The Hockey Show - Episode 576

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight with a big show as our hosts welcome an incredible guest! As you know if you've been listening to the show, The Hockey Show has been trying to expose more people to all forms of hockey, and one of those paths we've been following is sledge hockey or para hockey. It's a sport that's starting to get more recognition from hockey's governing bodies across the world, but we've tried to show everyone that anyone can play. Tonight, we have a guest who is playing the game at its highest levels, and she's accomplished an incredible amount of success in her life!

Teebz and Jason, on behalf of The Hockey Show, are proud, honoured, privileged, humbled, and pleased to welcome Canadian National Women's Para Hockey Team alternate captain and defender Claire Buchanan to the program tonight! Claire's been all over the map thanks to her success as a two-sport athlete, and we'll get into all of that tonight when we speak to her! Among the various topics will be a chat about her growing up and finding sledge hockey, moving away for college sports, finding her way back into para hockey, winning medals, the growth of the game, the struggles seen with Hockey Canada, and we'll cap it off with some fun questions that Claire can laugh at, answer, or both! It should be a blast getting to know Claire Buchanan tonight, and we'll have her on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. If you use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason sit down with Canadian National Women's Para Hockey Team member Claire Thompson to talk about life, being a two-sport athlete, other sports, winning medals, some of her experiences, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: October 5, 2023: Episode 576

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Beijing Bound!

It feels a little weird to be writing about the Beijing Olympics when the Tokyo Olympics have yet to be completed, but Team Canada punched their tickets to China for the 2022 Winter Olympiad thanks to a big win over the Czech Republic today at the 2021 IPC World Championship! While the final score looked like Canada had no trouble with the Czechs, the reality is that this game was a good measuring stick for a country like the Czech Republic to see how far they may be from medal contention at major events. Take nothing away from the Czech Republic in this game, but Canada was on a mission as they become the first team to qualify for the Beijing Paralympic Games!

The score at the final horn showed Canada with a 10-0 win, but the Canadians are keeping themselves sharp in this tournament as they finish the preliminary round at 3-0 with wins over the United States, South Korea, and the Czech Republic while outscoring the three teams 20-1. Their top finish in the group moves them to the semifinal where they await the winner of the game between the Russians and the Czech Republic. Canada and the winner of that game will meet Friday.

If you're looking for a preview, the Russians are heavily favoured in that game after playing a tournament of which I'm not sure they should be proud. Russia never once held back in their efforts as they scored 34 goals in three games, trouncing Slovakia, Italy, and Norway in those matches. The Czechs, who have yet to score a goal in this event, might be overmatched before this game even starts, so I'd expect a Canada-Russia tilt on Friday. However, they play the games for a reason, so perhaps the Czechs can find their own version of Miracle in that game!

On the other side of the draw, Team USA awaits the winner of Norway and South Korea, and that game will be played Friday as well. Norway, who was once a powerhouse in the sledge hockey world, has seen their stock drop over the last number of years as players retire or move on from the sport. As a result, this tournament didn't go well for them as they managed to beat Italy and barely defeated Slovakia, but they were embarrassed by Russia in an 18-1 rout that saw the Russians not take their foot off the gas pedal. Needless to say, South Korea will challenge the Norwegians in their game.

There should be no surprise when it comes to the scoring lead for the tournament as Russia holds the top-six spots on the list thanks to their ridiculous scores, but Tyler MacGregor of Canada is definitely showing that he's a threat with the puck on his stick as he has scored seven goals in the event, one back of the leader. Liam Hickey and Billy Bridges both have six helpers apiece, so there's good puck movement on this Canadian team when it comes to setting up goals, and the depth of the Canadian team with Corbyn Smith, Auren Halbert, and Zach Lavin all chipping in offensively makes Canada a dangerous team.

Canada's Dominic Larocque will get the nod on Friday, and, assuming Russia wins, he'll be 200 feet from Andrei Kasatkin who has faced just five shots on net thus far (and allowed one goal). If Canada can get to Kasatkin with shots and second chances, there's a good chance they'll claim victory over a Russian team who has yet to face any adversity. Russia will be a formidable foe, but Canada has the talent to advance to the gold medal final against either Russia or the Czech Republic.

If there was some negative news today, it's that Canada's Rob Armstrong and James Dunn will miss the remainder of the tournament due to injury. Dunn played just one game, scoring one goal, before his injury while Armstrong also played in just one game, recording no points. While their losses hurt the overall depth for Canada, there are a number of good, young players that head coach Ken Babey can turn to in times like this.

