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Wallace scored a hat trick in the gold-medal game against Canada, helping avenge the loss from last year’s gold-medal game.
By Steve Drumwright
Red Line Editorial
Maybe it was extra motivation. Maybe it was being healthy and focused. Maybe it was being around friends and family. Maybe it was the chicken wings.
Or it could’ve been a combination of all the above.
Whatever the reason, Jack Wallace put together the tournament of his life at the 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Championship, held 24-31 May in Buffalo, New York.
Wallace, who hails from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, scored a hat trick to help the U.S. defeat Canada 6-1 in the gold-medal game on 31 May, securing Wallace’s fourth world title and a record seventh for the Americans.
“No one in the world competes harder than us when we get down to it,” said Wallace, who’s played on the U.S. team since 2016, including in two Paralympic Winter Games. “We have such a high compete level on our team. When we can match that compete level with our awareness and our strategy of getting the puck to the middle of the ice and keeping them outside the middle of the ice – when we can match that intensity level with the focus and awareness and our game plan – really no one can touch us, and I think we kind of proved that.”
The Americans dominated from start to finish on home ice, outscoring their five foes 41-5. Besides a 4-3 nail-biter against eventual bronze medalist Czechia in the preliminary round, Team USA’s next closest games were identical 6-1 triumphs against China in the semifinals and Canada in the final.
Wallace had a big hand in those lopsided margins, finishing as the tournament’s second-leading scorer with 19 points. His 10 assists tied with two others for the most in the tournament. Only teammate Declan Farmer had more goals (10) and points (21).
The 26-year-old Wallace felt a bit of redemption in the win.
At last year’s tournament in Calgary, Alberta, he was splitting his focus.
After a pair of trips to the Paralympic Winter Games, and a pair of gold medals, Wallace had taken up sprint kayak in hopes of qualifying for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. That quest forced him to leave the sled team during worlds to compete in a kayak qualifier in Hungary.
Ultimately, Wallace missed a trip to Paris by eight-thousandths of a second. Then he returned to Calgary for the gold-medal game, where the U.S. fell to Canada 2-1. The loss snapped a three-year winning streak for Team USA at Worlds.
Wallace said he “felt pretty responsible for the loss” after having to leave mid-tournament.
“So I certainly felt really motivated and like I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder throughout the year to get back and kind of make up for it,” he said.
His hat trick in this year’s gold-medal game may seem like he was cashing in that chip on his shoulder, but Wallace said it was just being in the right spot at the right time.
“I don’t think it was anything that crazy,” Wallace said. “I had two tap-in goals and one kind of a lucky bounce to be totally honest. We were just focusing on those little things, getting the puck to the middle, getting the puck to the net, good things happen. It could have been anyone.”
Last year’s intense double duty took a toll on Wallace. He developed tendinitis in both elbows from “severe overuse,” which necessitated treatment and physical therapy in the fall.
“I felt a bit like a shell of myself in last year’s gold-medal game, just not nearly as an effective player as I would want to be and that I think I am,” Wallace said. “So I think this year, coming in completely focused and solely ready to play hockey did me a lot of good.”
Playing in front of a home crowd helped, too. This tournament was the fourth time in 14 world championships that the U.S. played on home soil, but the first since 2015, when it was also held in Buffalo.
“It was awesome,” Wallace said. “The crowd was mostly all of our friends and families, so we all had some pretty big contingents in the crowd. That was really special to win in front of them. It had been a while since most of us had played in front of our families, let alone played in front of our families on home soil. So this was real cool.”
Wallace has an aunt and uncle who live in nearby Orchard Park, New York, so he gets to that region at least once a year.
Buffalo, of course, is known for its namesake chicken wings.
While Wallace’s favorite food is actually Buffalo chicken pizza, he makes sure to take in some of the popular wing joints whenever he’s in town. His go-to spot is one of the Bar-Bill locations for the honey butter barbecue sauce, but he ventured over to Wingnutz during Worlds.
“It definitely gave it a run for its money,” Wallace said.
While the gold at Worlds is still fresh in his mind, Wallace is already thinking ahead to February for the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 – where the U.S. will compete for its fifth straight gold medal.
“We’re looking to do it again seven, eight months from now,” Wallace said.
Steve Drumwright is a journalist based in Murrieta, California. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.com on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
For more, please visit the USOPC Paralympic Educational Hub.
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