Shannon Coulter
A spot in the gold medal game is on the line Friday as Canada’s Paralympic Hockey Team takes on China in the semifinals at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.
Last Game
Special teams was the difference-maker in Canada’s 4-1 win over Czechia on Tuesday that completed a perfect preliminary round. James Dunn, Vincent Boily and Tyler McGregor (who also had two assists) each scored goals on the power play, with Liam Hickey adding an empty-net goal.
China dropped its first game of the tournament on Tuesday, closing the prelims with a 7-1 loss to the United States. Zhanfu Zhu scored the sole goal 4:28 into the third period, while Yanzhao Ji and Wei Wang split time in the crease to make 24 saves.
Last Meeting
This is the first meeting between Canada and China on the Paralympic stage, but the teams last faced off last spring at the World Para Hockey Championship, with the Canadians earning a 4-2 win over the Chinese in Buffalo. Dominic Cozzolino opened the scoring in the first period and added another in the third. Adam Dixon and Mathieu Lelièvre rounded out the scoring and Corbin Watson made 13 saves.
What to Watch
Cozzolino made history on Tuesday with his assist on McGregor’s power-play goal—he became the sixth player in National Para Hockey Team history to reach 200 career points. And he might have a little company soon; Hickey has eight points in three games in Milan to leave him just six points shy of 200. A few other Canadians are at or near the top of various offensive categories after the prelims: McGregor is tied for second in scoring with 10 points (4-6—10), Dunn is tied for the lead in shots on goal with 22 and is tied (along with Auren Halbert) for third in goals with five, Halbert is third in scoring among defencemen with eight points (5-3—8), and be sure to pay attention at the faceoff dot—Anton Jacobs-Webb is second with a 71.05% win rate.
As he does at most major events, Yifeng Shen leads the Chinese in scoring with 10 points (1-9—10) in three games, leading all players in assists and sitting tied for second in tournament scoring. Jintao Tian (6-3—9) and Zhidong Wang (5-4—9) are right behind Shen with nine points each, and Tian’s six goals are good for second most. China had the best scoring efficiency in the prelims, scoring 24 goals on 60 shots—a 28.57 shooting percentage—and it has the best power play in Milan, converting on four of seven man-advantages. However, the Chinese were also whistled for a tournament-high 14 minor penalties in the preliminary round, which could provide an advantage to Canada and its special teams.
A Look Back
Nothing to look back on since it’s the first meeting at the Paralympic Winter Games for these teams.