MILAN — Three weeks after the United States beat Canada in the Olympic hockey finals, the Americans overcame their neighbors again on the ice to win Paralympic gold and complete the sweep of the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In front of a packed arena, Jack Wallace scored a hat trick to help the U.S. beat Canada 6-2 in Sunday’s sled hockey final and become the first nation to win all three of the hockey tournaments at the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year. There is currently no women’s division at the Paralympics as it is classified as an open-gender sport.
“I’m glad we got it done, because I think there’s a little bit more pressure with the men and women getting the golds, too,” captain Josh Pauls said. “But I’m happy we could do it for USA Hockey, and I think it really just shows like how much they … invest in the grassroots programs, because we have so many young players coming up and playing pivotal roles on our teams.”
One of those he has seen progress at close hand is Wallace.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Wallace said with a broad smile when asked about his hat trick.