GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.), Kevin McKee (Chicago, Ill.) and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) each registered four points as the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team blanked Sweden, 7-0, in its first game of the 2017 Para Sled Hockey World Championship in Gangneung, South Korea.
“The guys have been looking really well in practice and that showed here tonight,” said Guy Gosselin, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “There were a lot of positives, but we can always improve and that’s what we’ll look to do tomorrow against Italy.”
Team USA (1-0-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) returns to action tomorrow when it takes on Italy at 11 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET). The game will be streamed live at Gangneung2017.com.
For the complete game recap, click here.
U.S. National Sled Hockey Team
2017 Para Sled Hockey World Championship Schedule
Date Opponent Local/ET
Thurs., April 13 Sweden W, 7-0
Fri., April 14 Italy 11 a.m./10 p.m.*
Sat., April 15 Germany 3 p.m./2 a.m.
Mon., April 17 Canada 3 p.m./2 a.m.
Tues., April 18 Norway 11 a.m./10 p.m.*
Wed., April 19 Korea 3 p.m./2 a.m.
Thurs., April 20 Fifth-Place Game 11 a.m./10 p.m.*
Bronze-Medal Game 3 p.m./2 a.m.
Gold-Medal Game 7 p.m./6 a.m.
*Game takes place prior day in U.S.
NOTES: Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) was named the U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Sweden, 47-0, and went 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. For complete game stats, click here … Labatt USA is a proud sponsor of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team … The 2017 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship is doubling as a test event for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games and the top five teams will automatically qualify for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. … Team USA, the tournament’s defending champion, seeks back-to-back gold medals in the event for the second time (2009, 2012) … Among the 17 players representing Team USA, 12 were members of the 2015 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team that won the 2015 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship. For the complete 2016-17 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team roster, click here … Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of inline and sled hockey national teams for USA Hockey, is the general manager of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Joining national team head coach Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.) behind the bench is assistant coach David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.). Additional team staff members include athletic trainer Mike Cortese (Boynton Beach, Fla.), assistant coach Mike Sertich (Duluth, Minn.), equipment manager Joel Isaacson (Houghton, Mich.), and team physician Mike Uihlein (Grafton, Wis.). Cortese, Isaacson, and Uihlein have been staff members for the past four seasons.
