Paul Rosen (born April 26, 1960) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

ice sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilita ...

goalie and motivational speaker from

Thornhill, Ontario Thornhill is a suburban district in the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada, split between the City of Vaughan (its western portion) and the City of Markham (its eastern portion), with Yonge Street forming the municipal boundary. T ...

Career

Rosen suffered a leg injury during a hockey game as a youth, and the resulting damage, infections, and pain to his leg plagued him for years until his lower leg was amputated at age 39. During rehabilitation, Rosen joined the Canadian National Sledge hockey team and participated in the 2002 and

2006 Winter Paralympics The 2006 Winter Paralympic Games ( it, Giochi paralimpici invernali del 2006), the ninth Paralympic Winter Games, took place in Turin, Italy from 10 to 19 March 2006. These were the first Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Italy. They were ...

. Rosen was the oldest rookie in the history of the Paralympic Winter Games when he made his debut at 41. At the 2006 Games in

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

, Rosen and the Canadian team won the sledge hockey gold medal. In January 2007, Rosen made headlines across Canada when his Paralympic gold medal was stolen during an autographing session with fans in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. After commentator

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

told the thief to drop the gold medal in a mailbox during his ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'' broadcast, the medal turned up at a postal sorting station in Toronto and was returned to Rosen. He announced his retirement from the Canadian ice sledge hockey team on September 7, 2010 (along with captain Jean Labonte,

Todd Nicholson Todd Nicholson, (born January 28, 1969) is a Canadian former ice sledge hockey player. He was a member of the 2010 Paralympic Sledge Ice Hockey team, which were the fourth Paralympic games that Nicholson participated in. He announced his retire ...

and Herve Lord). Rosen also competed in sitting volleyball, another disabled sport. He became a member of Canada's sitting volleyball team at the

2007 Parapan American Games The 2007 Parapan American Games, officially the III Parapan American Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan American Games as governed by the Americas Paral ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rosen was part of the first official international match for Canada's sitting volleyball team when they played the United States on August 15, 2007. After retiring from competitive sports, Rosen became an official ambassador and spokesperson for National Benefit Authority. When Rosen turned 50, he revealed that he had struggled with literacy his whole life and was returning to school. He then became an ambassador for ABC Life Literacy, to help people conquer the shame and stigma of

illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

Statistics

Rosen spent nine seasons with the Canadian national ice sledge hockey team. By the end of his career, he accumulated a won loss record of 55-15-1. In addition, he registered a 1.04 goals-against average and 25 shutouts in 72 career games. Hockey Canada

References

External links

Canadian Paralympic Committee Profile

Paul’s Story

Athlete Profile

Official Website
* __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Paul 1960 births Living people Canadian amputees Canadian sledge hockey players Paralympic sledge hockey players of Canada Paralympic gold medalists for Canada Ice sledge hockey players at the 2002 Winter Paralympics Ice sledge hockey players at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Ice sledge hockey players at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Paralympic medalists in sledge hockey