Canadian Ball Hockey Reaches the Pinnacle Again! Jean-Philippe Moquin Scores Two Goals in the Final Against the Czechs

Canada has clinched the world championship title for the second consecutive time. Among those contributing to this success was Jean-Philippe Moquin, also known as theballhockeydude. Once again, it was the Czechs who paid the price in the final of the world championship in Visp.

Before our first victory in 2022, Canada hadn’t won in 17 years

Jean-Philippe, this is the second time in four years that you and the Canadian team have won the world championship gold. What does this double victory mean for Canadian ball hockey and for you personally?

It really means a lot. Before our first victory in 2022, Canada hadn’t won in 17 years. Canada is usually known as one of the top dogs in any sport they participate in. The wins in 2022 and 2024 were huge for the confidence our program has going into the future.

On a personal note, I’m very happy to say that I was part of that two-peat. You never know what’s next, but I can now say that I made friends for a lifetime on both teams. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me.

Looking back at the beginning of the Swiss tournament, you easily defeated Great Britain and Haiti in the group stage but also played very tight games against Greece and Slovakia. What did these matches teach you, and how did they prepare you for the knockout stage?

We knew that we would have easier games against Great Britain and Haiti, although we never took them for granted. The games against Slovakia and Greece really helped us concentrate on what was working for us. When you play weaker teams, you tend to try things that you wouldn’t normally do in closer games. The harder games taught us that we really needed to use our speed and stamina. We were a younger team than in prior years, and I strongly believe that it helped us win against bigger and more physical teams.

In the quarterfinals, you faced the unpredictable Finns. How did you prepare for this crucial match?

This match was the most nerve-wracking one for me. You always have in the back of your mind that if you lose this match, you won’t even get the opportunity to participate in the medal rounds.

What Canada had, and I have to give credit to our coaching staff for this, is a very strong and deep understanding of the opposition. Before every game, we would have an 11 a.m. meeting to watch videos on other teams' tendencies. This really helped us get ready and tune our game to where it needed to be.

After the meeting, three guys on the team and I would play Mario Party for two hours and then head off to the rink. I really like to go early to the rink to dial in and focus on what’s coming. I would usually get to the rink three hours before the ball drop.

I was trying to stay away from looking at the Czechs

In the semifinals, you battled the host Swiss team, who were driven forward by their home fans. Yet, after defeating Finland, you also scored 7 goals against them. How did these two excellent performances influence your approach to the final?

From the beginning, my deepest desire was to play against the Swiss team. Any kid's dream is to play in front of a packed arena. When you score seven goals in two games in a row, it’s really hard to come down from that high.

We knew that the Czechs would be looking forward to this game after the loss they had in 2022. We had to compose ourselves and not overlook the fact that the Czechs are a very strong and well-coached team. We also knew that this game would be a lot closer, especially since the Czechs won two of their round-robin games in shootouts.

I strongly believe that a team with confidence is an unbeatable team, and that’s what we were. I don’t doubt that our opposing team felt the same way, but over the week we spent together, we became a tight-knit family that would do anything for each other.

The final match was a true showcase for ball hockey. After two years, the world's two best teams, Canada and the Czech Republic, competed for the title. Did you follow the Czech team's play throughout the tournament? Was there any special preparation for the final?

In all honesty, I was trying to stay away from looking at the Czechs because I didn’t want to play against them. If there’s one thing we knew, it’s that the Czechs are a very physical and strong team that requires a lot of sweat and blood to play against. Now, I’m not saying that we were scared to play against them, but we knew that apart from us, they were the hardest team to play against. As soon as we knew that we were going to play them, we went through most of their game tapes to watch and understand their tendencies.

How physically demanding was it to maintain a high tempo during the 67-minute-long final? The Czech players, like you, did a lot of running. In overtime, both teams had many opportunities. What do you think decided your victory?

I don’t think people understand how demanding it is to play ball hockey for 67 minutes. As I said, being a younger team really helped us have good stamina. In the end, I strongly believe that the game could’ve gone either way. Both teams had so many chances, and it came down to a goal that we all knew would happen. Most of the time in moments like these, goals are scored on rebounds or lucky bounces. The reason is very simple: when the game is 2-2, you know that the goalies are playing incredibly, and no clear shots will go past them.

I think that our grit and attention to detail really helped us get the win in the end.

It was also a tactical battle. You personally scored two goals, yet the Czechs managed to equalize. What was it like to score twice in the final against such a strong team as the Czech Republic?

Even as a kid, I couldn’t have dreamed of a moment like this. Scoring a goal in a tournament like this is probably one of the most satisfying moments in someone's career. Even to this day, I can’t quite grasp the fact that I scored twice in the finals game. In the end, scoring is gratifying, but seeing your teammates' reactions is what really gets you going.

Can you compare this year's final in Visp to the one in Laval? There, you defeated the Czechs by a larger margin. What was it like to win gold on home soil?

It was quite different when we played back home; we had the home advantage. We also had an older team with more experience in big games. I’m not taking anything away from the 2024 team, but you can’t buy experience, and I think that's why we won by a bigger margin.

Winning in front of friends and family is something difficult to put into words. So many emotions run through your body at the same time. I would do anything to relive this moment.

