Moose Jaw 2023: Top Six Moments

The Moose Jaw 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool lived up to the hype, featuring jaw-dropping goals, thousands of spectators and historic firsts on Canadian ice.

Here is a look back at some of the top moments from the event.

Unstoppable USA

The USA continued its Para ice hockey dominance, becoming the first team to win three consecutive World Championships in the A-Pool. With a 6-1 victory over hosts Canada in the final, United States claimed their record-extending sixth overall title to go along with their record five Paralympic titles. Declan Farmer was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and Best Forward after leading his team with 12 points, including nine goals.

Canada makes history

Moose Jaw 2023 marked the first time in history Canada held the World Championships A-Pool, and the first major event in the sport to be played in the country outside of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. Moose Jaw, the fourth largest city in the province of Saskatchewan, played host, exposing new fans to Para ice hockey and drawing more than 3,000 people to the gold-medal final between Canada and USA. Captain Tyler McGregor and Dominic Cozzolino led Canada with 10 points a piece as it claimed the silver medal.

Trailblazer Tousignant

Another historic first for Canada was having Raphaelle Tousignant on its roster, making her the first woman to be named to Canada’s national team in a World Para Ice Hockey event. The 21-year-old from Quebec has dreamed of making the roster since she was 12 years old and cracked the roster after a stellar performance at last year’s inaugural Women’s World Challenge. Tousignant is now looking to become only the fourth woman to compete in the sport at the Paralympics.

Sensational Czechia 

Radek Zelinka scored the game-winning goal against China with 1:14 left in the bronze-medal contest to give Czechia its first-ever World Championships medal in Para ice hockey. The host nation of the two previous World Championships A-Pool has utilised their funding and resources from building up the sport in their country to better their programme and reach the podium. Michal Geier led the team in the tournament with seven points, and Zelinka was named Best Defenseman of the tournament after leading all skaters at his position with three goals.

Shen shines for China

Although China came up one spot short of a medal, Yi Feng Shen delivered a performance to remember, leading all athletes at the event with 17 points, including 13 goals and four assists. The 25-year-old also recorded a tournament-high +14 rating while he was on the ice. China will now be ranked No. 4 in the world after making their debut at the World Championships A-Pool.

Six is Italy's magic number

Italy, the host of the next Paralympic Winter Games, tied for its second best finish in the A-Pool with another sixth place showing. Six appears to be the magic number for the Italians, who have now finished in that spot in five of their nine World Championship appearances. Italy played more close contests than anyone, with two of their games coming down to a shootout. Italy beat Germany in the preliminary round in a shootout, but lost to South Korea in a shootout in the fifth-place game. 

Complete stats and results from Moose Jaw can be found here.

You can watch all the games on the Moose Jaw 2023 competition microsite.