s, NL) earned bronze in Team BC1/2 play.

In the BC3 pairs event, Plumb teamed up with Slovak athlete Aloysius Kai Hong, navigating a competitive field to claim the silver medal.

Meanwhile, Woodrow, who had already won Canada’s first international medal of the season a day earlier with a bronze in individual play, added to his success by winning gold in the BC4 pairs event alongside Brazilian teammate Joice Lira. The pair went undefeated to secure the top spot.

Rounding out the Canadian contingent, Philpott partnered with Slovakia’s Samuel Sloboda and Eliska Jankechova in the BC1/2 team event to win bronze. It’s the Newfoundlander’s first international medal.
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BC Junior Grizzlies strike gold at the 2025 Junior West Championship

In wheelchair basketball, the BC Junior Grizzlies topped Manitoba 28-21 to claim gold at the 2025 Junior West Championship Saturday afternoon at Calgary’s Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge.

Tournament MVP Jeffer Ward led the Grizzlies with 14 points, while Cameron Gelowitz and Elise Froese contributed six points each in the victory. Matthew Wilton led Manitoba’s scoring with 10 points.

“First of all, I want to thank WSA for putting together a great tournament – the volunteers, officials, WBC – everyone did a great job,” said Grizzlies coach Adam Frost. Congratulations to all the teams, but particularly the athletes from BC. Both teams played fantastically; they left everything on the court, they worked well together on the team, there were no superstars – it’s one of the reasons that we had success – everybody worked well together, so happy for the group.”

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Team Canada set to compete at the Americas Championship in Bogota

In more men’s wheelchair basketball news, Team Canada’s Under-23 squad is gearing up for the 2025 IWBF Men’s U23 Americas Championship in Bogota, Colombia, with their sights set on securing a spot at the IWBF Men’s U23 World Championship.

Canada faces Brazil, Colombia, and the United States at the Unidad Deportiva El Salitre from April 2-5, 2025, vying for one of two qualification spots for the U23 World Championship, set for June in São Paulo, Brazil.

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