March 12: Day 9

The 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team captured its second straight win with a 10-0 shutout win over the Czech Republic. In the evening, players relaxed back in the PyeongChang Paralympic Village while several visited the Main Press Center for media availability.

CASH CLAIMS EIGHTH PARALYMPIC SHUTOUT
With his 10-0 win today, U.S. netminder Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) claimed his eighth shutout in 11 Paralympic starts. Cash, who made his Paralympic debut with relief duty at the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter games, holds a 0.19 goals-against-average, .978 save percentage in 481 minutes of Paralympic play.

BANDABI MEETS WITH U.S. PLAYERS
In the media mixed zone after the game, goaltender Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) and forwards Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) took part in a Q&A with Bandabi, the mascot of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games here in PyeongChang, South Korea. Questions ranged from ‘favorite Paralympic Winter Sports’ to ‘favorite Korean food’ before culminating in Bandabi challenging the players to sing a song, in which they got together and in unison sang the chorus of ‘Country Road’ by John Denver.

FOUR MARINES MEET WITH MEDIA
After its win, Team USA’s four marine veterans — Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.), Ralph DeQuebec (San Pedro, Calif.), Luke McDermott (Westerlo, N.Y.) and Josh Misiewicz (La Grange, Ill.) — visited the Main Press Center in the Mountain Cluster for media availability. The quartet, all Purple Heart recipients, discussed their time serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and how sled hockey has impacted their lives since.
     “For me, having grown up playing hockey, sled hockey brought a sense of normalcy back to my life,” said Misiewicz. “Out on the ice, you forget you no longer have legs, you forget the accident, you’re just back to playing hockey. Some people don’t understand it when you say ‘hockey is hockey’, but when I’m out there, it really is no different than what I grew up playing.”
     “Growing up in New Mexico, I didn’t know what hockey was and I didn’t even know about sled hockey until I was in Sochi competing in the biathlon,” said Dodson. “To give this sport a try, and to have the athletic ability to transition from the similar motion of Nordic Skiing, it’s been so much fun learning about the hockey culture, the family aspect of it all, and it really does remind you of your times serving with your brothers.”

LAST GAME: USA 10, CZE 0
Declan Farmer
(Tampa, Fla.) scored four goals and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) added three goals for the second straight game to help the United States shut out the Czech Republic, 10-0. In his first start of the 2018 Paralympics, Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) turned aside 13 shots for his eighth Paralympic shutout. For the game recap, click here.

LOOKING AHEAD: U.S. CLOSES PRELIMS AGAINST HOST KOREA
The 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team closes preliminary round play at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games today when it takes on host South Korea in its third tournament game. Puck drop is set for 12 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET, March 12) at Gangneung Hockey Center and will be broadcast live on NBCSN as well as live streamed on NBCOlympics.com. For gameday page, click here.


Steve Cash, Brody Roybal and Declan Farmer after a Q&A with Bandabi


Ralph DeQuebec, Travis Dodson, Luke McDermott and Josh Misiewicz during interviews


Signage in U.S. locker room pays tribute to Jeff Sauer and Jim Johannson