RALEIGH, N.C. - Completing a clean sweep for USA Hockey in Milan, the country's Para Ice Hockey team defeated Team Canada 6-2 in the gold medal game of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games on Sunday.
The gold-medal victory included a goal from Hurricanes Sled Hockey product and 19-year-old Coats, N.C. native Kayden Beasley, who impressed mightily in his first Paralympic showing.
"Happy, proud, excited; I am not sure what describes my emotions the best," said Hurricanes Director of Youth Hockey & Community Outreach Shane Willis. "Hurricanes Sled Hockey is home to a USA Hockey Gold medal, and I can’t wait to see it grow and have more young players look up to Kayden."
Echoing those thoughts, Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour touched on the growth of hockey as a whole in North Carolina, and what it means to have another gold medalist representing Raleigh.
"When you reflect on it, I think (hockey has had) great growth here, and I think it's going to continue," he said. "Because there are so many more kids playing, it's the law of averages; there are going to be more kids who go on to do great things. It's exciting."
Finishing with three goals and an assist during the tournament, the third-youngest member of the roster played in all five games as Team USA went undefeated to win its fifth consecutive gold medal.
Born as a congenital bilateral amputee with no legs and abandoned by his birth parents in China, Anthony and Amy Beasley adopted Kayden in 2009, when he was three. When the process was finalized, they brought him to their town of just over 2,000, roughly 30 miles south of Raleigh. To learn more about Kayden's story, click here.
To learn more about Hurricanes Sled Hockey, click here.
