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Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship Games Streaming Live
26 Mar 2012
Taylor Lipsett takes a shot against Estonia on Sunday (25 March).
All games from the 2012 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships are being streamed live at www.icesledgehockeyworlds.com.
The Championships started on Saturday (24 March) when the world's top eight teams gathered together for the Opening Ceremony in Hamar, Norway.
"In just 713 days time the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games will begin in Russia," IPC Governing Board member Rita van Driel said at the Ceremony.
"Although winning this tournament will not guarantee qualification for those Games, performances here will go some way to indicating which teams will battle it out for Paralympic gold in 23 months time."
Round-robin play began Sunday (25 March), and viewers on the live stream had the chance to see USA, Korea, Czech Republic and Canada all win their opening games.
"It's fantastic that we've got the Ice Sledge Hockey live feed up and running," said IPC Media and Communications Senior Manager Craig Spence. "Ice Sledge Hockey is one of the most TV-friendly sports with its fast-paced, aggressive nature. Viewers are in for a treat."
The round-robin games can be viewed at 8:00, 11:15, 14:30 and 18:00 (CEST) each day.
Sunday began with a thrilling match between USA and Estonia, as the Americans escaped with a 2-1 victory in a shootout.
Each team put forward three players for the shootout, and USA's Taylor Lipsett was the only one able to find the net, giving the reigning Paralympic and world champions the win in the event opener.
Czech goalie Michal Vapenka was stellar in the net in the second game, helping his team to a 2-0 victory over the Japanese - the silver medallists from the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. Vapenka saved all 15 shots made on goal in the game.
Zdenek Safranek and Zdenek Krupicka both scored for the Czech Republic in the final period to end what had been a nail-biting contest.
In the day's third game, Korea shocked hosts Norway with a 4-1 victory after coming out very strong in the first period.
Jong Kyung Lee scored just 49 seconds into the contest on an assist from Min Su Han, and then Seung Hwan Jung found the net just five minutes later to give the Koreans the quick edge.
Norway could not muster enough offense to make a comeback, as Helge Bjornstad's power-play goal in the second frame was its lone score of the game.
Byeong Seok Cho and Jung each scored in the final period - both assisted by Lee - to pad Korea's lead.
Man Gyun Yu manned the net for Korea, saving 12 of 13 shots - six of those from Norwegian veteran Eskil Hagen.
In the nightcap, Canada edged the 2011 European champions, Italy, 3-1, as Billy Bridges notched two goals and Brad Bowden added another for the tournament favourites.
The Championships run through next Sunday (1 April), with the round-robin stage finishing Wednesday (28 March) and the playoff round beginning the following day.
Viewers can tune into all games live at www.icesledgehockeyworlds.com, as well as follow the action on Facebook (www.facebook.com/icesledgehockey) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/paralympic).
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