Canadian Para hockey development team aims to take next step after Saskatoon stop

Growing up in Smithville, Ontario it was hockey over everything for goaltender Sebastian Peto.

Reaching the junior level in his home province with the Grimsby Peach Kings and Glanbrook Rangers, Peto struggled with a series of groin injuries which resulted in his early retirement from the sport after suffering nerve damage.

Read more:

• Prince Albert Raiders fend off late comeback with 6-3 victory over Tigers
• VIDEO: Saskatoon baseball and soccer crews racing to dry out sports fields
• Canadian sport scores $755 million from federal government

The 25-year-old is back on the ice however after a chance encounter on social media with the Canadian Para hockey program.

“It actually started scrolling Instagram,” Peto said.

“I had my career ending injury for stand-up (hockey) and then I saw Para hockey on Instagram. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t tried that at all.’ I figured I’d give it a shot and after a lot of work, we’re here.”

This week Peto made his international debut with the Canadian national Para hockey development team in a three-game exhibition series against the United States at Merlis Belsher Place.

“It feels like a dream come true,” Peto said.

“You think of that when you’re a kid. You always dream about representing your country, making it to the highest level you possibly can. To actually have that opportunity here, it’s an honour and I’m grateful for it.”

Coming just months after the 2026 Milan Paralympics, the camp unofficially served as the kick-off to the next Paralympic cycle for Canada’s Para hockey program.

Development team head coach Steve Arsenault said it was an important week for the 14 players named to the Canadian roster as they look to land full-time positions on the national senior team.

“It all matters,” Arsenault said. “Every piece to this puzzle, every little step. It’s all building up to that road to the Paralympics in 2030.

Two players on Team Canada this week in Saskatoon brought Paralympic experience to the camp, with defencemen Shawn Burnett and Mathieu Lelièvre winning silver medals in Italy.

Named captain ahead of the exhibition series, Burnett helped lead Canada to a 2-1 victory over the Americans in the opening game on Tuesday with the game-winning goal in the third period.

“We haven’t really played all together as the development team,” Burnett said.

“It’s a lot of young players that are here to develop and get better. In the past, I don’t think we’ve ever won against the Americans with the development team.”

Team USA responded on Thursday and Friday with 1-0 and 5-1 victories to take the series.

Aside from the results, the goal for Canada’s coaching staff this week was to evaluate their top prospects from across the country and relay their expectations of what it takes to crack the national team.

“We’re trying to transfer our national team habits from the (Paralympic) group that we were just with in Milan down to these players,” said assistant coach Dean Seymour.

The speed of the national program has been eye-opening to Peto making the jump up to the international level, as well as the quality of shots he faced from the American team.

In the year and a half since Peto first took up Para sport however, the technical adjustments have come easier than expected.

“The mobility was definitely the hardest part to get used to,” Peto said. “Most of the game was surprisingly the same.”

Peto added the series allowed him to soak in lessons and information from players like Burnett, who have reached the highest levels of Para sport.

It’s a responsibility the 23-year-old Burnett isn’t shying away from.

“I had the chance to go to the Paralympics this year,” Burnett said. “My role here is just to be a leader and trying to transmit my knowledge of the sport to these younger players.”

All three games at Merlis Belsher Place were free to the public, including Tuesday’s opening game which saw a group of school kids cheer on Team Canada.

Burnett said that visibility is important as more and more eyes are landing on his sport.

“It’s fun to see that people are getting interested in the sport and seeing that people with disabilities can partake in sports at a high level,” Burnett said.

“We’re athletes, just as much as regular athletes in sports.”

Canadian Para hockey national development team members taking part in face-off drills at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon ahead of a game versus the United States. (Scott Roblin/650 CKOM)

Women’s team stars shine in Saskatoon

A call-up to the Canadian “next-generation” program was welcomed news for Bowmanville, Ontario’s Aubree Clements as well this week.

“Finally getting that chance to be here and play the Americans for the mixed team is a really, really cool opportunity,” Clements said.

One of the youngest players on Canada’s roster, 18-year-old Clements and 20-year-old Alyssa White both joined the development team in Saskatoon after stints on the national women’s team.

Diagnosed with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease and rheumatoid arthritis, Clements landed on Team Canada’s radar after the COVID-19 pandemic as a teenager and is aiming to push boundaries for women on the national senior team.

“I’m so thankful for this opportunity,” Clements said.

“I have been wanting this since I was little. I look up to other players like (Raphaëlle Tousignant), Alanna (Mah) and Christina Picton, who have been here before me.”

For Winnipeg’s White, who became Canada’s youngest ever graduate to the national women’s roster in 2019 at 14 years old, that wealth of international experience has been key in her development.

That being said, she added there was a big jump joining her men’s development teammates with the mixed team this week in Saskatoon.

“It’s very different,” White said.

“There are some aspects that definitely translate that with had with the women’s national team and the kind of expectations and dedication. I’m bringing that over to this side and I think it has really helped me.”

The inclusion of Clements and White this week comes amid a push for a dedicated women’s Para hockey tournament at the 2030 Paralympics.

Currently, the Paralympic Para hockey tournament is open to all genders but has only seen four women compete at the highest level of the sport.

Canada has never named a woman to their Paralympic team, which Seymour said has created a need for a dedicated women’s tournament to showcase the top Para athletes in the world.

“It’s so deserving and so needed,” Seymour said. “We just need more support globally with other teams, so they can bring this together.”

For women’s Para hockey to be officially sanctioned in the Paralympics, two women’s world Para hockey championships will need to be held before 2027 with a successful debut event being held last year.

“Hopefully we’ll be there in 2030,” White said.

“We’re very hopeful, first we got to get a world championship this year. We got to get a couple more teams, but if we can get that I think that we’re golden.”

Saskatoon homecoming for Seymour

A week of instruction on the ice at Merlis Belsher Place was a special one for assistant coach Seymour, who often drifted his eyes to the green seats dotting the home of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

“It’s so cool to be back in this facility and see all the green,” he said. “The Husky green, the Rider green, it just really hits home.”

Calling Saskatoon his hometown, Seymour has taken his hockey career around the world with stops in Michigan, Louisiana, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden to name a few.

A former coach in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, a precursor to the Professional Women’s Hockey League, Seymour has helped guide athletes at all levels of hockey from minor teams to international squads like the Para hockey development program.

Not only has the series in his backyard in Saskatoon served as a chance for Seymour to reconnect with his roots in the game, but to also hear the stories of the athletes looking to make the next jump.

“Hopefully there’s somebody in the future that’s watching this, reading about it, seeing it live that they (say), ‘Hey, I can do that,’” Seymour said.

“That’s what we’re trying to do when we go out to these little showcases. You got the Americans versus the Canadians, how much better does it get?”

Read more:

• Prince Albert Raiders fend off late comeback with 6-3 victory over Tigers
• VIDEO: Saskatoon baseball and soccer crews racing to dry out sports fields
• Canadian sport scores $755 million from federal government