He has played in many battles against the United States with sledge hockey gold medals hanging in the balance.
He will have another chance today when two of the sport’s elite teams meet at 4 p.m. at MacLauchlan Arena.
“It’s intense. It's kind of why you play,” Westlake said of the Canada-U.S. battle. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s really hard, but how hard it is makes it worthwhile.”
Canada and the USA have been the cream of the crop at this week’s four-team tournament.
The gold medal contest will be a rematch of Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime win by the United States in the final game of the round robin.
“Everyone on this team wants to play the States again,” said Team Canada rookie Liam Hickey. “We can’t wait for another crack at them.”
Westlake said after Thursday’s semifinal he is looking forward to the rematch.
“Even though we lost the other night, that was the most fun game we had this year. It was a battle, it was a one-goal game and those are the ones that feel good winning,” he said.
Team Canada didn’t skate on Friday, instead using the time to rest and recover.
Westlake said Thursday night he expected to eat some good food, drink a lot of water, rest, spend time with his teammates and maybe get a round of mini golf in at the hotel.
Westlake admitted the bodies are a bit sore, but both teams are in the same situation.
“We play very short burst tournaments,” he said, referring to the five games in seven days. “It's a very high-contact, physically demanding sport. We hit low on the boards where there’s not a lot of give.”
Canada has added some new players to its roster this season who will be playing their first international gold medal game today.
Westlake said the youth have proven they belong and will be ready to go when the puck is dropped.
He has played in many battles against the United States with sledge hockey gold medals hanging in the balance.
He will have another chance today when two of the sport’s elite teams meet at 4 p.m. at MacLauchlan Arena.
“It’s intense. It's kind of why you play,” Westlake said of the Canada-U.S. battle. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s really hard, but how hard it is makes it worthwhile.”
Canada and the USA have been the cream of the crop at this week’s four-team tournament.
The gold medal contest will be a rematch of Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime win by the United States in the final game of the round robin.
“Everyone on this team wants to play the States again,” said Team Canada rookie Liam Hickey. “We can’t wait for another crack at them.”
Westlake said after Thursday’s semifinal he is looking forward to the rematch.
“Even though we lost the other night, that was the most fun game we had this year. It was a battle, it was a one-goal game and those are the ones that feel good winning,” he said.
Team Canada didn’t skate on Friday, instead using the time to rest and recover.
Westlake said Thursday night he expected to eat some good food, drink a lot of water, rest, spend time with his teammates and maybe get a round of mini golf in at the hotel.
Westlake admitted the bodies are a bit sore, but both teams are in the same situation.
“We play very short burst tournaments,” he said, referring to the five games in seven days. “It's a very high-contact, physically demanding sport. We hit low on the boards where there’s not a lot of give.”
Canada has added some new players to its roster this season who will be playing their first international gold medal game today.
Westlake said the youth have proven they belong and will be ready to go when the puck is dropped.
“Our training is so hard, not that the games are easy, but you get the hard work out of the way and the reward is the game,” he said. “Practices are for coaches, games are for players.”
Westlake, who joined the national team in 2003, remembers spending a lot of time early in his career explaining the sport to people. It continues to grow, and Westlake said those who get exposed to sport, enjoy it.
Westlake will have a simple message to the youngsters before today’s game.
“Just embrace the opportunity that we have here,” he said. “You get to go out and play a game on national television and only so many people get that opportunity in their lifetime, so just go and have fun.”
TSN is broadcasting the game live.
Results
Scores from this week’s World Sledge Hockey Challenge
Sunday’s results
USA 4 Korea 0
Canada 3 Norway 0
Monday’s results
USA 8 Norway 0
Canada 10 Korea 1
Wednesday’s results
Norway 3 Korea 1
USA 2 Canada 1 OT
Thursday’s results
Semifinals
USA 8 Korea 1
Canada 6 Norway 0
Today’s game
Bronze medal game
Noon – Korea vs. Norway
Gold medal game
4 p.m. – Canada vs. USA
