Canada's Men's Sledge Hockey Team Opens Paralympics March 11th vs. Great Britain
TURIN, ITALY – Canada’s Men’s Sledge Hockey Team will open up the sledge hockey competition at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games on Saturday, March 11th, vs. Great Britain at 9:30 am (local time)/ 3:30 am (Eastern Time).
Sledge hockey is the Paralympic version of hockey and, since its debut on the Paralympic program at the 1994 Lillehammer Paralympic Winter Games, it is quickly becoming one of the biggest attractions for spectators at the Paralympic Winter Games. It is fast-paced, highly physical and played by male athletes with a physical disability in the lower part of the body.
Canada is in Group A, which includes Norway, the # 1 seed and 2004 World Champions, Great Britain and Italy. Group B is comprised of the defending Paralympic Champions, USA, Sweden, Japan and Germany. Canada is the fourth seed, after finishing fourth at the 2004 World Sledge Hockey Championship.
Canada’s 2006 Paralympic Sledge Hockey Team Schedule (All games to be played at the Torino Esposizioni)
Round Robin
March 11th 9:30 (local)/3:30 (ET) CANADA vs. Great Britain
March 12th 17:00 (local)/11:00 (ET) Italy vs. CANADA
March 14th 20:30 (local)/14:30 (ET) CANADA vs. Norway
Playoff and Medal Round
March 15th 11:00 (local)/5:00 (ET) and 20:30 (local)/14:30 (ET)
Playoff games (A3 vs. B4 and B3 vs. A4)
March 16th 11:00 (local)/5:00 (ET) and 20:30 (local)/14:30 (ET)
Semi-final games
March 17th 11:00 (local)/5:00 (ET) and 20:30 (local)/14:30 (ET)
Qualification games (5th – 8th place)
March 18th 17:00 (local)/11:00 (ET)
Bronze medal game
20:30 (local)/14:30 (ET)
Gold medal game
Canada has nine returning players from the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games, where Canada finished 4th: goaltender Paul Rosen (Thornhill, ON), defencemen Jean Labonté (Aylmer, QC) and Graeme Murray (Gravenhurst, ON), and forwards Bradley Bowden (Orton, ON), Billy Bridges (Guelph, ON), Hervé Lord (Ottawa, ON), Shawn Matheson (Clarence Creek, ON), Todd Nicholson (Ottawa, ON) and Dany Verner (Bois-des-Filion, QC).
IMPORTANT NOTE TO MEDIA: André Brin, Hockey Canada’s Manager, Communications, arrives in Turin on Friday and will be with the team during the Paralympics. He will be coordinating media relations, and can be reached by e-mail, at [email protected] or by phone at 011 39 335 872 2565. Please take note of the time difference between Italy and your region as you make your interview requests.
Since Canada’s arrival on the international sledge hockey scene, the National Men’s Sledge Hockey Team has captured gold in four major international events (the 19 World Cups, the 1999 Commemorative Games and the 2000 World Championship). In the nine major events held in Sledge Hockey over the past 15 years, Canada has won a medal in all but two.
Sledge Hockey has been part of the Paralympic Winter Games since 1994. Canada won a bronze medal in 1994, a silver medal in 1998, and finished 4th in 2002.
Over the course of the 2005-06 season, Canada’s Sledge Hockey Team captured the German Invitation Tournament in December, and compiled an overall 11-4-0 record.
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