The Canadian men’s para hockey team is running a training camp at the Woolwich Memorial Centre this week as the team prepares for the 2023 World Para Hockey Championships in May.
As part of the camp this week, Team Canada will host a trio of games against Team USA, on Wednesday night, Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
“Sometimes the best way to figure out where you are in the process is to see the very best in the world and that’s what we’ll see this week,” said Russ Herrington, the Canadian team’s head coach.
It’s the first time the two teams have met since Canada lost in the gold medal game at the Para Hockey Cup in December.
“It’s going to be really competitive. It’s relentless hockey. I think that’s what shocks people the most when they see it for the first time is how fast, how quick everything is,” Corbyn Smith, a player on the Canadian team said.
“I expect it to be loud, I expect some good scrums, some hard hits, and some good opportunity to just showcase the game,” Rob Armstrong, a player on the Canadian team said.
Corbyn Smith is from Monkton, ON. He said not only is this week a chance to tune up for the world championships at the end of May, but it's also an incredible opportunity for family and friends to finally see him play in person.
“We’re a decentralized team, which means that we train a lot from home. Right now we’re together probably about once a month,” Smith said. “It’s not an experience that we get to have all the time. So we’re super fortunate to play this close to home.”
The other local connection is Rob Armstrong from Erin, ON. He said he's thankful for events like this as it helps to showcase the sport to smaller communities.
“We’re really grateful as a national team to travel all over the world, but it’s really special to play really close to home,” Armstrong said.
A para hockey exhibition series was held at Woolwich Memorial Centre back in 2020, but because of the pandemic it has been three years since it returned. Organizers are hopeful for similar support this time.
“Woolwich Memorial Centre is a good size for this event. 1,500 seats. So we were sold out in 2020 and I’m hoping it will be the same this year,” Allister Scorgie, the Director of Sport Hosting for Explore Waterloo Region said.
Scorgie said the event is also a good test to show how major international events can be held in Waterloo region.
“Our goal is to host the world championships. We think we can do it. We’ve got the right venue, we’ve got the right partners. This is a good opportunity for us to go through the operations of a smaller version of that, to feel confident that we’re going to be able to deliver that for them,” Scorgie said.
Canada will play USA Wednesday and Friday nights at 7 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
