US beats Canada in Para ice hockey final to complete historic clean sweep in Olympics, Paralympics

MILAN (AP) — Three weeks after the United States beat Canada in the Olympic hockey finals, the Americans overcame their neighbors again to win Paralympic gold and complete the sweep at Milan Cortina.

In front of a packed arena, Jack Wallace scored a hat trick to help the U.S. beat Canada 6-2 in Sunday’s Para ice hockey final and become the first nation to win all three of the hockey tournaments at the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year. There is currently no women’s division at the Paralympics as it is classified as an open-gender sport.

Kayden Beasley, Declan Farmer — the tournament’s MVP — and Brody Roybal scored the other goals for the U.S. Liam Hickey bagged both goals for Canada, which pushed its rivals hard before conceding three in the final period.

“I’m glad we got it done because I think there’s a little bit more pressure with the men and women getting the golds too,” U.S. captain Josh Pauls said. “But I’m happy we could do it for USA hockey and I think it really just shows like how much they … invest in the grassroots programs because we have so many young players coming up and playing pivotal roles on our teams.”

One of those he’s seen progress at close hand is Wallace.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Wallace said with a broad smile when asked about his hat trick.

The 27-year-old Wallace, who grew up loving hockey, had his right leg amputated above the knee after a water-skiing accident at age 10 and thought his dreams of playing the sport at the highest level were over before discovering Para ice hockey.

“I think watching Jack Wallace go from the player he was when he first started, from a kid who just wanted to be back on the ice after losing his leg and now to watch him score a hat trick, it’s just so awesome to be a part of people’s lives and to watch them succeed and put in the work,” Pauls said.

“I was on the ice for the first time when he was on his sled and so to watch those guys blossom is just the ultimate honor and to be their teammate is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Pauls said.

While the Olympics saw the U.S. men’s team win gold for the first time since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980, it’s a very different story at the Paralympics.

It was a fifth straight title for the U.S. and Pauls — Wallace now has three and several of his teammates have four.

“I mean it’s kind of crazy, I can’t believe it,” Pauls said with a laugh. “I mean I don’t think you ever start out wanting to win five consecutive and to be the most decorated player in the sport and so I think this team is just so special.”

The U.S. has won six of the past seven editions of the Winter Paralympics. It was a third straight loss in the final for Canada, which won its only para ice hockey gold on Italian ice, in Turin in 2006.

Earlier, China claimed a second successive bronze medal as it fought back from conceding two goals in the opening three minutes to beat Czech Republic 3-2.

Sunday’s final set a new record attendance for the sport at a major tournament as 10,795 fans filled the near-capacity stands.

The mark had been set in the opening match of the tournament with the preliminary round game between the U.S. and host nation Italy drawing 8,992 spectators.

“I don’t think I could have imagined this,” Pauls said. "I mean it’s just so cool. I know this building was packed for the men’s and women’s Olympic finals and to be packed for us, I think, shows the parity of sled hockey compared to stand up ice hockey.

“And I think we had some really passionate fans. I didn’t realize so much of Italy was Canadian! And there was definitely some chants, but I’m glad we could kind of silence them a little bit ... it was such a great atmosphere to play in.”

AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games

China's players celebrate after taking a bronze medal during the ice hockey bronze medal match between China and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Canada's players reacts after loosing the ice hockey gold medal match between United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States' players celebrate after winning the gold medal at the ice hockey final match between United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States's Brody Roybal and his teammate Jack Wallace celebrate on the podium after winning the gold medal at the ice hockey of the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

United States's Jack Wallace celebrates after winning the gold medal at the end of the ice hockey match between United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

US players celebrate after winning the gold medal at the end of the ice hockey match between United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

United States' players celebrates after winning the ice hockey gold medal match between United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States's Jack Wallace celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during a gold medal ice hockey match between United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The brother of a man who attacked a Michigan synagogue last week, who was killed earlier this month in an Israeli airstrike, was a Hezbollah commander, Israel’s military claimed Sunday.

Ibrahim Ghazali was killed in Lebanon along with three other of the attacker’s relatives on March 5 — a week before authorities allege Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drove his car into a major synagogue outside Detroit and killed himself after security fired at him.

The FBI's Detroit office, which is investigating the synagogue attack, declined to comment on the claims by Israel's military about Ibrahim Ghazali.

“Out of respect for the ongoing investigation, we will continue to refrain from commenting on its substance,” FBI spokesman Jordan Hall said in an email Sunday.

The Israeli military alleges Ibrahim Ghazali was a Hezbollah commander who managed weapons for a unit that fired rockets at Israel.

A Lebanese official, who requested anonymity because he could not publicly discuss details of the airstrike, has confirmed Ibrahim Ghazali’s death. The official told The Associated Press that Ghazali’s children, Ali and Fatima, and brother, Kassim, were also killed in the strike that struck their home just after sunset.

In a statement sent to the AP in Beirut, Hezbollah said that the brothers, Ibrahim and Kassim, were a referee in a local soccer league and a scout member, and they were targeted at home along with their children, but didn't explicitly deny that Ibrahim was in the group.

Authorities have said that Ayman Ghazali, 41, carried out the synagogue attack after learning that four of his family members were killed in the Israeli strike.

Israel has stepped up attacks on the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon as the war with Iran has spread violence across the Middle East.

On Thursday, Ayman Ghazali waited in his car outside Temple Israel, near Detroit, for about two hours with a rifle, commercial grade fireworks and jugs of liquid believed to be gasoline, before crashing into the building full of dozens of children, according to authorities.

He started firing his gun through the windshield, exchanging fire with an armed security guard. Ghazali fatally shot himself after he got stuck in his vehicle and the engine caught fire, said Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office. No staffers or children inside the synagogue were hurt, likely due to beefed up security in recent months.

The FBI, which is leading the investigation, described the attack on one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues as an act of violence targeting the Jewish community. But the agency said it didn’t have enough evidence yet to call it an act of terror.

Ghazali came to the U.S. in 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

He lived in a single-story brick home in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn Heights about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of the synagogue.

The attack on the Michigan synagogue took place on the same day as a former Army National Guard member who served years in prison for attempting to aid the Islamic State opened fire on a classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia, killing one person and wounding two others.

Mroue reported from Beirut.

Law enforcement escort families away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

A police vehicle sits outside the Temple Israel synagogue Friday, March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Police tape hangs outside the Temple Israel synagogue Friday, March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)