He has played on the same Olympic ice as his hockey heroes, and won more than his share of international glory.

But sledge-hockey champion Jean Labonté knows that the Paralympics he participates in sometimes play second fiddle in profile to the older and bigger version of the Games.

Until now, that is.

Mr. Labonté, captain of the Canadian sledge-hockey team, helped lift the tarp Monday from the official new posters for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For the first time, the Paralympics will be depicted equally with the Olympics on posters commemorating the Games.

"I guess the poster says it all," Mr. Labonté, 42, said of the stylized maple leaf that dominates the new placard. "I think it's a very powerful message to the rest of the world. It sets the bar very high."

The new image is actually two posters, each depicting one half of the same maple leaf. When the two are put side by side, the halves join to create a whole, symbolizing the unity of the two sides of the Games. The colour schemes and lines also run together in an unbroken fashion, demonstrating continuity.

Finally, each side of the poster portrays various icons of the region, from Haida canoes and local mountain ranges to Vancouver's skyline and the softwood trees that are so integral to the B.C. economy.

"They complement each other," Mr. Labonté said.

A software designer from Gatineau, Que., Mr. Labonté got his start in sledge hockey 18 years ago, four years after cancer forced the amputation of his left leg above the knee.

After picking up the game with some local friends - some of whom played on the national team - Mr. Labonté made the squad for the 1998 Nagano Olympics, where the team won silver. In 2002 in Salt Lake City, the team came fourth, but three years ago in Turin, while the team of NHL stars finished out of the medals, the sledgers came home with gold.

Mr. Labonté - a defenceman who will occasionally join the rush - says general appreciation for sledge hockey has increased over time.

But the Vancouver commitment to the Paralympics is unprecedented.

"I feel proud as a Canadian," he said.

John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, says Paralympic organizers have often felt a "little bit left out."

"I think they're counting on us," he said.

He noted, for example, that there are 50 hours of television coverage planned for the Paralympics on CTV, compared with no live coverage last Games.

"The more the Paralympics is seen on television, the more it will matter and the more it will inspire and tell the stories it needs to tell," Mr. Furlong said.

"We want it to be known that each of these projects are very important, and really, they were to say something about the country."

He added that VANOC seeks to ensure that venues for the Paralympics are just as jammed as they are for the Olympics.

The posters, designed by Ben Hulse, will sell for $15 for an 18-by-27-inch offset lithography print, and $150 for a limited-edition, 20-by-28-inch print.

The posters were unveiled in time for Canada Day celebrations Wednesday.