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Buffalo 2025: Favourites Canada and USA start strong

Reigning champions ice Germany in 11-0 victory while host USA routs Norway 12-0; Czechia defeats Slovakia and China escapes with a 6-3 third period comeback victory over Korea on opening day of the World Para Ice Hockey Championships 25 May 2025
Team USA Para ice hockey celebrating a goal
Team USA came out strong in front of the home crowd scoring three goals in the first five minutes against Norway
ⒸMicheline Veluvolu / USA Hockey
By Christian Gagne I For World Para Ice Hockey

Medal round favourites Czechia, host United States, Canada and China all skated away with a victory on the opening day of the World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Buffalo, USA on Saturday (24 May).

Czechia opens the tournament with a 6-1 win over Slovakia

In the event’s curtain riser, Team Czechia’s speed proved to be too much for the Slovakian defence. While Slovakia succeeded in eliminating the middle of the ice for the majority of the game, Czechia was able to convert on the opportunities they did get, with the Slovakian positional miscues leading to three of the Czechs’ six goals.

Michal Geier and Vaclav Hecko scored two goals each – including one shorthanded goal apiece – while Filip Vesely provided two assists for the Czechs. Team captain Martin Joppa found the net for Slovakia with goaltender Eduard Lepacek racking up 23 saves. 

Team Slovakia head coach, Ivan Hricko, spoke about the importance of his team’s collective play after the game: “If we stick to the system, the results will come.” Meanwhile, team captain Joppa was thinking about their next game in similar fashion: “We will want to play close to each other in the box because the United States are even faster and better with the puck”.

Interestingly, when analysed from the other side, this played into Czechia’s hands, as their team has been prioritizing making better use of their speed. Forward Martin Zizlavsky explained: “Team speed is the thing we have been trying to be better at for a few years, it’s something we’ve been thinking a lot about on the ice.” 

Similarly, head coach Jakub Novotny added: “A key quality for today’s game was our forecheck. We had a quick and good forecheck and it’s something we need to bring to our other games.”

 

USA off to a strong start with a 12-0 triumph over Norway

With the tournament’s opening ceremonies preceding the game, all eyes were on the host team with the support of an excited home crowd. The red, white and blue came out of the gate roaring, scoring three goals in the game’s first five minutes and never looking back. Forward Declan Farmer led the way with a four-point night with a pair of goals and assists, while teammate Brody Roybal received player of the game honours on the strength of his two goal, three-point performance.

Head coach David Hoff credited his team’s performance to its preparation: “Leading into it today, I thought we had three really good practices and I was really happy with how things started. We got three lines involved, we got both sets of defensemen going and I like the fact that we didn’t give up a lot.”

While the outcome was never in doubt, Roybal spoke about the impact of playing home ice after the game: “It’s awesome. It’s so cool to see fans up there wearing United States jerseys. It’s been a very long time since my family has been able to see me in person, so it’s cool to look up and see them in the stands.”

 

Canada ices Germany in a 11-0 victory

In similar fashion to the host team, defending champion Team Canada lived up to its billing with a convincing victory over Team Germany. However, while the end result may seem similar on the scoresheet to that of the day’s previous game, its story told quite a different tale.

While Team USA showcased the speed and finesse of their line-up, the Canadians displayed a different style. Team captain and author of four goals, Tyler McGregor, explained: “I think our identity is a bit more blue collar. We’re a team that certainly plays fast, but we play hard and when we’re playing at our best, we just want to get pucks in their zone, into particular areas and go on the hunt to create our offense from there.”

The formula proved quite successful as the “Dominic Cozzolino to McGregor” connection led to three goals. But the Canadian head coach, Russ Herrington, was quick to credit his entire roster for playing with the Team Canada identity: “Germany played so hard and structured, it really forced us to try and pull our identity out and stick to that. We had to do things the right way throughout the entire game and our depth started to overtake their efforts as time went on.” 

That last sentiment was later echoed by Ole Thomas Sundstol, the German head coach: “We started the first period quite good. We followed the game plan, we had good energy. [Then in the] second period, the start was ok, but we ran out of energy and we folded in a little bit.” 

And in speaking with his goaltender Veit Muehlhans, who was sensational in the losing effort, odds are his players will come through for him: “We want to go to Italy next year, we have to give our best. We played hard defence, and the next game, we will do the same.”

 


Team China escapes with a 6-3 comeback victory over Korea

And finally, in what was the day’s nail-biter, China surmounted a 2-3 deficit in the last frame by scoring four unanswered goals, the first three coming off the stick of speedy forward Jin Tao Tian. Penalties proved to be the game’s turning point, as the Chinese penalty kill scored three goals while their power play added one, a remarkable display of special teams’ play.

In trying to maintain the lead for Korea, goaltender Jae Woong Lee anchored his team between the pipes, displaying one of the fastest gloves of the tournament on the 30 shots he faced. His team will take on Team Canada, while Team China will face-off against Team Germany in Group A games on Sunday (25 May).

In Group B, Czechia opens the day at LECOM Harborcenter against Norway followed by Slovakia-USA. 

Complete scores, stats and schedule from the World Para Ice Hockey Championships can be found here.

USAHockeyTV is streaming all the Bufalo 2025 action live. 

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