Westlake, Bridges lead Canadian sledge team into Paralympic season
Team will play tournament in P.E.I., series with U.S. before 2018 Games
Paralympic gold medallists Greg Westlake and Billy Bridges were among the 20 players named to Canada's sledge hockey team for the 2017-2018 season on Monday.
From that group, 17 will be chosen to wear the Maple Leaf at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February.
The team will compete Dec. 3-9 in the World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Charlottetown and in a pre-Paralympic series against the United States, Hockey Canada said in a release.
The two goaltenders and 18 skaters were chosen from 30 invited to a selection camp in Calgary last week.
Seventeen players named to the squad helped Canada win gold at this year's world sledge championship in Pyeongchang, which was a test event for the Paralympic Games.
Winnipeg's Westlake and Charlottetown's Bridges won Paralympic gold in 2006 in Turin, Italy.
2014 bronze medallists Westlake, Bridges, Ottawa's Ben Delaney, Brad Bowden of Orton, Ont., Dominic Larocque of Quebec City, Adam Dixon of Midland, Ont., James Gemmell of Quesnel, B.C., Tyler McGregor of Forest, Ont., and Corbin Watson of Kingsville, Ont., were the veterans named to this year's team.
Calgary's Ken Babey, who was behind the bench at the world championship, will coach Canada again this winter.