What to Watch: 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Championships

History is being made this weekend.

For the third time in its 12-year history, the U.S. is hosting the World Para Ice Hockey Championships on home soil. Additionally, Team USA will be broadcasting games as its first-ever livestream of an event on its website. Competition starts on Saturday, May 24 at the Lecom Harborcenter in Buffalo, New York, and will run until the 31st, where a team will be crowned the 2025 world champion. Fans can follow and watch the action on Team USA’s Sled Hockey World Championships event page. Coverage of these sled hockey world championships is part of a larger Team USA content initiative called Making Team USA presented by Xfinity. To learn more about Making Team USA, fans can click this link.

For those new to the sport, Para ice hockey, colloquially shortened to “sled hockey” or “sledge hockey” in some cases, is a Paralympic sport for elite athletes with physical disabilities. Players sit atop a single blade in a basket seat customized for the player’s disability. Players continuously hold two short hockey sticks with a small pick on the end of the handle. The pick is so players can propel themselves forward on the ice. The rules of sled hockey follow the standard rules of able-bodied hockey for the majority, with a few exceptions to accommodate the athletes’ disabilities.

Over the past several years, Team USA has been one of the world's most dominant sled hockey teams, winning gold at the last four consecutive Paralympic Winter Games. In world championship play, the team holds a 44-3-1-16 (Wins, overtime wins, overtime losses, losses) record and has earned 11 podium finishes, including a record six gold medals. They’ve reached the gold-medal game in 10 of the last 11 world championships. Last year, longtime rival Canada bested the red, white, and blue in the gold-medal match, 2-1, on home ice in Calgary to take home the top prize. The U.S. secured silver.

Both the U.S. and Canada will once again be the heavy favorites to make it back to the gold-medal match, setting up a heated revenge scenario for the Americans while defending home ice. Even so, simply a top-five finish for Team USA would qualify the squad for the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Team USA is loaded with sled hockey veterans throughout the roster, including the only four-time Paralympic gold medalist in sled hockey history. Below are a few key players suiting up for Team USA that could propel them back to the top of the podium for an unprecedented seventh world championship gold medal:

• Tampa, Florida, native Declan Farmer has been an offensive stalwart for Team USA ever since he was a teenager. The now 27-year-old fell in love with the sport after trying it out in Clearwater, Florida, at the age of nine. At 14, he made his first American National team. Earlier this winter season, he made history by becoming the first U.S. sled hockey player to record 200 career goals. He has 203 career goals heading into these world championships, the career record. Additionally, he holds the career record for the most assists (154) and points (357). If the U.S. wants to win gold, Farmer needs to be involved on offense.

• A multi-sport athlete, Jack Wallace has been a longtime member of Team USA sled hockey. He was named the best defenseman of the Paralympic Games Beijing 2022 en route to helping Team USA to the gold medal. He scored a hat trick in Team USA’s preliminary round game against South Korea. Additionally, he is attempting to become the next Team USA athlete to compete at both a Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. During the summer season, he competes in paracanoe. Look for the tough defenseman to set up his forwards with some saucy passes in Buffalo.

• Hockey fans know that their favorite team goes as far as their goalie takes them. And Team USA happens to have one of the best goalies in the world. The California native recorded three shutouts in his first Paralympic Winter Games as the starting goaltender (2022). He did not allow a goal in any of his four starts, stopping all 33 shots faced. In 2024, Lee tallied a 0.929 save percentage and six shutouts. He boasts a .906 career save percentage across his world championship appearances. Look for him to be a brick wall once more for the red, white, and blue.

• Team Captain Josh Pauls has four Paralympic gold medals to his name, the most by any sled hockey player in history. The defenseman tallied a goal and an assist in the gold-medal game against Canada during Beijing 2022, helping propel Team USA to the top of the podium. The New Jersey native also competed at the world championships the last time it was held in Buffalo 10 years ago. Look for him to to bring the leadership and veteran presence the U.S. needs to have in order to topple the other talented teams at this tournament.