Team USA has won para ice hockey gold four consecutive times: Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022. No other program has put together a run like that in this sport. The 2026 Winter Paralympics in Milan are the next test, beginning March 7 when the U.S. opens against host Italy at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

They are going for five straight.

What the Sport Is

Para ice hockey, called sled hockey in the U.S., is played on sleds: metal frames mounted on two hockey blades, with each athlete using two short picks to push themselves across the ice and handle the puck. The rules hold to conventional hockey: three periods, full contact, goaltender in net.

Give it one period and the pace will make sense immediately. The sleds are fast, collisions happen, and the game runs at full intensity from opening face-off to final whistle. Para ice hockey has been part of the Winter Paralympics since 1994, and it rewards watching because the competition is genuinely tight. Canada won gold at the 2006 Turin Games. The United States has won every one since.

The Team Heading to Milan

The 17-player roster was announced on the TODAY Show in January, and the experience on this team is genuinely remarkable. Josh Pauls of Green Brook, New Jersey is competing in his fifth Paralympic Games. Think about what that means: he has won this four times before and still has the drive to come back. Declan Farmer of Tampa, Florida has been part of this program since 2014. Jen Lee and Brody Roybal are each in their fourth Games. Eleven additional players range from two Games down to first-time Paralympians.

Head Coach David Hoff guided the team to gold in Beijing and followed it with World Para Ice Hockey Championship titles in 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025. Four world championships in six years, built around the same core group heading to Milan.

For the athletes on this roster making their Paralympic debut, they're not just joining a team. They're inheriting a program that set the standard for what winning in this sport looks like. That's a particular kind of challenge to walk into, and it's also a remarkable thing to be part of.

The Competition

Canada is the program that has come closest to ending the run. Their 2026 roster includes veterans Greg Westlake, Ina Forrest, and Mark Arendz alongside 19 athletes making their Paralympic debut. Their last gold was Turin 2006, and they've been working toward another one since. This is their most competitive assembled team in years, which makes the medal round genuinely interesting to watch.

The round-robin stage runs through March 11, with semifinals on March 13 and the gold medal game on March 14.

Watching in the U.S.

Para ice hockey has been difficult to follow from the United States in previous Games, but Peacock's 2026 coverage changes that. Every medal event streams live, sled hockey included. The first U.S. game is March 7 at 5:05 PM local time in Milan, which is 11:05 AM ET.

Schedules and streaming are at Peacock and the IPC's official site.

What Five Straight Would Mean

A fifth consecutive Paralympic gold medal would be the longest winning streak in Winter Paralympic team sport history. Josh Pauls is entering his fifth Games. Declan Farmer has been on this team since the 2014 streak began. These are athletes who have won this before, who understand what March 14 needs to look like, and who are doing it again alongside people experiencing the whole thing for the first time.

Follow this team across the week of competition and you will see what it looks like to defend something that took a decade to build. The first game is March 7.