By Megan Buchanan
Ottawa’s Marc Dorion and the Canadian sledge hockey team are back on top of the world, one year outside the Sochi Paralympic Games. The Canadian sledge hockey team returned home with gold medals after completing a perfect 5-0 tournament at the 2013 world championships in Goyang, South Korea.
Canada downed the two-time defending champions from the U.S. in the April 20 final thanks to a fluke goal by Graeme Murray.
“We went 5-0, but quite a few countries can compete for medals now,” says Dorion, who scored a goal and an assist in Canada’s 5-0 semi-final win over the Czech Republic.
The victory was a positive sign as the Canadians strive towards their larger goal at the 2014 Games in Sochi, where they’ll be after redemption following a disappointing fourth-place finish at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver.
But the team will need to look out for a new emerging power in the sledge hockey world, Dorion highlights. Canada won a hard-fought 4-3 match against the future Paralympic-host Russians in Goyang.
“Russia is gearing up for Sochi, working hard, they brought back bronze,” notes the 2006 Paralympic gold medalist. “We have to watch for them in the future, this is the first world championships they were competing for.”
Dorion will be into summer training shortly, which he does under the guidance of 2008 Paralympic adaptive rower Peter Morel, who runs his TopShape Fitness Studio in Westboro. But he did get to bask in the glow of his gold medal victory when he visited the Sledge Hockey of Eastern Ontario’s annual tournament the weekend after Team Canada’s win in Korea.
Dorion shook off jetlag and wound up back on the ice for a game at Ray Friel Arena, although the competition level wasn’t quite the same. The 25-year-old University of Ottawa grad toyed around with several city councillors and Mayor Jim Watson, most of whom played sledge hockey for the first time.
In the real action, the Ottawa Sledgehammers went undefeated at the SHEO event to win the intermediate division, prevailing 3-1 over Durham in the final. The Orleans Barbarians earned silver in the second-tier intermediate division behind North Bay, and the Ottawa Valley Lasers took bronze in the junior category.
The sledge hockey scene is alive and well in Ottawa, Dorion indicates.
“Great sledge hockey programs. Good junior programs, good senior programs, the sport is growing in Ottawa,” signals the Bourget, Ont. native who was born with spinal bifida. “This is of great importance for players starting off the sport, everyone should be able to have access to the resources that point people in the right direction.”