Jean Labonté

Jean Labonté (born March 20, 1969) is a Canadian ice sledge hockey player.

Labonté was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his left tibia in 1986 at the age of 17 and finally lost his leg at the age of 20, in 1990. After his amputation, Labonté turned his sights towards ice sledge hockey and made the Canadian National Sledge hockey team for the first time in 1996. He was on the Canadian team that won the 2006 sledge hockey gold medal at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin. He was the captain of the Canadian Team from the 2007–08 season until his retirement after the 2009–2010 season. He studied at l'Université du Québec en Outaouais and currently works at Alcatel-Lucent as a software designer.

International career Labonté was named on the Canadian men's national ice sledge hockey team for the first time in 1996, at the age of 26. His first international tournament was the 1996 IPC World Championships held in Nynäshamn, Sweden. Labonté was team Canada's captain from the 2007–08 season until his retirement after the 2009–10 season.

Labonté was the flag bearer for Canada at the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver.

Career statistics International Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM 1996 Canada ISHWC - - - - - 1998 Canada PARA 5 0 1 1 4 2000 Canada ISHWC 6 1 2 3 4 2002 Canada PARA 6 2 2 4 6 2004 Canada ISHWC 5 0 0 0 0 2006 Canada PARA 5 1 1 2 4 2008 Canada ISHWC 6 1 2 3 6 2009 Canada ISHWC 5 1 3 4 0 2010 Canada PARA 5 1 2 3 2 TOTALS ISHWC 22 3 7 10 10 TOTALS PARA 21 4 6 10 16