First ice sledge hockey Pan Pacifics to get underway

The USA, Canada, South Korea and a Pan Pacific team have arrived in Buffalo, New York, USA, for the first ice sledge hockey Pan Pacific Championships in history which get underway on Tuesday (29 March).

Live coverage and results from all games will be available at Paralympic.org/Buffalo-2016. Tickets are also still available.

Paralympic and world champions the USA will return to the same ice where they won gold at the 2015 World Championships A-Pool.

The HARBORCENTER was the setting for their 3-0 win over Canada just under a year ago and the team, captained by Josh Sweeney, return as the hot favourites to take another home win.

Several players highlight the US roster, ready to take on Team Pan Pacific in their opening game at 19:00 (EST) on Tuesday.

Josh Pauls scored in the gold medal match in 2015 and was named Best Defencemen, whilst teenager Declan Farmer and Dan McCoy also found the back of the net.

Goaltender Steve Cash was a hero on the line, recording a shut-out against the team’s North American rivals.

However in their most recent meeting with Canada at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge (WSHC) in February, the US were taken to overtime.

The world champions squeaked through 3-2, but their opponents will be keen to build on their most recent performance.

Canada’s Corbin Watson, Best Goaltender at the 2015 Worlds, will play alongside team captain Greg Westlake.

Brad Bowden and Ben Delaney were integral during February’s meeting with the USA, bringing the score level. They were also part of the wider surge that saw Canada hold the advantage on shots on goal.

Canada begin their campaign for gold against South Korea on Tuesday.

South Korea are riding high after being promoted to the A-Pool last season, following their gold medal win at the World Championships B-Pool in Ostersund, Sweden.

The hosts of the Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang in 2018 will be aiming to maintain their upward curve. They have taken every opportunity to play with the best teams in the world since their promotion, beating Paralympic bronze medallists Russia to third place at the WSHC.

South Korea’s Seung-Hwan Jung remains one of the most feared players in sledge hockey; his sheer speed creates trouble all over the ice. Goaltender Man-Gyun Yu was also solid against Russia, stopping 18 of the 20 shots he faced in the bronze medal match.

Team Pan Pacific will be formed of players from Japan and other participating countries. The community has joined together to support the development of the Japanese team, who are trying to attract new, young players to strengthen their squad.

Team captain Saturo Sudo said: “We would like to thank all players who agreed to this challenge and decided to participate. We can play with high class players in the same team, through which we can learn from their skills. We would like to feedback what we find to our colleagues for the improvement of the team.”

However Sudo believes that Japan’s more experienced players could provide an advantage: “The Japanese team has many veteran players. They are not upset in any cases, and they can keep calm to perform at their best.”

At a recent tournament in Japan against Italy, South Korea and the Czech Republic, the hosts grew in confidence, improving both their offensive and defensive play.

Each team will play each other once in the preliminary rounds on 29 and 30 March and 1 April.

The medal matches will take place on 2 April.

Media interested in attending the 2016 Ice Sledge Hockey Pan Pacific Championships should contact don.heins@sabres.com.