For the first time in 14 years, Canada has won gold at the IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship, June 1 to 7, in Ingolstadt, Germany.
Adam Ross from Red Deer was a defenceman on the team and although his goal is to play for the NHL, inline skating has been a passion since he was nine-years-old. The weeklong competition brought skaters from around the world including Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the United States.
Ross helped with the inline program in a Ponoka a few years back.
“I used to run a few practices once in a while,” he said.
The 25-year-old now lives in Boston, MA doing land and hockey training. “I’m on my skates four days a week.”
His focus is hockey, but he dedicates time to prepare and compete in the round-robin competition. They won the first game, lost the second, and lost the third in overtime, but it was not enough to stop them from going forward in the playoffs. The Canadian team won the rest of their games, which took them to the finals against Germany.
Playing against the host team was intimidating, said Ross, but it did not hinder their drive to win.
“We came out strong in the beginning,” he stated.
The Canadians shot three goals to one in the first quarter and capitalized in the second with two goals to one again making it 5-2 at the half. Germany returned the favour with three goals in the third quarter but Canada’s momentum could not be stopped. They also scored three against Germany. They finished off the game with one last goal in the fourth quarter.
“It’s not easy to win those three games in a row,” said Ross.
He plans to enjoy the summer after the win and continue his training and preparation for next season. “It’s the way I made a living last year and I’d like to continue to do it.”