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When most sports fans hear that Team Canada is a powerhouse with some of the world’s best players on its roster, they think about hockey. But they should think again.

Hockey is not the only sport Canada dominates. Our men’s wheelchair basketball team is a juggernaut, and is rolling toward a gold medal at the Beijing Paralympics.

Canada has won all seven of its games in Beijing so far, including a dramatic 69-62 semifinal victory over the United States on Sunday. Fans were on the edge of their seats for most of the game, which Canada won in double overtime.

The Canadian squad, which is also the reigning world champion, will square off against Australia in the championship game on Tuesday. The Aussies have won six games and lost one, to the United States.

Canadian forward Patrick Anderson, 29, knows the Australians well. He has played in a league in that country where he was named the most valuable player in 2004.

"The Australian [wheelchair basketball team members] play like any Australian playing sport," Anderson told reporters. "They are very physical, and try and turn the referee to their decision."

Anderson, who has also played in a German league, is often described as the best wheelchair athlete in the world.

Born in Edmonton, he lost both his legs above the knee when he was hit by a drunk driver at the age of nine.

He took up wheelchair basketball a year after, in 1990, and later went to the University of Illinois on a sports scholarship. He joined the national team in 1998.

He is now the team leader, and is critical to its success in Beijing. He led the Canadians to their semifinal victory on Sunday, notching 33 points, 21 rebounds and six assists.

Teammate Joey Johnson has also given his team a big boost. In Sunday’s game, the veteran nailed a free throw in the dying seconds of the first extra session to bring his team even with the Americans, 57-57. That forced a second overtime, which Canada dominated.

Johnson, who is from Winnipeg, recorded a double-double in that game, notching 13 points and 13 rebounds, and adding a pair of steals. Johnson, 33, is competing in his fourth Paralympics.

The Canadian men are heavily favoured heading into Tuesday’s finals, but the pressure doesn’t faze Canada’s star player.

“In past years, I used to feel the weight of the pressure,” Anderson confessed. “I think we are all battling different demons. Individually I have achieved all of my goals and I feel in a good space right now. I think for me, complacency is my biggest hurdle," he said.