"We were able to get our younger players some more ice time in the third period," Babey explained to The Canadian Press, "to hopefully give them some extra experience as we head into the medal round, and now we look forward to playing in the semifinals."

Winning the 2021 IPC World Championship gold medal would be a good first step on the way to Beijing. The cart can't be put before the horse, though, and Canada's game against whomever they face on Friday should be a good test to prepare them for future events. Whatever the results are on Friday and Saturday, there is one certainty: Canada will be on the ice in China in February!

Congratulations to Team Canada on their Olympic qualification!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Canada Comes Out Hot

You may not be aware, but there is a talented group of Canadians over in Ostrava, Czech Republic right now who are making Canada proud. The IPC World Championship started on June 19, and the Canadian lads came out of the gate fired up and ready to take on the world as they look to claim gold at this year's tournament. Always one of the favorites, there's no doubt that Canada has had time during this pandemic to work on individual skills, but getting together as a team and working as a unit in sledge hockey is another thing entirely, and that's where the continuity of this lineup will help as Canada moves through the preliminary stage!

Canada opened the tournament with arguably their toughest test as they met archrivals in Team USA in the opening game of their schedule. These two teams always have games where the physicality is high and the chances for scoring are low, so it as expected that we'd see a low score when the final buzzer sounded.

After a clean sheet in the first period where the US outshot Canada 4-1, the Canadians used the power-play to to make the Americans pay for some undisciplined play, striking twice in the frame. James Dunn scored at 2:03 and Tyler MacGregor scored at 9:35 to give Canada a two-goal cushion heading into the third period as the Americans needed a rally to get back in the game despite outshooting Canada 8-7 through 40 minutes of play.

Brody Roybal would cut the deficit in half just 57 seconds into the third period, but the Canadians would not surrender a second goal as Dominic Larocque held the fort in stopping seven of eight shots in the period to help Canada to the 2-1 win over Team USA! Starting the tournament off with a big win like that has to boost the team, and head coach Ken Babey liked what he saw from his squad.

"I thought it was a good game for our team considering we have not played in a long time," Babey said in regards to the 491-day gap between games. "We played well defensively and we were able to close [the United States] out for most of the evening. Our guys battled hard and blocked shots to preserve the win, and now we look forward to playing South Korea tomorrow."

Occasionally, we see emotional letdowns when teams come off a big win against a rival followed by a game against a solid, but less talented, opponent. Would we see that from Canada on Sunday morning against the South Koreans who seen great progress made with their program and who came into this game 1-0 after a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic on Saturday?

Canada didn't wait long to take control of this game. Liam Hickey put the red-and-white in front just 21 seconds into the game, and Tyler MacGregor added his second goal of the tournament at 2:56 as Canada took the early 2-0 lead. MacGregor added a second goal in the frame on the power-play at 10:44, and Canada went to the first intermission fully in control with a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 9-1 advantage in shots.

Canada's second period effort was a lot like their first in terms of the number of goals scored. Corbyn Smith at 2:05 made it a 4-0 game, and Liam Hickey added his second of the game at 5:39 to make it a 5-0 lead for the Canadians. With the score firmly in Canada's favour, the Canadians swapped goalies as Dominic Larocque went to the bench and Adam Kingsmill came out to guard the twine at 7:56, and he'd get a little more insurance off the stick of Auren Halbert at 10:03 as Canada took the 6-0 lead into the room through two periods of play.

Auren Halbert and Tyler MacGregor rounded out the scoring in the third period as Canada cruised to the 8-0 victory while holding the Koreans to just three shots on net. Needless to say, there was no letdown emotionally shown by the Canadians in this game.

"We had different players stepping up and had some guys come into the lineup that really helped us out," coach Ken Babey said after the game. "We played a solid team game and we created a lot of offensive opportunities that we were able to capitalize on."

Canada has the day off on Monday before resuming action against the host Czech Republic on Tuesday. As it stands, the Czechs are 0-2 in the tournament and have yet to score a goal. With a day of rest, Canada looks to be a rather formidable foe for the Czechs, so we'll have to see how that game plays out. All of the action and results can be found on the International Paralympic Committee website, so make sure you follow along as Canada goes for gold in Ostrava!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!