LONDON ? His colourful arm tattoos don't really scare anybody. Nor does his pleasant smile and soft-spoken demeanour.
And as a low-point player with very limited finger function, Trevor Hirschfield is far from the quickest guy on the wheelchair rugby floor.
But he's as savvy as they come, has great reach with his long arms and the guy they call T-Bone might just be one of the sneakiest hitters in the game.
The 28-year-old from Parksville delivered a perfectly timed, chair-toppling hit on Belgian star Lars Mertens at the end of the first quarter Thursday, denying the Belgians a last-second goal and keying a Canadian surge that eventually resulted in 58-50 victory.
?That was a great pump-up,? said Canadian teenager Zak Madell, who was a strong offensive force with a team-high 18 goals. ?I've seen Belgium get those last-second goals before when they make it all the way down the floor. Trevor being able to stop that was a huge game-changer for us.?
?Oh my god, that was vital,? said veteran Mike Whitehead of Hirschfield's hit.. ?He is a leader on this team in so many ways now. Just from the beginning, when we woke up today, you could tell Trevor was going to rally the troops.
?He's a special, special athlete and he keeps growing in his leadership. We're a hockey mentality and sometimes that Canadian big hit will really rally a team and it seems to do it for us. It sparks the emotion. Trevor, tonight, he was our guy.?
The win kept Canada, now 1-1, in the Paralympic medal hunt as they face Sweden Friday with a berth in the semifinals on the line.
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Canada led 16-14 when Hirschfield delivered the big blow, having taken their first lead at 14-13. With the hit still fresh in their minds, the Canadians opened up the second quarter on a 4-1 run ? all the goals scored by Madell ? after forcing a bad Belgian pass and a shot-clock violation. The Belgians never got within three goals the rest of the way.
?We had a good first quarter and the bench kind of fed off that,? said Hirschfield. ?We came out to put the pressure on early and get out to a lead early.?
Despite the Basketball Arena at Olympic Park being only half-filled, the atmosphere was electric with pulsating music during any break and an enthusiastic in-arena announcer providing lively play-by-play as the game was going on.
Hirschfield, a quadriplegic as a result of a car accident when he was 16, played all but four minutes of the 32-minute game, easily the most of any player on a deep Canadian squad that rotated 10 players.
?He's super-fit and super consistent and for a guy who doesn't have finger movement, I've never seen a guy control a ball like he does,? said Whitehead. ?You can throw a ball at him in any direction, any way, any speed. He's like Spiderman, he sucks it up.?
Hirschfield and co-captain Garett Hickling, a Kelowna native, each scored nine goals, but it was the Paralympic rookie, 18-year-old Madell of Okotoks, Alta., who keyed the offence.
Madell, a quad amputee and the youngest player in the eight-country tournament, played a robust game, delivering several punishing hits and using his speed to create scoring opportunities.
?If we play the same way against Sweden that we did today ? they've got a limited lineup, so if we can tire them out quickly, we should be good to go.?
Australia is 2-0 in Pool B after being Canada 64-52 on Wednesday and Sweden 60-47 on Thursday. The Swedes are 1-1.
gkingston@vancouversun.com
vancouversun.com
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