Sochi 2014: Canada seek redemption on ice

Canada’s ice sledge hockey team will look to put their disappointing fourth-place finish at the last Paralympics behind them in Sochi. 07 Mar 2013

Canadian ice sledge hockey captain has been identified as one of the top athletes for fans and the media to follow on the road to Sochi 2014.

ⒸAndy Devlin/Hockey Canada

By IPC

“I can’t go back and change it. But going to Russia and winning a gold medal there would definitely give me some sense of forgiving from Vancouver and would put that behind me.

At the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Canada’s ice sledge hockey team went into the event fully expecting to come away with a gold medal.

Instead, they left Vancouver empty-handed following a disappointing loss to Norway in the bronze-medal game.

They had a similar goal at last year’s IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool, trying to finish on top, however found themselves with bronze medals around their necks and a win over the Czech Republic in the third-place game.

With veterans Greg Westlake and Brad Bowden leading the charge, the Canadians hope to win gold in Sochi next year to add to their Paralympic title from the Torino 2006 Games.

To do so, the Canadians insist they must remove any chips from their shoulders.

“Right now, I think we just need to play as the underdogs,” Westlake said earlier this season. “For a long time, we just heard the noise when everybody said Canada was the team to beat.

“I just think we’re kind of at this place right now where any team can win any tournament, and why not us? We’re just going to work hard, have no regrets and hopefully have a better result at worlds.”

Bowden said he hopes to reclaim the perseverance he had so early in his career as both a Paralympic champion in ice sledge hockey and wheelchair basketball in order to be at the top of his game by Sochi 2014.

“I think I need to revamp my psychological set-up as far as a player goes and play with a lot more urgency,” Bowden said earlier this season.

In just one month, Canada will compete in the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool, which take place from 12-20 April in Goyang, Korea.

Nearly 75 per cent of the team there will be different from the one that appeared at the Vancouver 2010 Games, but that doesn’t mean none of them think about the programme’s history.

If anything, Westlake and Bowden have shared their experiences with their younger teammates to motivate them further and increase their hunger for gold in both Goyang and Sochi.

“I think about it, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” Westlake said of the Vancouver Games.

“I can’t go back and change it. But going to Russia and winning a gold medal there would definitely give me some sense of forgiving from Vancouver and would put that behind me.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that was a motivating factor.”