Zachary Lavin (born January 31, 1997) is a Canadian

ice sled 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 ...

player who was a member of the Canada national para ice hockey team that won silver at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

Career

Lavin made his international debut for Canada at the

2019 World Para Ice Hockey Championships The 10th edition of World Para Ice Hockey Championships (originally named IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships) was held in 2019. The championships were divided into three tournaments. The main event (Tournament A) was hosted by Ostrava, Cze ...

, where he ranked tenth in tournament scoring with three goals and five assists, and won a silver medal. He again represented Canada at the

2021 World Para Ice Hockey Championships The 11th edition of World Para Ice Hockey Championships (originally named IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships) was held in 2021. The main event (Tournament A) was hosted by Ostrava, Czech Republic from 19 to 26 June 2021. It was the third t ...

and won a silver medal. He again represented Canada at the 2024 World Para Ice Hockey Championships and won a gold medal. Lavin represented Canada at the

and won a silver medal.

Personal life

In February 2015, Lavin got lost on a hiking trip in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

for three days, as a result he suffered severe

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the han ...

to his hands and feet. He overcame frostbite to his hands, but could not overcome the frostbite to his feet, which led to both his legs being amputated below the knee. He spent more than a week in the hospital being treated for frostbite and nearly four months in the hospital recovering from the surgery. He was introduced to the sport of ice sled hockey by former Canadian national team member Chris Cederstrand, and began playing para ice hockey with the Calgary Scorpions in 2016.

References

1997 births Living people People from Essex, Ontario Sportspeople from Essex County, Ontario Canadian sledge hockey players Paralympic sledge hockey players for Canada Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Para ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Paralympic medalists in sledge hockey {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, Zach