Road to Milano Cortina 2026: Tyler McGregor's ‘lifelong dream’ to achieve glory

Tyler McGregor is hoping Italy will be a good luck charm. Twenty years on from Canada’s last Para ice hockey gold medal at the Paralympic Winter Games in Torino,  McGregor is set to lead his side at Milano Cortina 2026 looking to emulate past heroes.

“We’re looking to be at our peak by the time we get to Milan,” McGregor said. 

“We’re prepared to do whatever the moment demands of us and hope that results in a gold medal. It would mean so much for us. We’ve been missing it, we’ve been around the people who won it in 2006, and we know what it means.

"It is a life-long dream and a culmination of so much hard work, and it would mean everything.”

A leader on the ice

As captain, McGregor knows his teammates will look towards him. He has grown into a leadership role and says the camaraderie in the team will be critical to any success.

“I view myself as someone who shows up every day and tries to find a way to get better, to work hard with intention,” he said. 

“For me, part of my identity and the way I try to lead is always trying to learn and get better however I can. I hope that rubs off on the people I am surrounded by, my teammates in particular, raising the level of excellence in our team.”

McGregor says that being the captain of the Canadian Para ice hockey team is an honour for so many different reasons. 

“Hockey has such an incredible history in Canada, but I’m even more proud to be captain of this team because of what it represents. I think what is very important to me is leading the team in a way that is about more than just the product on the ice, about how I prepare off the ice to be a great hockey player on it. I hope to spread that around me but one of the pillars of leadership is about who you are off the ice.”

On the ice, Canada are well positioned to go far at Milano Cortina 2026 after winning the World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool on home soil in Calgary, which McGregor says is a career highlight. 

“It was the first we had won the worlds in seven years; we had a difficult journey to get there and it was on home ice,” he recounts. 

“It was on Mother’s Day, my family was there, so my mom and dad, my older sister who had become a mom a couple of years before were there. On a couple of levels, being able to share it with them but also the team, looking around on the ice after the game or in the locker room after, I was filled with joy and pride about everyone’s individual journey and how much they’d matured and grown into exceptional people.”

Paralympic rivalry

Preparations have been underway since the Beijing 2022 Paralympics, where Canada were beaten to gold by their rivals, the United States, for the second successive Games. The 2024 World Champions, Canada, lost to the USA in the gold medal match at the 2025 Worlds in Buffalo, New York, and the rivalry between the two teams is hotter than ever.

“Most of our opportunities to compete are against each other in training camps, there is no better competition to push yourself when you’re not at major events. We can’t wait to get going in Milan.”

McGregor and Canada have suffered setbacks, such as that defeat to the USA at Beijing 2022 and PyeongChang 2018. That has forced them into a new approach in order to go one better this time.

“At important moments in my career, the Paralympics twice in a row, numerous World Championships, believing in myself and that as a team we were doing all we could and preparing in the right way. 

“It was never showing up in the colour of medal we wanted. At that point, you really start to ask a lot of questions about being good enough, and what is really going on.

“We shifted from a results orientated approach to one that is focussed on our process and who we are. For so long we were so focussed on beating the USA in a gold medal match, so much do that we would just focus on the USA and not what we were doing ourselves. That mindset came through asking who team Canada is, what our identity is and what it means to us. 

“What does the process of becoming that team look like? Let’s not talk about the colour of medal we want, lets commit to day after day, as cliched as it is, our best version individually and collectively. It takes a long time to build but when people understand its value and their role in that environment, the results are a byproduct.”

After the COVID-impacted Games in Beijing, McGregor hopes Milano Cortina will be a more communal affair, but there is one thing he can’t wait for: the local cuisine.

“I’m looking forward to the energy the fans will inject into the games and I’m looking to having family and friends in attendance. It’ll be a different environment because the (Paralympic) Villages are in separate parts of the country. We’re excited to cheer on our fellow athletes from afar, but I’m also looking forward to the food.”

Ice hockey is my 'oxygen'

Ice hockey has always been the sport for McGregor; it is in his blood, with his parents both avid players. He first put on a pair of skates aged just two, and played ice hockey until a cancer diagnosis led to the amputation of his leg aged 16. His journey into Para ice hockey began in 2011.

“For me, it was and always has been the oxygen that I breathe,” McGregor said. “I was looking for a new opportunity to play sports but also be in a high performance environment. Para ice hockey offered me that opportunity.

“It was an easy decision to transition. I’ve been so fortunate to continue playing hockey in a different way than I originally knew. I am so grateful that I found this sport and to be able to be involved in it for that amount of time.

“Everyone in this sport has such a unique perspective on life and has so many shared values for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we love this game and use that as a venue to challenge ourselves to grow and learn and evolve.”

McGregor says that the Para sport has changed his life.

“Para sport has introduced me to a community I never thought I’d be a part of. Disability is the largest minority on earth; it is a community of people who are resilient, empathetic and have so many values and skills. 

“I feel so fortunate and empowered to be a part of that community. It has provided me with people who I can learn from and have challenged me to get better in ways I never imagined.”

This year could be a career-defining year for McGregor, and all his focus is on following the legends of Torino 2006 into the history books.
 

Secure your tickets for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games  

Milano Cortina 2026, which takes place from 6-15 March 2026, is set to be the most beautiful Paralympic Winter Games yet. Ticket prices start at EUR 10 for children under 14, with approximately 89 per cent of the tickets available for EUR 35 or less.

For more information, please visit tickets.milanocortina2026.org