Canadas mens sledge hockey team is quietly confident it can defend Paralympics gold at Vancouver after the nation's men and women captured Olympic gold last month. After winning at the 2006 Turin Paralympics, the Canadian sledgers are seeded third behind the United States and Norway but hope home ice can help them make a difference. A phone call from NHL legend Steve Yzerman, general manager of Canada's gold medal Olympic group of National Hockey League stars, helped inspire Canada's 4-0 victory over Italy in Saturday's opener. The hosts play Norway on Tuesday. 'Every game we want to show all of Canada and everyone watching around the world that were really looking to make a name for ourselves,' said forward Greg Westlake, who scored two goals in Canada's victory. 'The overall competition level has gone up. The sport is growing. For me its exciting. I dont want to come to a Paralympics and win every game 10-0. I want every game to be a tight-fought match and every game a hot ticket.' Westlake, 23, was born with feet that were not fully formed and had them amputated at 18 months. While able to walk, he played stand-up hockey growing up and switched to sledge hockey at age 15, reaching the national team in 2003. 'When I switched over (to sledge hockey) it was very difficult because I had to re-learn hockey all over again,' he said. 'My brain knew how to work. I knew where to be, how to play, but physically I was never in the right spot. 'It was incredibly difficult. I spent the first 15 years of my life learning the game and the last eight or nine learning to play sledge hockey.' Adam Dixon, the youngest Canadian player at 20, was thrilled at the crowd of 4,500 to watch the victory. Diagnosed with Ewings sarcoma at age 10, the rare cancer forced doctors to remove his right tibia and replace it with donor bone and a metal plate. 'We did a lot of things right and we have a lot of things to build on,' the electrical engineering student said. 'We have to make sure we finish our chances.' Norways Rolf Einar Pedersen said with all the focus on Canada feeding off its fan support to capture gold, such attention had motivated his teammates. 'We're going to do everything we can to spoil the party,' Pedersen said after Norway's 2-1 victory over Sweden in a shootout. 'The Canadian guys have a good chance, but you know the last World Championships they were beaten by the US so its going to be real tight. But they have to get their shoulders down and play good hockey. 'It is really tense in this arena.' Rick Amann, who played 10 years of pro hockey in Germany after a junior career in Canada, was surprised by sledge hockey's speed and physicality. 'It was very fast,' he said. 'I was impressed with the mobility the guys really have and the aggression. They hammer each other. I was also impressed by the teamwork they have. They have to communicate and have a system on the ice that is very similar to hockey.' 