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"We have tremendous leaders on this
team," Pauls added. "It starts with our best
player, Declan Farmer. He's the hardest
worker on the team. That makes it an easy
example for everyone to follow."
Of the 17 players on the final Paralympic
roster who will make the trip to Milan, a vast
majority have been on the team since the
2022 Paralympics in Beijing, and many have
played together on Team USA even longer.
"There's a group of 15 or 16 of us that have
been together for three or more years, and
we've been through a lot," Pauls said. "We've
won world championships together and we
lost a world championship together.
"We're like a family. We've been through
so much as a team, we owe that to each
other," he said.
Despite much of the core group being
together since Beijing, for some, Milan rep-
resents their first Paralympics experience,
where they can have friends and family in
attendance to watch them at the Paralympics.
Pauls, the longest-tenured player on the
team, and some of the other more expe-
rienced players provide an invaluable
resource to the younger group on what to
expect for their first go-round at one of the
largest sporting events on the planet.
"Making sure the guys enjoy the experi-
ence is key," Pauls said.
Pauls added that the moments leading up
to the Games are just as important.
"You go through team processing and get
all your gear, which is kind of a surreal expe-
rience, and you don't want to be looking
ahead to the tournament so much that you
miss the little moments leading up to the
Games," Pauls said.
Even though it's his fifth Paralympics,
Pauls isn't taking anything for granted.
"It definitely has a different feel," he said.
"It's once every four years, and it's so amazing
to be a part of the Paralympic Games."
Pauls added that the magnitude of the
event never fades.
"You go in knowing you're going to dedi-
cate months of your life, moving somewhere
and training with the team," Pauls said.
"You've just got to give it your all. Life comes
at you fast and you just have to be ready for it.
"Everybody understands how different and
special it is. What once felt like a somewhat
distant dream is now right around the corner."
As the team turns its focus toward
Milan following a gold medal at the 2025
World Para Ice Hockey Championship
and impressive tournament titles at the
2025 Para Hockey Cup and International
Para Hockey Cup, Pauls encourages fans,
including first-time viewers, to tune in
come March.
"It's such a physical sport, and there's
a beauty in that," Pauls said. "We're play-
ing bumper cars, cross-country skiing and
hockey all at the same time. It's such a fast,
physical combination. For anyone that's a
hockey fan or not, it's so much fun to watch,"
he said.
P
Josh Pauls
"It's once every four years, and
it's so amazing to be a part of
the Paralympic Games."
k
Declan Farmer and Josh Pauls helped the
U.S. defeat Canada 5-0 in the gold-medal
game of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
