Canada’s para ice hockey team secured a spot in a Paralympic gold-medal game for the first time in 12 years, while the Canadian curling rink booked a date with China in Friday’s semifinals.
Here’s a quick recap of all the important Paralympic news you might have missed overnight and what’s to come later today.
Chasing that golden feeling again
The Canadians are back in a Paralympic ice hockey final for the first time in 12 years following a 7-0 win over South Korea. Only three members of Canada’s current roster were on the team that won gold at the 2006 Games in Torino, and they’re excited to get another shot at winning it all.
Canada will face the expected gold-medal clash against the U.S., thumped Italy 10-1 in its semifinal match. The Americans are also two-time defending Paralympic champions. The nations are set to play in the gold-medal game on Saturday at 11 p.m. ET.
Canada draws China in curling semis
The quest for a wheelchair curling four-peat at the Paralympics continues for Canada, with the rink set to face China in the semifinals on Friday at 2:35 a.m. ET. In the team’s round-robin game earlier in Pyeongchang, the Canadians rallied from a 5-1 deficit to beat China 8-5.
Canada, true to form, rallied in their final round-robin game to finish with a 9-2 record. Top-seed South Korea will play Norway in the other semifinal matchup.
What’s coming up on Thursday?
In addition to Canada’s semifinal curling draw early Friday morning, here’s a look at today’s events featuring Canadian competitors.
Biathlon
Mark Arendz has one more shot at winning an elusive biathlon gold in Pyeongchang. Arendz — who owns biathlon silver and bronze as well as cross-country bronze from these Games — competes in the men’s 15-kilometre event tonight. The women’s 12.5 km also takes place this evening.
The sitting events (featuring Canadian bronze medallist Collin Cameron) get underway at 9:00 p.m. ET, followed by the standing and visual impairment events at 11:00 p.m. ET.
Snowboard banked slalom
Canada’s snowboarders are back on the hill for the Paralympic debut of banked slalom. The men’s and women’s events begin at 9:30 p.m. ET and you can learn about the new event here.
The seven Canadian competitors were shut out of the snowboard cross podium earlier at the Games; Michelle Salt was the top Canadian, finishing fourth in the women’s LL1 event.
