Paralympic Sled Hockey Gold Medalist DeQuebec Honored at Ducks-Wild Game

On a night at Honda Center when the Ducks clinched their shot at playoff glory, it was fitting that there were a few recent champions in the building.

The Santa Margarita Christian High School Eagles, members of the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League, were honored as special guests for
winning the USA Hockey National Championship
in Plymouth, Minnesota late last month. When the Eagles were shown on the Honda Center video board to a rousing ovation from the sellout crowd, there was one fan in particular who told himself he just had to meet them and get some photos.
But Ralph DeQuebec isn't just any fan. He too was hosted by the Ducks and featured during one of the timeouts in the first period to an equally loud cheer from the crowd, many of whom started a "USA-USA!" chant. The 35-year-old native of San Pedro is a champion in his own right, having
won a gold medal just last month with the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team
at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in South Korea.
It's an amazing accomplishment for a man who has only been playing sled hockey for a little more than five years. Having grown up in Southern California, "I didn't really watch hockey a lot," DeQuebec says. "I'm from LA, and we don't do those kinds of things. We're football, basketball, baseball."

But that all changed one day in June 2012 when DeQuebec, a Gunnery Sargeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, was stationed in Afghanistan and was severely injured by an improvised explosive device (IUD). "I was working on a bomb, and member of my element came walking down on me and functioned the bomb I was working on," DeQuebec says, "and it took my legs."
Some friends had already gotten into sled hockey and suggested it to DeQuebec, "but I was like, It's not the sport for me. Finally, they got me on the ice and I did my first check into the boards. I was waiting for a penalty and there was no penalty. Right then I was like, This is the sport for me. Ever since then, I've passionate about the game."
At a time when the Purple Heart recipient was going through a grueling recovery, hockey came along at just the right time. "That first year after recovery, I was just trying to figure out who I was," he says. "Luckily I found hockey, because I was able to identify with something right off the bat. It was just the locker room atmosphere, the teamwork, having one mission with everybody working together. It was what I needed in my life."
Certainly the dream of making the U.S. Paralympic team was a pipe dream at the time, but as the years went on and DeQuebec became more dedicated to the sport, it got closer to reality.

"It was just a lot of hard work, a lot of getting to know players and understanding the game, and actually dedicating every single day to making that team," says DeQuebec, who skated three seasons with the U.S. Development Sled Hockey Team and also helped Team USA win the 2018 Para Ice Hockey International Tournament in Turin, Italy. "In 2014 I had already started playing when I watched [Team USA] win gold in Sochi, but I didn't take it seriously at the time. It was fun, it was recreational, but after that moment I told myself, This is what I want to do. I want to be on that stage with the greatest athletes in the world. And I dedicated every day to that."
The ultimate dream came true in the Winter Paralympics championship game, when his teammate Declan Farmer of Tampa, Florida tied the game with Canada with just 37.8 seconds left in regulation and then scored again 3 1/2 minutes into overtime to capture an unprecedented third consecutive gold medal for Team USA.
"It was unbelievable. You could not draw it up any better than that," he says. "And to be with the guys that I was with, I wouldn't have wanted it any differently. We went through some adversity, but we were able to come out on top, and it was just a moment for us to cherish."
DeQuebec had his gold medal with him to share with fans last night at Honda Center, where he was joined by his mom Tina, uncle Vic, aunt "Mama E" and cousin Russell. Ralph admits he didn't grow up a Ducks fan, and while he now resides with his wife Katie in Denver, "I love California in general, so any California team I'm supportive of and I cheer for, including Santa Margarita. When they got introduced, I was like, 'I wanna go see them.' I'm glad I was able to."

He spent nearly the entire first intermission with members of the Eagles and their families, comparing gold medals and posing for photos with every last one of them. You couldn't wipe the smile off any of the faces.
"It's awesome being here," DeQuebec said. "Hearing the 'USA" chant from the crowd was unreal. I'm still coming down from Cloud 9, and every time I'm able to do something like this, it just brings me back up there."