LET THE GAMES BEGIN: Para Hockey World Championship drops puck Sunday

When it was announced that the World Para Hockey Championship would be coming to Moose Jaw, a whirlwind of activity immediately went into motion.

With a world-class event coming to the Moose Jaw Events Centre in only a few months’ time, there was a ton of work to be done in a short period.

Now, everything has come together in impressive fashion.

“It’s incredible to think of the short time that we’ve had to bring it all together, but the players are here, they’re on the ice, they’re experiencing the great community of Moose Jaw,” said Moose Jaw Events Centre general manager Ryan McIvor. “All the comments we’ve had so far is that everyone is pleased and happy and I think they’re just ecstatic to be able to play for a gold medal.”

That things came together across the board as well as they did is another sign of Moose Jaw’s ability to pull this kind of event off.

“It’s like anything, we were really focussing on some key attributes,” McIvor explained. “Accommodation, venue and transportation, and once all those pieces come together, now it’s just playing hockey. Not to diminish what it is, but it really is a big hockey tournament with an international flavour to it and that’s the focus we’ve had.

“But it’s taken an incredible effort from the volunteer local organizing committee, the staff at the Moose Jaw Events

Centre and everyone involved to get to where we are today, It’s been a herculean effort and it’s something everyone should be very proud of.”

A huge part of the whole thing is how the city stepped up to host the tournament at the last minute, bringing the Para Hockey World to Canada for the first time in the process.

“Sometimes it’s better to have a shorter time frame than a longer one, but this is something that’s going to be memorable,” McIvor said. “If it wasn’t for Hockey Canada and Moose Jaw, these athletes wouldn’t have the opportunity that they have, which is to come to Canada and play for a world championship.”

Now it’s just a matter of letting things play out and seeing the stands fill up. To that end, there are still plenty of tickets available for early draws throughout the week, and things are filling up quickly for the evening draws, especially the game between Canada and the U.S. on Wednesday night.

“I think a lot of people will be surprised by the type of hockey, the pace of the game and the sport in general,” McIvor said. “Tickets are available, but sales have been great, and we’re really looking forward to that Canada - U. S. rivalry (on Wednesday night).”

Be sure to check out www.hockeycanada.ca for the full schedule and score updates, and for tickets, visit www.sasktix. ca.

Czechia defeats Korea to open Para Hockey World Championship

Pair of second period goals pace Czechia to 3-2 victory in as event begins at Moose Jaw Events Centre

Randy Palmer - Moose Jaw Express

For Team Czechia, there were some issues involving their luggage arriving in Moose Jaw after their international flight for the World Para Hockey Championship. Unfortunately, the team was only able to have one practice at the Moose Jaw Events Centre before taking on Korea in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday morning.

A total of six shots were allowed, no goals and a 3-0 shutout win kicked-off the hockey championship event in style.

“I think this result after the last two days and what we went through is super critical for us, stepping over these problems and focussing on our game and this was the result,” said Czechia head coach Jakub Novotny.

“We knew this game would be pretty hard because Korea is a tough opponent. We had a good season this year and we knew our guys had gotten better and were ready for this game and this moment… It’s a big victory for us in the preliminary round but we’ll see what happens next.”

After a scoreless first period, Patrik Sedlacek made history with the first World Para Hockey Championship goal scored on Canadian soil, with his marker coming on the power play at 9:52 of the second frame.

Just over a minute later, it was 2-0, as Vaclav Hecko picked up the puck in the high slot and put a shot top corner glove side.

Czechia then closed out scoring with 2:44 to play in the game, with Michal Gei- er making it a 3-0 final.

Czechia goaltender Martin Kudela didn’t have a busy morning with his sixsave shutout, and given the result, that was just fine.

“I think the first game was great because we win, that’s good,” Kudela said. “As we expected it was a hard game, Korea didn’t make it easy. It’s very important for our spirit, it’ll boost up us all and it’s very important to us. The next game against the U.S.A. will be tough but we’ll do our best.”

For Korea’s part, the loss was tough to take, but one they’ll look to rebound from in their next outing.

“It was a very tough game, it was the first tournament game and we didn’t get enough shots and didn’t have enough speed, but we’ll prepare for the next game and the next step,” said Korea coach Kim Tae Ho.

Veteran goaltender Choi Hyuk Jun turned in a solid showing despite the loss with 32 saves, including a handful of big stops to keep things close.

He said through a translator that regardless of the number of goals, the team will be looking to perform better and they’ll be looking to get back to basics in their next outing.