Going into my third world championships there was only one thing on my mind:  getting the one medal that had eluded me throughout my international career, and that was gold. This year's world championships were held in Ostrava, Czech Republic.  After traveling for what seemed like a week we got into our hotel a few days before our first game.  It's always a nice luxury to let your body adapt a little and get used to the time change.

One thing that our new coaching staff always does is find ways for our team to have fun and stay loose on hockey trips. So they got us out of the hotel for some fresh air and we took a walk around town. On the walk we saw a huge round sand pit and we immediately knew there were some fun possibilities with that. First we had a few sumo wrestling matches in the pit. There were only two matches - the first was our back up goalie Mike Blabac who is also from Buffalo and Mike Hallman from Philly. Size and weight were on Hallman's side but Blabac showed some moves and took the match.

The second match was between our goalies Cash and Blabac, it had me laughing non-stop as Blabac came out on top once again. After that, our coaches had the idea to do some races around this big sand pit. So we did two races in wheelchairs and then we had the "penguin" race between Tim Jones, Mike Hallman and myself. Showing a little "speed," if you want to call it that, I ended up coming out on top.

Lastly, we had all of our staff get in wheelchairs and do a heat. It was so terrible, I didn't know wheelchairs could move so slow. Aside from all of the cheating with the grabbing of the chairs and pushing it was a great race. That was one of the best things I have had the chance to witness as a part of the team.

Our first opponent we faced was Italy, we had only played them once before in the previous world championships. Going into the game we were the heavy favorites and we all wanted to start the tournament off right.  Kip St. Germaine, one of our veteran defens men, scored the only three goals of the game as we blanked the Italians. Winning the first game of the tournament was huge because we sometimes start tournaments off slow. And one of the goals we had set before the trip was to make sure we didn't dig ourselves an early hole.

Next up, we had to face a team that most of us have never seen play except for a few video clips online. That team was Korea, talking to some of the players from Norway and Japan the one thing they said about Korea was that they were a smart team and they moved the puck well. And we found that out ourselves soon enough, it was a really slow paced game and my roommate Taylor Lipsett scored the game winner with only two minutes left giving us the 2-1 victory. It was awesome starting out the tournament with two straight wins and securing a spot in the cross over games for a chance to play for a medal. With that being the case we wanted to come out of our pool in first place figuring Canada would be the top seed in the other pool. We didn't want to have to play them until the gold medal game.

The day after our game against Korea we had an off day so we took some time to rest and had a short practice and video session preparing for Norway. They are one team that always seems to play us well; they are an older but really experienced team. They don't make many mistakes so when they do you need to capitalize, but we couldn't do so in the game, falling 2-1. Falling behind with two fast goals in about a two minute span was more than we could overcome. This was the one thing I wanted to avoid as Canada won their game and that's who we had to play for a shot at a world title.

Two days later, our game against rival Canada had finally come. There wasn't much talking going on the morning of our game. Everyone was focused, pumped and ready to play. The first period was scoreless but there was a lot of hard hitting going on as normal when we play Canada. At 2:09 of the second period, Adam Page walked out from the corner with the puck and let a cannon shot go over Canada's net minder Rosen's shoulder. We thought that would be all we needed to have a good chance at winning the game with our defense. But Canada scored a heartbreaker with 1:41 left in the game. I hate to admit it but we were all thinking in our heads not again.... After a scoreless over time we went into a shoot out. In the sixth round of a scoreless shoot out Adam Page found the back of the net for the second time of the game giving us an upset victory. Steve Cash was a monster in net giving up one goal and making 22 saves.

That night, while we were celebrating, our team manager had set up a trip to go see a concentration camp in Poland, and he ran it by us making sure it was something we wanted to do. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and something we all knew would be a life changing experience. So the next day, we got on a bus and headed to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps. It was something that I had learned a good amount about while in school, but to actually be there and to see some of the horrific sights was one of the most life changing experiences that I have ever had. It made me appreciate the life I have so much more.

The next day we had our shot at a gold medal, but once again we had to play Norway, the only team that had beaten us in the tournament. They were all that stood, or should I say sat, in front of us and our country's first ever world championship title.

Our main goal was to shut down Rolf Pederson who is widely regarded as the best player in the world, and we did so from the drop of the puck. As the game went on, our youth started to show a little as Norway seemed to slow down a bit. That left us in a great position with the game being scoreless after two periods.

The third period wasn't much different until with eleven seconds left in the game and the face off in Norway's zone our team captain Andy Yohe picked up a loose puck on the draw and threw the puck at the net. The goalie never saw the puck and that was hopefully all we needed. After Norway called a time out our coach told me to go out and win the face off and the game was over, but if I lost and with the skill of Pederson anything could happen. So I had a chance to do one of the things I pride myself on most, and that was to win a face off. I timed it right and the moment our defensemen passed the puck up to our winger I knew the game was over so I skated as fast as I could to Stevie Cash and was joined in a mosh pit seconds later with the rest of the team.

I have to be honest, after that final buzzer I didn't know what to do. All my body could get out was a few loud screams and of course one or two fist pumps along the way. I wish I could explain the feeling that I had but I really don't think there are any words to explain how great of a feeling it was.

One of the things I won't forget in that celebration was getting to share it with some of my best friends. Mike Hallman and I have been close for years and he really is like a brother to me, he came over to me and gave me a bear hug. For a few seconds I was excited and pumped but he was squeezing me so hard I couldn't breathe, I really didn't know if I would make it out alive. After we celebrated we all got in a line and received our medals. I was first in line to receive my medal and after they were all passed out we got together and took a team photo, and saluted the fans.

It was an amazing feeling to win that medal, and the only thing that could make things better will be to defend it in Vancouver in less than a year at the Paralympic Games!!