I absolutely LOVE the Czech ball hockey community.

The Czech Republic has been waiting for a world title since 2011, which is a long time for us. This year we were very close, but once again you stopped us. How do you view the Czech performance at the world championship?

As I said earlier, if there was one team I didn’t want to play against, it was the Czechs. The Czechs are a very well-built and well-coached team. Their performance in the finals wasn’t disappointing. They played hard, kept pace with us, and adjusted their game to exploit our weaknesses. In the end, it came down to who got the lucky bounce, and I’m glad that we were the ones who got it, but it could have gone either way.

How do you generally perceive Czech ball hockey, Czech players, Czech fans, and the Czech ball hockey community? As Czechs, we strive to give everything to ball hockey.

I absolutely LOVE the Czech ball hockey community. The Czech players are very nice and respectful even though they play hard and intense. Czech fans have to be the best. In North America, we are not used to chants and people playing drums—I love it. As for the Czech ball hockey community, if any team wants to have a foreign player, I would be glad to join the community.

I must also ask about the next world ball hockey championship in 2026. The host will be the Czech Republic, specifically in Ostrava. In 2017, the most attended championship in history took place in Pardubice. How do you look forward to Ostrava? Can you invite our and your fans now to come in as large numbers as possible? We want it to be really big.

I’m so excited that we get to play in Ostrava. First of all, it’s much cheaper than Switzerland, so I can get more beers with the Czech ball hockey community.

In all seriousness, any country that plays ball hockey knows that the Czech Republic is the place you want to play. Fans are the best and the most supportive of their home team. I will for sure try to bring as many people as I can from all around the world so we can have the biggest World Championship ever recorded.

How do you view the work of the ISBHF, which strives to develop ball hockey globally? What do you think about their efforts regarding the world championships and the popularization of global ball hockey? Do you think ball hockey could one day become an Olympic sport?

I don't think it's even a question that the ISBHF is the reference in the ball hockey world when it comes to seriousness and the prestige behind its events. The organization has shown a lot of openness toward the evolution of our game and the needs and challenges our sport faces to reach the next level and dream of getting to the Olympics. I think we can dream of eventually getting there, but right now, I know there are still steps to take. However, I am confident we will get there.

I couldn’t have asked for a better opposing team than the Czechs

We must not forget the historic ball hockey record. You played an exhibition game against the Czechs on a Swiss glacier at the highest altitude ever recorded. What was that experience like? The photos and videos looked amazing.

This had to be the best experience of my entire life. I couldn’t have asked for a better opposing team than the Czechs. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’m glad to say I was part of it. We knew that this was the final before the final. So, of course, we let them win the 3 vs. 3 game so we could win the 5 vs. 5 one. I also have to admit that it was really hard to catch my breath being this high; it’s a good thing the game was on a short rink and for a short period of time.

Could you explain to our fans and readers how ball hockey is organized in Canada, where teams are often far apart? Here it is relatively simpler, and we try to give ball hockey attention like other sports.

You must understand that in Canada, we face a different reality than most countries. There are three different types of games being played (5 vs. 5, 4 vs. 4, 3 vs. 3). More and more, the conversation is shifting toward the 4 vs. 4 format since it brings the best of all worlds. You still get the strategic and speed impact of 5 vs. 5, but at the same time, there's more direct action and a greater chance for everyone to keep playing longer.

Here, players also register teams (mostly with friends) directly in the different leagues that are run. There’s one in almost every decent-sized city. We’re not directly related to clubs from youth to adult. Players can play in more than one league, and some actually play multiple times a week in different divisions and different leagues.

You were an important player for Canada in the tournament, known on social media as theballhockeydude. How did you get this nickname? What does it actually mean? Can we understand it as dedicating your whole life to ball hockey? Tell us your story.

When I first started my page, I was looking for a name that would attract the most people around the world playing our sport. Unfortunately, most countries have different names for it, but I felt like THEBALLHOCKEYDUDE was the one closest to all spellings. I went with "dude" because I didn’t want to be labeled only as a player. I'm someone who is very close to my community and likes to chat with people. By using "dude," I felt that people wouldn’t see me as a superior player but more as someone they can easily reach out to and ask questions. Since I was 17, ball hockey has been a big part of my life. I think that every athlete's dream is to live off their craft, and this page to me is one step closer to getting there.

What does the future hold for you in ball hockey? And what about your personal life? Do you have any message for our readers or fans around the world?

I know that I’m one of the rare ones who has the chance to live off my passion. I’ve had the opportunity to be chosen by KNAPPER in their project to create the first OFFICIAL professional ball hockey player. My work consists of training, playing around the world, and becoming an example for the younger generation, showing that there’s a future in this game for them if they work hard enough and that they can get paid full-time to do it. I hope this initiative from KNAPPER, which I’m a part of, can motivate others to push themselves and take pride in our game.

My final message is the following: Ball hockey is a wonderful sport that combines endurance and skill. Most people overlook it because they’re scared of not being good enough. To that, I say: Everyone starts somewhere; you might not be the best at first—I certainly wasn’t. But if you really put your mind and effort into it, you can cherish this sport forever and maybe even one day play on your national team.

Final match in VIsp 2024 was war of goaltenders. Photo: VISPRARON2024.