The Canadian para ice hockey team notched another impressive win to book a spot in the semifinals and Brian McKeever skied his way to a historic gold, while the country’s snowboarders fell short in snowboard cross at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Here’s a quick recap of all the important Paralympic news you might have missed overnight and what’s to come later today.
Let’s do that hockey
Canada locked up first place in Group A with an 8-0 win over Norway, bringing their preliminary-round goal total to 35. Billy Bridges and Rob Armstrong both netted a pair, while Brad Bowden, Greg Westlake, Tyler McGregor and Liam Hickey also scored.
Dominic Larocque extended the team’s shutout streak to three games while making his first Paralympic start in goal. The Afghanistan War veteran, who was a forward on Canada’s bronze-winning team in Sochi, made a relief appearance in the team’s opening game in Pyeongchang.
Canada now has some time off before the semifinals. The Canadians will play the second-place team from Group B on Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET.
Snowboarders go 0-for-7
It was a difficult day on the course for Canada’s seven para snowboarders, who were unable to medal in snowboard cross. Michelle Salt was the top Canadian, finishing fourth in the women’s LL1 event. Sandrine Hamel lost in her LL2 quarter-final.
On the men’s side, John Leslie (LL2) and Curt Minard (UL) both reached the quarters, but lost in their respective runs. Minard, who only started competing less than two years ago, bested fellow Canadian Andrew Genge in the 1/8 finals.
Alex Massie, who knew he was going to snowboard again despite a life-altering injury in 2011, was edged out in his 1/8 final. Fellow Canadian Colton Liddle, also competing in the LL2 event, was unsuccessful in his 1/8 final.
There’s still more snowboarding to come in Pyeongchang as banked slalom makes its Paralympic debut on March 15. You can learn about the new event here.
McKeever’s historic gold
Canadian cross-country skier Brian McKeever is particularly fond of the quote “get busy living or get busy dying” from The Shawshank Redemption. The 38-year-old clearly chose the former on his way to making Canadian Paralympic history with a gold-medal win in the men’s 20-kilometre visually impaired freestyle.
With the win, the “relentless” McKeever became Canada’s most successful Winter Paralympian with 14 career medals — 11 of which are gold — to surpass para alpine great Lana Spreeman. McKeever, who has won three individual golds at each of the last two Winter Games, can still add to his medal haul in Pyeongchang.
What’s coming up on Monday?
Here’s a look at today’s events featuring Canadian competitors.
Wheelchair curling
Canada’s rink looks to bounce back after its first loss of the Games when it squares off against Great Britain at 6:30 a.m. ET.
The Canadians also play China on Monday at 8:35 p.m. ET. You can brush up on the rules of the sport here.
Alpine skiing
A trio of Canadian medallists look to add to their medal haul in the women’s and men’s super combined events. Kurt Oatway enters with super-G gold in the sitting classification, while Mollie Jepsen (super-G bronze) and Alana Ramsay (downhill bronze) compete in the standing event.
Canadians Frederique Turgeon, Mel Pemble and Erin Latimer also ski in the women’s standing event while Kirk Schornstein and Braydon Luscombe compete in the men’s standing.
The super-G portion of the combined begins at 8:30 p.m. and continues Tuesday at 2 a.m. ET with the slalom run.
Biathlon
Canada’s Mark Arendz competes in the men’s 12.5 km standing biathlon, looking for more hardware after nabbing a silver in the 7.5 km event earlier at the Games.
Derek Zaplotinsky goes in the men’s sitting event while Brittany Hudak skis in the women’s 10 km standing biathlon. The sitting events get underway at 9 p.m. ET while the standing and visually impaired events start at 11:30 p.m. ET.
