|
Fifteen players nominated for 2006 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team
Nine will be competing in their first Paralympic Games
By Marvin Olberding
// U.S. Paralympics
// December 19, 2005
|
| Photo by Tom Kimmell (Tom Kimmell Photography) |
James Connelly is the youngest of seven teenagers on the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. He turned 16 in October.
|
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – U.S. Paralympics, along with head sled hockey coach Keith Blasé, announced the 15 men who have been nominated for the 2006 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team at the World Arena in Colorado Springs Sunday.
The team will be composed of seven forwards, six defensemen and two goalies, with four players – defensemen Dave Conklin (La Crosse, Wis.) and Kip St. Germaine (East Falmouth, Mass.), goalie Manny Guerra (Minneapolis, Minn.) and forward Joe Howard (Kingston, Mass.) – making their third appearance on the squad.
Nine players from the 2006 roster will be making their first appearance at the Paralympic Winter Games, with only one of those players being above the age of 20. Blasé believes that this mix of veterans and newcomers can not only work together, but work well.
“We’re really excited about the team itself, the make-up of the team, the number of young players we’ve got combined with the veteran leadership and we think that that combination is going to allow us to compete very effectively in our quest to recapture the gold medal,” Blasé said.
The U.S. will be considered one of the medal favorites for Torino, a sharp contrast to 2002, when the team was only part of the tournament because it was the host country. In Salt Lake City, the team went undefeated through the Games and defeated Norway in a shootout to take the gold.
“Going into the Games, it’s definitely going to be different,” St. Germaine said. “We’re going to have a target on our backs. Everyone’s going to be trying to take us out.”
Even with the team’s new role as medal favorite, St. Germaine said he isn’t worried about how it would affect his younger, more inexperienced teammates.
“They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have the talent,” St. Germaine said.
The U.S. most recently competed in November at the Radisson SAS Cup, in Bremen, Germany, where they went 2-1 against Canada, Norway and Germany.
Roster
Steven Cash (Overland, Mo.)
Taylor Chace (Hampton Falls, N.H.)
Dave Conklin (La Crosse, Wis.)
James Connelly (Egg Harbor City, N.J.)
Bradley Emmerson (Amherst, N.Y.)
Manny Guerra (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Michael Hallman (Hatboro, Penn.)
Lonnie Hannah (Mansfield, Texas)
Joe Howard (Brockton, Mass.)
Timothy Jones (Mt. Ephraim, N.J.)
Taylor Lipsett (Mesquite, Texas)
Chris Manns (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Alexi Salamone (Grand Island, N.Y.)
Kip St. Germaine (East Falmouth, Mass.)
Andy Yohe (Bettendorf, Iowa)
|
