Jason La Rose
Less than 24 hours after finishing off a win over Japan, Canada’s Paralympic Hockey Team is right back on the ice at Milano Santagiulia Arena to take on Czechia in its prelim finale at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, with first place in Group B on the line.
Last Game
Canada made it two wins from as many games with a convincing 14-0 victory over Japan on Monday. Auren Halbert led the charge from the back end with four goals and three assists, Dominic Cozzolino had a hat trick and a helper and Tyler McGregor chipped in with two goals and three assists. The Canadians surpassed 50 shots for the second time in two games, outshooting the Japanese 56-2.
The Czechs got their second win in as many games earlier Monday, downing Slovakia 8-1. Filip Vesely, Martin Zizlavsky and Radek Zelinka each scored twice for Czechia, with Vesely adding a pair of assists for a four-point effort.
Last Meeting
The last time Canada and Czechia met at the Paralympics was in the preliminary round at the 2014 Games in Sochi, in what ended up as a tighter-than-expected 1-0 Canadian win. Greg Westlake counted the lone goal midway through the second period and Corbin Watson made it stand up with a seven-save shutout.
The most recent clash between the teams came just a few months ago, in the semifinals of the 2025 Para Cup in Dawson Creek, B.C. Dominic Cozzolino was the standout in that one, scoring two goals and setting up three more to lead Canada to a 7-0 victory and a spot in the gold medal game. Watson was a little busier in that one, making 12 saves for the shutout.
What to Watch
Halbert is the surprise scoring leader for the Canadians through two games with eight points (5-3—8), good for a tie for third in tournament scoring and leaving him even with U.S. blue-liners Jack Wallace (3-5—8) and Noah Grove (1-7—8) for most among defencemen. How unexpected is the offensive outburst from the Calgary product? Halbert had eight points in his first 12 games this season and hadn’t recorded more than six at any single event across his entire Team Canada career, dating back to 2019. A trio of Canadians are on the verge of major milestones—Greg Westlake needs one assist to become just the second player to record 200 international assists with Canada’s National Para Hockey Team, Cozzolino needs only one point to become the sixth to reach 200 points and Liam Hickey needs eight to become the seventh to reach that plateau.
The Czechs have apread around the scoring in their first two games in Milan, with six players scoring goals and 10 of 14 skaters recording points. Zizlavsky and Vesely are proven point producers up front; they were the top two Czech scorers at the 2025 World Para Hockey Championship with eight and seven points, respectively, and Vesely had a team-high four goals and co-led with six points at the 2024 world championship in Calgary. Zelinka continues to be a catalyst on defence; after finishing second among defenceman with four goals and tying for third with five points at last year’s world championship in Buffalo, he already has five points (3-2—5) in two games in Milan, good for fifth among blue-liners, three back of the tournament leaders.
A Look Back
It’s a quick look… The 2014 meeting mentioned above is the only time Canada and Czechia have faced off at the Paralympics.
Overall, this is the 26th time the Canadians and Czechs have met in international para hockey, with Canada winning each of the first 25 games and outscoring Czechia 103-12.
All-time record: Canada leads 1-0 Canada goals: 1 Czechia goals: 0