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​U.S. Sled Players Eager To Battle For World Title on Home Ice

By Dan Hickling - Special to USAHockey.com, 04/23/15, 10:15AM MDT

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Team USA will host the sled world championships in Buffalo.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Nothing breeds success like success. And the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team knows plenty about success.

Having collected a host of Paralympic and world championships medals — four golds and a silver in their last five tries — Team USA is fully intent on hauling in more medals (preferably gold) at the coming IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World championships.

And the players wouldn't even have to declare them at customs on the return trip.

The world championships, the biennial event that features teams from eight nations, will be staged at the brand new HARBORCENTER, which sits in the middle of a district that the Buffalo locals call “Hockey Heaven.”

The world championships field includes one perennial power Canada, an emerging one in Russia, along with developing programs such as Japan, Germany, Norway, Italy, and the Czech Republic.

This will be the third time that the world championships will be held on U.S. soil, which is a point of pride for Team USA, as if any extra incentive is needed.

“We've been preparing for this event as soon as [the 2014] Sochi [Paralympics] ended,” said U.S. captain Josh Sweeney, whose electrifying goal cinched the team's Sochi gold-medal effort. “As soon as we found out that we were going to be home for the world championships in 2015, we didn't want to disappoint our home base. There's been a ton of dedication [from the guys], and really it's because we don't want to disappoint our fans, friends and families at home.”

Starting goaltender Steve Cash, the team's longest-serving member, echoed the sentiment.

Cash said the group is fully focused on reclaiming its world championships title, which it lost in a 1-0 heartbreaker to Canada in 2013 in South Korea, after wins in 2012 and 2009.

“World championships and Paralympics are obviously the most important [events] of the season,” Cash said. “So we're trying to build up to an event like this. Guys are ready and prepared. We definitely know the magnitude of it. Our mindset going in is to compete for a gold medal.

“We know the other teams are game-ready. They want to be at the top of their game so they can be at the top of the podium. Every year it gets more and more important to get at the top of our game, because teams like [Russia and Japan] want to make a name for themselves. We realize that. It's our goal to create our own destiny.”

For Team USA, destiny has been a continuing work performed in the midst of change.

Several veterans retired from the program after the win in Sochi, which brought half a dozen new members — most of them from the U.S. development team — into what had been a battle-hardened dressing room.

The newbies fit in splendidly, as evidenced by Team USA's triumph in World Sled Challenge in February in Canada, an event that served as a brisk trial run for the world championships.

“The chemistry on this team is as good as any team I've ever coached,” said U.S. coach Jeff Sauer, whose coaching career dates back to 1965 and includes two NCAA men’s championships at the University of Wisconsin. “We've had success, and that helps. But the chemistry is unbelievable.”

It's a chemistry with a unique formula, including teenagers Brody Roybal and Declan Farmer, four former Marines — vets Sweeney and Paul Schaus and newcomers Josh Misiewicz and Luke McDermott — and civilian college students such as Cash and Josh “Spuds” Pauls.

“There are a lot of different life experiences,” said Sweeney, whose garnering of the prestigious Pat Tillman Award for Service during last year's ESPY Awards helped cast the sport of sled hockey in a luminous glow. “But really the best part of our team, and what makes us so strong, is that [when] we enter that locker room or get on the ice we're here for one reason. And that's to win a gold medal in whatever we're doing.”

Team USA's quest begins Sunday with a clash against Russia, which, two months ago, took the Americans to overtime in the World Sled Challenge gold-medal game before falling 2-1.

“Russia has done a tremendous job getting to where they are in a short period of time,” said Sauer. “[Sunday] will be a very exciting game. I was honestly disappointed in the draw in [having] to play Russia the first game. But the bottom line is that I think our guys are ready to go.”

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Team USA Schedule


Date Opponent Time (ET)/Result
April 26 Russia W, 6-1
April 27 Germany W, 7-0
April 29 Italy W, 7-0
May 1 Norway
Semifinals
W, 6-0
May 3 Canada
Gold Medal Game
W, 3-0



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