CALGARY — A man who knows what it takes to win a Paralympic hockey gold in Italy has come out of retirement hoping to help Canada do it again.
Five-time Paralympian Greg Westlake of Oakville, Ont., spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach of the Canadian para hockey team.
The 39-year-old put his practice jersey back on at a Canadian training camp in Calgary that concluded Tuesday.
"I absolutely love this game. I love this team," Westlake said. "It's hard to make that decision on when you want to retire because you're kind of planning your life in these four-year segments, because that's when the Paralympics are.
"I certainly wouldn't have stepped away at 36, but looking four years ahead, I didn't know if I'd still be able to still be going at 39, especially if I played every season over the past few years.
"Hockey doesn't define who I am. There are so many other great things going on. I just get to come here and be with an amazing group of guys, the culture in that room is so fantastic, and just have fun doing my favourite thing one last time."
Westlake was 18 years old when Canada won para hockey gold in Turin, Italy, in 2006.
He was on teams that finished fourth in Vancouver in 2010, took bronze in 2014 and lost a pair of finals to archrival United States in 2018 and 2022.
Westlake then stepped into the coaching ranks, while he and his wife, Catherine, became parents to two children.
"I've played with probably half the team anyways and honestly if I wasn't doing a bit of the coaching I don't know if I'd be sitting here right now because it kept me close to the environment, it kept me close to guys and it actually made it easier to come back and play right now, because even the guys I haven't played with I still had a relationship with," he said.
Westlake, who was Canada's captain from 2010 to 2019, had both legs amputated below the knee at 18 months after he was born with deformed feet.
He was among 20 players, including 17 skaters, invited to Calgary's camp. Paralympic rosters are 15, including two goalies.
The 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, in March would be Westlake's sixth if he's named to the team again.
"As you get older, you see just how hard it is, you see how many things have to go right," he said.
"We've had some amazing players come through this program that their bodies just couldn't hold up for that long. Other people, they have interests outside of hockey, and they want to kind of start their post-playing days a bit earlier. This is all I've ever wanted to do.
"Now I have two kids who have never seen daddy play hockey and never known me as an athlete, so that's a driving factor for me as well."
Current Canadian captain Tyler McGregor of Forest, Ont., says he can't think of a player he's spent more time with than Westlake during their first 13 years as teammates.
"He's the only player in our program right now that's won a Paralympic gold medal," McGregor said. "He's always been an exceptional leader.
"His transition from being a player to becoming a coach for a couple of years also helped him really grow and see the game from a different lens.
"To welcome that back into our locker room will be so beneficial for us as we navigate this journey, especially with a young team, with a lot of players going to their first Paralympic Games, that experience will be invaluable."
Canadian goaltender Adam Kingsmill of Smithers, B.C., says Westlake mentored him when he first arrived on the national para team.
"He's that type of guy that he's going to message you no matter what, it could be 10 years down the line, if something important happens or if something unfortunately bad happens, he'll be one of the first guys to text you," Kingsmill said.
Canada will hold another training camp Sept. 21 to Oct. 2 in Oakville, Ont., before the team departs for the IPH Cup in Ostrava, Czechia.
Canada will also host the Para Hockey Cup from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 in Dawson Creek, B.C.
The Paralympic Games run March 6-15.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
