As the U.S. Olympic Women’s Team continues preliminary round play and the U.S. Olympic Men’s Team waits to kick off action in Beijing, halfway across the world their Team USA teammates are preparing hard for the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

The U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team has been in residency in Nashville, Tenn. since mid-January. One month out from the Paralympic Games, the excitement continues to ramp up on and off the ice.

“The camp has been good,” said Kevin McKee, who will be skating in his third Paralympics come March. “The guys are competing out here and really giving it their all. We came into this camp knowing that we only had about a month out. We’re just really focused on getting better and pushing each other.

Brody Roybal is set to compete in his third Paralympics as well. The forward echoed McKee’s sentiments about camp.

“We are so excited. A couple of us have been down here for almost two years now, and it’s felt like we’ve been training for a really long time. Now that we’re only 30 days away, it’s feeling really real now and we’re excited to get over there.”

EXCITEMENT CONTINUES TO BUILD

The team typically arrives at the Ford Ice Center, one of the practice facilities for the Nashville Predators, around 9:00 a.m. to prepare for a 10:00 a.m. practice. The focus is there right from the get-go.

The formal practice lasts from 10-11:15 a.m., and the final 45 minutes of ice time are reserved for the players to do whatever they want. While players may take the opportunity to get off the ice early, the entirety of the Paralympic Sled team typically stays on the ice to work on individual skills, and even match up for a full-ice 4-on-4 scrimmage.

Then it is off the ice, right? Not necessarily. If there is a stick and puck after practice, the guys will take the opportunity to cool down while the Zamboni finishes resurfacing the ice and then hop on to work on more skills together. The dedication from the team is evident every day.

“[Camp has been] absolutely fantastic. We have a big message on the team where we’ve been on the top of the mountain before, but nothing grows at the top of the mountain,” he said. “Our mentality is to try to bring it back down to a level where we can grow from.

“The ideology from this training camp has been everyone working together to get back to the top. We just want to keep striving to get better every day.”

Wallace knows what it will be like for his teammates that are set to compete in their first Games. Though many of them have played in World Championships and other tournaments before, the Paralympics are at a whole other level.

“This one is definitely a lot different. It’s not my first time and really that’s the biggest difference, knowing what to expect and preparing for it a little bit better.