COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team will compete in the Para Hockey Cup, December 3-9, in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, at the Qplex.
The 2023 Para Hockey Cup marks the 15th rendition of the tournament. The U.S. will take on Canada, China, and Czechia with sights set on capturing a seventh consecutive, and 10th overall, Para Hockey Cup title.
Team USA opens play in the event on Sunday (Dec. 3) against Czechia at 12 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) and will also face China (Dec. 4/11 a.m. local, 10 a.m. ET) and Canada (Dec. 6/7 p.m. local, 6 p.m. ET) in the preliminary round. Semifinals are set for Dec. 8 with the third-place and championship games on Dec. 9.
All games in the tournament, outside the championship game, will be streamed live, and the link to U.S. games can be found here the day of the game. The championship game will air tape-delayed in the U.S. on NHL Network on Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. ET.
Haverhill resident Griffin LaMarre is a member of the team and plays goalie. While growing up, he played lacrosse, but over time his legs wouldn’t allow him to play. He was diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia, which causes his muscles to feel tight and his legs to become tired and weak.
LaMarre’s dad and one of his two brothers also have hereditary spastic paraplega. His two brothers both played lacrosse at Haverhill High — where Griffin served as the team manager — and then Club Lacrosse at the University of Virginia.
Griffin began his sled hockey days for the Northeast Passage Wildcats, a program that played out of the University of New Hampshire, before moving on to the U.S. Development and U.S National teams.
The competition is the second of the season for the U.S. National Sled Team, which went 5-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and captured the IPH Cup championship played in Ostrava, Czechia, in October.
Team USA will play a pre-tournament game against Canada on Friday (Dec. 1) at the qplex in Quispamsis at 7 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. ET.