Following its selection in December, the 2010 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team will see its first action this week at the Japan Para Ice Sledge Hockey Championships in Nagano City, Japan.

Greg Shaw lays a hit on a Team Japan player during a game earlier this season.

The final 15-man U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team roster represents a trimmed-down version of the 2009-10 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team that captured the 2009 World Sledge Hockey Challenge last November in Charlottetown, P.E.I. That team also faced Canada and Japan in several exhibition games last fall, posting a 6-2-1-2 overall record.

With the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., on the horizon (March 13), however, the U.S. will use this week's tournament as its final opportunity to test its Paralympic athletes with international competition.

"We had some tough cuts to make because those guys played an important role in getting us where we are today," said head coach Ray Maluta about the three players - Mike Hallman, Lonnie Hannah, and Kip St. Germaine who missed out on cracking the final Paralympic Sled Hockey Team roster. "But the guys here this week will look at this tournament as a chance to improve for Vancouver."

Team USA will play five games this week against the Czech Republic, Japan and Norway. With only a team camp in Rochester remaining between this week' tournament and the Paralympic Winter Games, the United States' erformance in Nagano City will play an important role as it looks to capture its second-ever Paralympic gold medal. (The End)