Islanders have a couple of reasons to cheer during the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games this year.
Summerside-born Billy Bridges has been at a training camp in Calgary preparing to wear the Maple Leaf for the national sledge hockey team at the Games for a sixth time.
And Paralympic nordic skier Mark Arendz is in Lake Louise, Alta., ready to head to Beijing Friday for his fourth Games.
Bridges, who's 37, said expectations get "greater and greater" with each passing Games — but that he can still rocket an 80-mile-per-hour slapshot.
"To be a part of this team today compared to, you know, before Salt Lake City is night and day," Bridges said.
"We have anywhere from 15 to 20 training sessions a week and a lot of obligations. But at the same time, it makes you such a better hockey player and I'm still getting faster and stronger at the old age that I'm at."
Watch: Billy Bridges' unusual path to hockey gave his life more meaning
Bridges said he never could have imagined how far he'd get when he first joined the men's national program as a teenager in the late 1990s.
Besides multiple world championships under his belt, he's earned three Paralympic medals as part of Team Canada. He got the gold in the 2006 Torino Games, the last time the Canadian team won the tournament.
"I wish I could go back and tell 14-year-old Billy that I could be doing this full time and travel the entire world and get to go to all these Paralympic Games and compete with all these amazing teammates I have. I never would have believed it," he said.
He said he hopes the Games can inspire children with disabilities to participate in sports, and maybe become the next generation of Paralympic hockey athletes.
"That's what I think is so important about the Paralympics and the Paralympic movement is that it's more than just cheering for your nation to win medals. It's also opening up eyes to, you know, what is actually possible out there and be able to change the lives of people who see it for the first time," he said.
Bridges will be joined by Islanders Tyler Jay and Grant Boswell, who have support roles in the team. The men's team will play the U.S. on March 5 at 1 p.m. Beijing time.
Arendz said watching the Olympics helps him know what lies ahead for the Paralympics.
"What I've seen during the Olympics, at the venues, I'm really excited to see the course and dealing with the conditions there," Arendz said.
"We kind of joke it's our pre-event. It's the test event to get all the wrinkles ironed out, and then we get to go in for the Paralympics."
While the COVID-19 health and safety measures do worry him a bit, he puts a lot of trust into the safety protocols.
"Every time you take a test, you're still taking an extra little breath of, 'OK, is this going to be negative?'" he said.
"But I think it's just about trusting what we've done, the process that we've gone through in order to keep ourselves safe."
Similar to the Olympics, all the snow used during the Paralympics will be artificial.
Arendz said he's already familiar with artificial snow used in the Olympic training centre in Canmore, Alta, but there are still things his team needs to figure out once they arrive.
"We don't quite know how the weather affects the snow," he said.
"And then understand how the day shifts in terms of when the highs are, when the lows are, and then how does the snow react to the sun and things like that."
The eight-time medallist has become one of Canada's most decorated Paralympic winter athletes.
Back in 2018, Arendz set a record for winning the most medals by a winter Paralympian in one Games, with one gold, two silver and three bronze in South Korea.
This year, his goal is not about repeating that success, but learning from the mistakes he's made in the previous Games.
"I was still successful in those races, but there were mistakes that I want to iron out, that I don't want to repeat. And I feel that I'm in a better physical shape. The mental control is a lot better," Arendz said.
"It's just correcting all those little things and evolving to the next level."
Watch: Beijing Today: Mark Arendz
Arendz will turn 32 on March 4, one day before the opening ceremony March 5.
His way of celebrating the birthday will be to focus on things he can control like his tactics and his shooting, Arendz said.
"My goals are to come to the start line as best prepared as I can be, knowing that I've done everything to that point to be ready."
The Games run from March 4 to 13.
In recognition of the belief that good sport can make a great difference, the PEI 2023 Host Society and Canada Games Council have officially declared the 2023 Canada Winter Games a True Sport event – ensuring the values of fairness, excellence, inclusion and fun are at the heart of the Games.
The 2023 Canada Winter Games Host Society is excited to announce the City of Charlottetown and the City of Summerside have signed on as municipal partners for the 2023 Games.
The 2023 Canada Winter Games Host Society is excited to welcome MBS Radio and its Island stations CFCY, MAX-FM, and SPUD FM, as an Official Media Partner for the PEI 2023 Games.
The PEI 2023 Canada Winter Games has officially reached its goal of recruiting 5,000 volunteers who will help welcome the nation to Prince Edward Island for the 29th edition of the Canada Games from February 18 to March 5, 2023.
The 2023 Canada Games Host Society is inviting submissions from PEI artists, artisans and creators to design the medals for the upcoming 2023 Canada Winter Games, taking place from February 18 to March 5, 2023.
The 2023 Canada Winter Games Host Society today is pleased to welcome Stingray Group and its Island stations, Ocean 100 and HOT 105.5, as an Official Media Partner for the PEI 2023 Games.
The Canada Games Council (CGC) and the 2023 Canada Games Host Society are pleased to welcome Vision33 Canada Inc. as a National Multi-Games Partner of the Canada Games, starting with the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island.
We are excited to reveal the first wave of inspiring Islanders who have been named as Torchbearers for the Cavendish Farms Torch Relay!
Today, Chefs de Mission from Canada’s 13 provinces and territories are arriving in Prince Edward Island to get a preview of the preparations underway for the 2023 Canada Winter Games as they attend Mission Conference #1 from April 4-7.
P.E.I.'s Mark Arendz competes in the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. Arendz will compete in his fourth Paralympics for Team Canada in Beijing, March 4-3.
Prince Edward Island is set to welcome thousands of visitors for the 2023 Canada Winter Games, and Confederation Centre of the Arts is thrilled to collaborate on a variety of cultural activities.
Biathlon athletes and volunteers alike tested their skills ahead of the 2023 Canada Winter Games this weekend.
The Canada Games Council (CGC) invites Canadians to celebrate sporting excellence and outstanding achievement on and off the field of play by nominating acclaimed alumni for the 2022 and 2023 Canada Games Hall of Honour.
Having represented Prince Edward Island as an athlete in Cape Breton in 1987, a spectator in PEI in 1991 and 2009, and a coach in Red Deer in 2019, Robinson saw the hard work volunteers put in, so when the opportunity presented itself to volunteer for the 2023 Canada Winter Games in her home province she jumped at the chance.
A new $5-million indoor sports dome in Summerside, P.E.I., was officially opened by city officials Thursday morning. The Dome, a 65,000-square-foot indoor turf field, was built for the 2023 Canada Winter Games.
Myla Doucette felt a feeling of accomplishment as the 2023 Canada Winter Games official mascot made its first appearance.
On behalf of the 2023 Canada Winter Games Host Society, we would like to thank all Islanders and friends of the Games who participated in our 2023 Canada Games Spirit Day on February 17th!
With just 10 days to go from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, athletes around the globe are gearing up to compete on the world’s biggest stage. Among the many Canadian athletes heading to Beijing is PEI’s very own, Brett Gallant, who will be making his Olympic debut on the ice.