Bringing Home Hardware?

While the tournament hasn't likely been on anyone's radar outside of the teams, families, and organizations playing, I have been watching the 2026 Canadian National Para Hockey Championship all week. One of the things we pledged to do on The Hockey Show was to give sledge hockey in Manitoba and, by proxy, in Canada a bigger stage, and there is no bigger tournament in Canada than the National Championship! Team Manitoba packed their gear, hopped onto an airplane, and headed for Boucherville, Quebec on the south side of Montreal where they were hunting for medals against the six teams who rounded out the competition! They battled hard all week, played with pride, and represented Manitoba extremely well as the faced some excellent provincial teams in their quest for hardware.

The six other teams making up the tournament included Quebec, Atlantic, British Columbia, Ontario, a Quebec development team, and Saskatchewan which was actually made up of players from both Saskatchewan and Alberta. It should be noted that Saskatchewan was making their first appearance at the National Championship, so this is a huge step forward for the players from Alberta and Saskatchewan. No one expected them to win, but the experience in seeing some of Canada's best provincial teams should help them in the long run.

Quebec came into the tournament as the reigning four-time champion, so they were looking to add to their dynasty. Quebec funds their parahockey teams and leagues very well, so it should be no surprise that they are the team to beat every year. They were going to have to earn their fifth-straight championship, however, as a number of strong provincial teams made their way to Boucherville for the competition, so let's see how Manitoba did at the tournament!

Manitoba met Ontario in the morning game on Thursday, and we were witness to a tight-checking game. Manitoba, though, found a few breaks and got pucks to the net, allowing them to take the morning game over Ontario by a 3-1 score with Cohen Klassen earning Player-of-the-Game honours. With Quebec defeating Team Atlantic, Manitoba began to prepare for the 0-1 Atlantic team in the evening.

Without dropping too much foreshadowing, Manitoba met Atlantic at 7:00pm ET in what was one of the best games of the opening day. It was clear that the two teams matched up very well as this game went back and forth, but it would be Atlantic who prevailed in the end by a 4-3 overtime score over Manitoba to send both teams into Friday with 1-1 records. Rainey Delaurier was named as the Player-of-the-Game, and the team began to prepare for Team Saskatchewan.

Before we discuss the Saskatchewan-Manitoba game, I would like to editorialize a little by saying that goal differential as a tie-breaker is always a bad idea. I understand the reason for it, but no team likes delivering a blowout score and no team likes being on the receiving end of a blowout. With Manitoba, BC, and Atlantic all entering Day Two at 1-1, Manitoba needed to put some space between them and the other teams when it came to goal differential. No one should like it, but Manitoba beat Saskatchewan by an 18-0 final score in the early Friday draw. Chris Frank earned Manitoba's Player-of-the-Game.

Manitoba's biggest test would come on Friday evening as they met the defending champions in Quebec. I watched this game in its entirety, and it's pretty easy to see why Quebec has won four-straight championships: they're fast, they're well-organized, and they can shoot. It wasn't a case of Manitoba wasn't ready to play, but moreso a case of Quebec just being on another level as they won virtually every race to loose pucks, they backchecked like demons, and they tore down the ice in transition. In the end, Quebec looked unstoppable in a 7-0 drubbing of Manitoba where goaltender Logan Bilodeau was named Player-of-the-Game after making a pile of stops.

Manitoba's 2-2 record earned them a date with Ontario on Saturday morning to advance to the semifinals, so they needed to come out and play strong again. This game was a back-and-forth affair as both sides showed some good jump in the offensive zone while making plays in their respective defensive ends. Despite both teams having chances, it would be Manitoba who found a little extra as they came out of this game with a 4-3 victory! Elijah Armbruster took Player-of-the-Game honours as Team Manitoba earned the unenviable semifinal against Team Quebec. Would we see Canada's juggernaut slayed?

The answer to that question was a resounding "no" as Quebec scored early and often in the semifinal to earn a berth in the gold medal final for the fifth-straight year. Again, it's not that Manitoba played poorly or missed assignments against Quebec. It's simply a matter of Quebec being that much better than everyone else. The final score in this one-sided affair was 14-0, and Manitoba would aim for a bronze medal in the final game of their tournament on Sunday. Goaltender Paul Hamm was Manitoba's Player-of-the-Game in this contest!

It was a 10:00am ET draw for the bronze medal game, and Manitoba would square off against Team Atlantic after they fell 3-1 to British Columbia on Saturday night. After the Atlantic took a 1-0 lead into the intermission, Manitoba would answer back early in the second period when Elijah Armbruster went high on the blocker side to tie the game. That seem to light a fire undr Team Atlantic as they scored three-straight goals to take a 4-1 lead into the second intermission, and this forecasting of two evenly-matched teams seems like a lie.

However, Manitoba scored two goals midway through the third period to narrow the gap to 4-3, and it seemed like we were in for a heckuva finish. That's where Isaac Armbruster made his impact on the game as he notched a goal with three minutes to play to tie the game at 4-4! No one else would dent twine over those last three minutes, so we were off to overtime with a medal hanging in the balance!

Overtime would be a ten-minute period played at three-on-three which makes no sense, but I don't make the rules. If no goals were scored, we'd see a shootout to decide the medal, and no one wanted that. The good news? We didn't have to worry about the shootout. The bad news, however, is that Team Atlantic would replicate the same result we saw on Thursday as they struck in overtime to win the bronze medal by a 5-4 score! It's not how Manitoba wanted to finish, but they should hold their heads high as this was an excellent game! Cole Maydanuk earned Manitoba's Player-of-the-Game honours.

Quebec and British Columbia would battle for gold, and it would be Quebec who earned their fifth-consecutive championship after defeating BC by a 2-0 score. What might be scarier is that Quebec, in their six games, outscored their opponents by a 39-0 count, so clearly they will wear that juggernaut title for another year with another gold medal. In the end, though, this was an incredible tournament for all seven teams when it came to how entertaining and exciting the hockey action was all week! Every team should be proud!

The final standings for the 2026 Canadian National Para Hockey Championship are as follows after the dust settled today:

1. Quebec
2. British Columbia
3. Atlantic
4. Manitoba
5. Ontario
6. Quebec development team
7. Saskatchewan

We need to get caught up with Team Manitoba at some point, so expect an episode of The Hockey Show dedicated to them in the near future. I know they probably don't want to talk about missing out medals, but they represented Manitoba well and we're still proud of their efforts. I was hoping and expecting Hockey Manitoba to post something about the team this weekend, but that didn't happen. At what point does Hockey Manitoba support this program and team?

What I do know is that Manitoba's parahockey team is made up of some of the best people in hockey that Manitoba has to offer, and every Manitoban should be trying to see these amazing athletes in action. They may not have brought home a medal from Nationals this year, but the athletes and coaches of Team Manitoba have the competitive sledge hockey scene trending in the right direction.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!