The Para Hockey Cup, formerly the World Sledge Hockey Challenge (WSHC) and Canadian Tire Para Ice Hockey Cup is an annual international Para ice hockey tournament sponsored by Hockey Canada and the World Para Ice Hockey. The tournament is an invitational format to bring four of the strongest Para ice hockey teams together for international competition.
The tournament features four teams per year and has seen teams from Canada, the United States, Norway, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Italy, the Czech Republic and China.
History The tournament was created in 2007 by Hockey Canada. The idea behind the tournament was to give an opportunity for international level play during non-Paralympic years.
The inaugural World Sledge Hockey Challenge tournament in 2007 was hosted in Kelowna, British Columbia, and featured four teams – Canada, Norway, United States and Germany. Canada captured the inaugural tournament, by defeating Norway 1-0 in overtime in the gold medal game.
The 2008 tournament was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Japan replaced Germany. For the second straight year, Canada defeated Norway in the final. However, Canada dominated the final winning 7-0
In 2009, the United States won their first title. They defeated Canada in overtime 3-2 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. No tournament was held in 2010, owing to the 2010 Winter Paralympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia that year. Instead, two tournaments were held in 2011, in April in London, Ontario, Canada defeated Norway in the final 8-0. In the November tournament that year in Calgary, Alberta, Canada again captured Gold, defeating the United States 4-1 in the final. The 2012 tournament was held again in Calgary, Alberta and saw the United States capture their second gold, defeating Canada 1-0 in the final.
In 2013, the tournament was hosted in Toronto and saw the lineup change for the first time in 5 years. Russia and South Korea were introduced and replaced Japan and Norway in the tournament. Russia would be hosting the upcoming 2014 Winter Paralympics and South Korea added in an attempt to help them gain experience before they hosted the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Canada captured gold, by defeating the United States 4-1 in the final.
At the December 2016 tournament, Norway returned for one year, replacing Russia. In 2017, Italy made their tournament debut, replacing Norway.
In 2018, the World Sledge Hockey Challenge was rebranded as the Para Hockey Cup. Sponsored by Canadian Tire, the tournament was officially known as the Canadian Tire Para Ice Hockey Cup. The tournament would be played with only the three para hockey medallists from the 2018 Paralympics earlier in the year.
In 2019, the Czech Republic made their tournament debut replacing South Korea. Russia also returned for a year. The 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament returned in 2022 with Italy replacing Russia. In 2023, China made their tournament debut replacing Italy.
Champions SeasonEditionFourthHost city2006-07 2007 Kelowna, British Columbia2007-08 2008 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island2008-09 2009 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island2009-10 2010 Not held due to 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, Canada2010-11 2011 April London, Ontario2011-12 2011 November Calgary, Alberta2012-13 2012 Calgary, Alberta2013-14 2013 Toronto, Ontario2014-15 2015 Leduc, Alberta2015-16 2016 January Bridgewater, Nova Scotia2016-17 2016 December Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island2017-18 2017 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island2018-19 2018 London, Ontario2019-20 2019 Paradise, Newfoundland & Labrador2020-21 2020 Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Bridgewater, Nova Scotia2021-22 2021 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia2022-23 2022 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia2023-24 2023 Quispamsis, New Brunswick2024-25 2024 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Medal table
Country Gold Silver BronzeMedals 112316 510116 0347 0123 0033 0022 0011 0000 0000 0000
All-time team records Up to date as of December 2023
Rank Team GP W L OTL GF GA +/- 1 67 54 12 1 306 91 + 215 2 67 50 12 5 311 88 + 223 3 32 13 17 2 73 115 - 42 4 20 8 11 1 55 43 - 12 5 29 3 26 0 31 174 - 1436 10 2 8 0 12 61 - 49 7 23 1 21 1 22 157 - 135 8 10 0 9 1 10 72 - 629 4 0 4 0 5 24 - 19
See also Para ice hockey at the Winter Paralympics International Paralympic Committee World Para Ice Hockey Championships Sledge hockey
References
External links World Sledge Hockey Challenge