Team USA Takes Gold
Story and Photos by Robert Thomas
It wasn’t the result the majority of the 2838 spectators wanted Sunday evening as Team USA defeated Team Canada 6 - 1 to take home the Gold Medal in the 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championships.
Lead by Declan Farmer’s stupendous play Team USA was able to contain Team Canada’s offensive strategy and poke holes in the home team’s defensive capability.
“As an individual and a collective team we’re leaving here with nothing but pride and love for just being able to compete and have the opportunity to do so,” Team Canada captain Tyler McGregor said in the post game media scrum.
Members of Team USA celebrate their Gold Medal winning performance - MJ Independent photo
“Your expectation is to leave every tournament with a gold medal but you know, you have to reasonable as well and understand the path to doing that is different for everybody,” McGregor said.
The loss was tough on Team Canada’s captain who accepted responsibility for Team Canada falling just short and settling for silver in the tournament that for the first time ever held in Canada.
“We’ve had so many heartbreaks,” McGregor said starting to tear up, adding “but we’ve also had new people come into our program that have injected our room with so much passion, so much energy…It’s going to be difficult to do you have to show up to that gold medal game under so much pressure.”
Team Canada fell victim to an aggressive U.S. team that continually applied pressure on the penalty kill and managed to score two short handed goals settling the game’s eventual winner.
Disappointed- Members of Team Canada sit waiting for the medals to be presented after losing 6 - 1 to Team USA - MJ independent photo
Team USA opened the scoring at 2:48 of the First Period when Joshua Misiewicz scored an unassisted goal.
The American team would add their first short handed marker at 14:16 when Declan Farmer scored assisted by Brody Roybal.
The period ended Team USA 2 and Team Canada 0.
Team Canada’s Tyrone Henry (left) evades a Team USA player - MJ independent photo
The Second Period saw David Eustace score at 16:23 assisted by Jack Wallace.
Canada came close to get on the scoreboard when a shot along the ice beat goaltender Jen Lee only to have the puck hit the post and bounced straight back out.
Jack Wallace for Team USA would score an unassisted short handed goal at 25:27.
Team USA would have a 4 - 0 lead at the end of the second period.
Team Canada’s Tyrone Henry (left) is in hot pursuit of Team USA’s Declan Farmer - MJ Independent photo
The Third Period saw McGregor get Team Canada on the scoreboard at 34:22. The assists went to Zach Lavin and Tyrone Henry.
Team USA would respond with their fifth goal at 38:07 when Declan Farmer scored his second goal. Assists went to Noah Grove and Malik Jones.
With just over five minutes left in the game Team Canada pulled goaltender Dominic Larocque in favour of a sixth attacker.
Team USA took advantage of the open net when Kevin McKee scored at 42:05.
The final score was Team USA 6 and Team Canada 1.
Team USA’s Joshua Misiewicz (foreground) throws a body check into a Team Canada player upending him - MJ Independent photo
For Team Canada’s head coach Russ Herrington the loss was not Tyler McGregor’s fault.
“I think there is incidents in the game tonight that were reminiscent of years past. And I felt for most of the year we avoided those incidents and And I felt for most of the year we avoided those incidents end. Giving up two shorties (short handed goals) tonight is not idealic,” Herrington said.
“We’re just had a different stage of our development than they are. I think we have to except that. I think we have to appreciate…I have mad respect for what they’ve done. They’ve (Team USA) earn their way to the top of the mountain,” he said.
Both teams battle for the puck in front of Team Canada’s goal - MJ Independent photo
Team USA head coach David Hoff said the game didn’t go fully according to the game plan.
“It was a little bit more chaotic than we would like but if you look at the looseness I would say structurally…but they’re (Team Canada) a good team too and we survived those little storms. We kind of controlled it on the way out so it was a good finish,” Hoff said.
Being short handed often means putting out the better player’s offensively on the ice, he said.
“There are times when we get down to fours guys if we feel we really need to get through it you’re going to see (Declan) Farmer, (Brody) Roybal, (Josh) Pauls on the ice…everyone of them can do something individually. They were fortunate to get a couple of pucks (tonight).”
“We can be hard on teams with the special teams either way,” Hoff said.
Team USA’s Noah Grove (left) tries to get by Team Canada’s Rob Armstrong - MJ Independent photo
“We’ve just been working our way up all week. We started the base camp and now we’re at the top of the mountain. It feels great,” Team USA forward Joshua Misiewicz said about the team’s play through the course of the week long tournament.
Misiewicz said the key to the Gold Medal game victory over Team Canada was keeping the intensity of the game up.
“We have to keep working on them. Keep grinding on them and hoping they make mistakes,” he said about Team USA’s play.
He said all goals were important but the short handed goals “made it a lot more fun.”
