When the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team takes to the ice at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Italy, two local players are doing their best to help the team win its fifth consecutive gold medal.
Forwards Brody Roybal, who originally hails from Northlake, and Josh Misiewicz, who grew up in La Grange, are two of the 17 players who make up the team, which trained for two months at a residency camp in Superior, Colorado, before leaving Feb. 26 for Italy.
”We’ll show up the week before it starts to get adjusted to the time, practice as a team over there, get used to the ice — all that good stuff,” Roybal said. “It’s so cool that I’ve gotten to do this for so long, and every time we make the team you’re lucky to do it. And to represent your country at the highest level.”
Misiewicz also is looking forward to the competition. “It is such an honor to go to the Games wearing the red, white and blue,” he said. “It takes a lot of hard work to make this team, and to be chosen to go try and win another gold is everything to me.”
Although both love playing the sport, they came to it in different ways. Misiewicz, 37, lost both his legs when he was injured by an IED in 2011 while deployed to Afghanistan with the Marine Corps, and Roybal, 27, was born without femurs in his legs.
Roybal first tried sled hockey when he was a boy, playing for the Chicago Hornets.
“I went to Shriner’s Hospital, and they had connections with all the youth disabled programs in the area,” he explained. “I tried a bunch of different sports at the time, and they told me to try sled hockey. I got linked up with the Hornets when I was 7 years old.”
Roybal became the youngest member of the U.S. Paralympic delegation at the Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 when he was just 15, on the sled hockey team, which won a gold medal. He has since won two other gold medals and led the tournament in scoring at the Paralympic Winter Games in 2022 in Beijing. He also has won a gold medal and two silver medals in world championships.
Sled hockey, which became an Olympic sport at the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Games, follows most of the rules of typical ice hockey, although some of the equipment differs. For instance, goalies wear gloves that have metal picks sewn into them for maneuverability, the USA Hockey website notes.
“Players sit in specially designed sleds that sit on top of two hockey skate blades,” the website explains. Each player uses two short sticks instead of one, and they have metal picks on the butt end to allow players to move themselves around the ice.
“I do really just love the game. It’s just so much fun if you watch it,” Roybal said. “But the team I’m on is really great and the friends I’ve made along the way and the community I’ve built – it’s bonds that last a lifetime.”
Roybal said the “physicality” of the game might surprise spectators. “We’re disabled, and most people probably think sheltered and soft. But when we go out there, huge hits. It’s super physical all the way through, fighting occasionally,” he said.
Both Misiewicz and Roybal are full-time athletes with USA Hockey and moved to Nashville about eight years ago to train.
“Sled hockey in the U.S. and abroad has become a full-time job. If you’re not training as hard as possible there are other guys that want your spot,” Misiewicz said. “Making the USA para ice hockey team is something that is earned and it takes a lot of work to not only make the team but to stay on it.”
Misiewicz, who earned a Purple Heart for his military service, was introduced to sled hockey at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. “The program is called the USA Warriors, and playing with them helped me so much while transitioning out of the military,” he shared.
He was not a stranger to ice hockey, thanks to playing NCAA Division III hockey for St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, before enlisting in the Marines. He made his sled hockey debut in 2018 at the Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and now has two Olympic gold medals as well as four golds and a silver in world championships.
He’s looking forward to seeing family and friends at this year’s Games after not having that opportunity in 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Having that support is massive,” he said.
Misiewicz is also looking forward to the time he spends with Roybal. “We have trained together and been on the same line for the past four years. I love having him by my side. We play very well together,” he shared.
Roybal feels the same way about his teammate.
“He’s one of the best players in the world,” he said. “His knowledge of the game and his awareness on the ice is truly unmatched. It’s always fun playing with him. I’m lucky that I’m typically on the line with him. I love Misiewicz to death. He’s a great player and a great person.”
When the team is in Italy, it will have plenty of support. Ten staff members – the general manager, head coach, assistant coach, goalies coach, doctor, trainer, two equipment managers and two communications staff – travel with the team, said Seamus Kelley, communications coordinator for USA Hockey.
“USA Hockey and the United States are the global leader in the sport of sled hockey, and the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team seeking its unprecedented fifth consecutive paralympic gold medal is a special thing to be a part of,” Kelley said.
The team’s general manager, Dan Brennan, agrees that the opportunity is special.
“It means everything for our team to compete for a gold medal in Milan, Italy. The Paralympics are the pinnacle of our sport, and it’s crucial to train hard and be ready because it only happens once every four years,” he shared. “Para ice hockey is an amazing sport and the Paralympics showcase it very well, which in turn adds to the growth potential because people can see it on TV.”
Roybal was confident going into the Paralympics. “I think our preparation is unmatched when it comes to other teams,” he said. “It’s just a game and we’re going to have fun, but we put in so much work that we expect nothing less than the best.”
Most of the games are expected to stream on Peacock, but a schedule can be found at teamusa.usahockey.com/2026paralympicsschedule.
Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
