VANCOUVER, BC – Canada has claimed gold in dramatic fashion at the Hockey Canada Cup sledge tournament at UBC Thunderbird Arena.

Adam Dixon (Midland, ON) scored the lone goal in the shootout to give Canada a 2-1 victory over the United States in the gold medal game. Dixon was Canada’s fifth shooter and made a great move to beat U.S. goaltender Steve Cash. Paul Rosen (Thornhill, ON), Canada’s goaltender, stopped all five U.S. shooters to earn the win in net.

Graeme Murray (Gravenhurst, ON) opened the scoring for Canada at the 7:06 mark of the first period, when he wired a shot top corner past Cash. The U.S. tied the game at 1-1 when Jimmy Connelly scored at 6:56 of the third. The teams played through a 15-minute scoreless overtime period, setting the stage for the Dixon’s game-winner in the shootout.

The gold medal final was played before a crowd of 1,812, the largest crowd to ever watch a sledge hockey final, and was also televised live on TSN2. The main TSN network will show the game on tape delay later tonight at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT.

Earlier in the day, Japan defeated Germany 3-2 in a shootout to win the bronze medal. Germany led 2-0 late in the third period before Japan made a late comeback to force overtime. After a scoreless overtime period, Japanese captain Daisuke Uehara scored the lone goal in the shootout to give his team the win.

The Hockey Canada Cup was a four-team tournament held as a test event for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, which will be held at UBC Thunderbird Arena in Vancouver.

Chris Jurewicz, Hockey Canada’s coordinator of media relations, is with Canada’s National Sledge Team in Vancouver. All media enquiries should be directed to Chris, who can be reached at (403) 880-5819 or [email protected].

The 2009 Hockey Canada Cup is a four-team event being held one year out of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. All games are being played at the new UBC Thunderbird Arena, the home for sledge hockey in 2010.