Backroom calling for GB legend

All-time Great British legend David Longstaff will be joining the back room staff for the upcoming Division 1A World Championship tournament in Hungary later this week.

Longstaff, a veteran with 101 caps at international level, retired from playing duty earlier this year after nearly 20 years in the GB set-up. He made his first appearance for GB in 1994 and has been a vital addition in major tournaments and world championships since.

He is coming off the back of a league and cup double for the Guildford Flames in the English Premier League and his experience and eye for talent will be greatly used during the tournament.

Longstaff commented to the IHUK website; “I am very proud and honoured to be asked to join the GB staff by Tony Hand. I loved playing for the national side and now to back with GB again is fantastic.”

“We have a great group of guys here and I am looking forward to being involved.”

Head Coach Tony Hand added: “Lobby had a fantastic playing career for GB and he is a terrific addition to our staff.

“He has always been a popular player in the dressing room and his 101 caps at international level prove he has the experience.

“We will use that experience and he will scout other teams at the tournament – something which is very important when you play five games in such a short space of time.”

It is a smart move by Hand and the GB organisation to include Longstaff within the team; in a support capacity. Whilst he will not be lacing up the skates, his eye for the game and ability to read plays will prove vital as GB lock horns with the likes of Italy, South Korea, Kazakhstan and the hosts Hungary during the round robin tournament.

A History Lesson – Thompson and the Blaze

EIHL Coventry Blaze head coach, for the past 18 years, Paul Thompson is set to quit the UK scene and take up a position in Sweden with Troja-Ljungby in the Swedish Second division for the 2013/14 season.

The announcement came earlier this week and will be a massive blow for both the EIHL Blaze and the UK as a whole. Seen as a stand out coach in British Ice Hockey, Thompson started his coaching career in Solihull, a rink he knew well from his playing days. Despite icing for four games for the Solihull Barons in the 1987-88 season, his playing career kicked off in 1990-91 dressing for 29 games with the Barons and registering four points. For the 1991-93 seasons Thompson saw a switch to the Sheffield Steelers, before returning to the Barons for the 1993-94 season.

From coaching at Under 14 level, Thompson progressed through the ranks taking charge of the Solihull Knights for the 94-95 season (the Barons reserve team). The following season saw Thompson return to coach the Knights before a mid-season switch to coaching the Barons. For the start of the 1996-97 season the Barons evolved into the Solihull Blaze, finishing second in the Premier Ice Hockey League.

The 1997–98 season was one of the most successful on record as Blaze were victorious in the English National League and the ED1 North League. An eighteen goal thriller in the play-off final against Chelmsford Chieftains gave Blaze their third trophy of the season; and so started the trophy collection for Thompson’s coaching career.

Thompson remained with the Solihull Blaze until the end of the 1999-2000 season. That season saw Thompson add to his ever growing cabinet of success with the English Premier League play-off crown and the English Premier League championship.

May 2000 marked the next chapter in the successful story of Thompson and the Blaze, as they headed to the new surroundings of the SkyDome Arena in Coventry, and so transformed into the Coventry Blaze for the start of the 2000-01 British National League season.

After near-misses and runners up slots coming in the following seasons, the Blaze returned to glory in 2002-03 lifting the league title and play-off crown by the narrowest of margins against the Cardiff Devils. Following their success in the BNL and shortly after lifting the play-off crown the Blaze announced their second evolution as they set to enter the newly formed Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) which replaced the defunct Superleague as the top flight of British Ice Hockey.

Since the move and change to Coventry in 2000, Thompsons’ philosophy to coaching was evolution and not revolution when it came to the team. Small, minor changes were made to the team rosters year on year and this continued into their first season in the EIHL, with him staying true to the team that won the double in their final season of the BNL.

Despite early success in the season, the New Year marked a turning point for the Blaze in their first season in the top flight. The Blaze fell back in the league standings and wins were hard to come by, but they still finished third in their first year. The playoffs however, got off to an awful start as they lost in Cardiff, minus Thompson, who was serving a one match ban following a bench clearance against the Devils the weekend before. With only four games in the group stage, Blaze were unable to get going after that loss and ended the season by finishing winless in the post-season.

With disappointment of the previous season looming large, gone was the approach of making minor changes to the team and Thompson set to overhaul his roster ready to compete for the 2004-05 season; one that would become significant in the Blaze’s and EIHL’s history.

Returning to the line-up were netminder Jody Lehman and new captain Ashley Tait from the double winning BNL team. However Thompson changed many, bringing in more size, more speed and more quality. His greatest coup was signing former-Superleague defenceman Neal Martin, who went on to become the league’s Player of the Year and selected to the EIHL All-Star Team.  Thompson’s heavy recruitment also saw the Blaze’s brand-new first line of Dan Carlson, Adam Calder and Andre Payette come together proving their potent skill throughout the season. The season started well as they qualified from their group for the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, kept with the early pace-setters at the top of the league and even got over the disappointment of losing out on NHL forward Eric Beaudoin on a lock-out deal; by bringing in high-scoring centreman Chris McNamara.

Showing the true marks of a top Coach, the turning point in Blaze’s season came in November, as Thompson cut Slovak Michal Vrabel and brought in Toronto Maple Leafs’ NHL defenceman Wade Belak, sparking a run to the end of the regular season where they only lost once in regulation time.  Victory over the Nottingham Panthers sent Coventry to their first Challenge Cup final, beating the Cardiff Devils 11-5 on aggregate; to secure their first trophy of the season.  

As Cardiff faltered, the league eventually became a two-horse race between Coventry and Belfast. Blaze eventually wrapping up the title with three games to go with a 5-1 victory over the London Knights to secure their place as the number one team in Britain.

Now the bid was on to add the Play-off crown to their trophy cabinet. After qualifying from their playoff group for their first finals weekend, a Jody Lehman shutout helped Blaze beat Sheffield Steelers 3–0 in their semi-final. Facing the Nottingham Panthers in the final the game was a close affair and eventually won by an overtime goal by Tait to gift the Blaze the play-off crown and to secure Blaze’s place in British Ice Hockey history as winners of the elusive Grand-Slam (cup, league and play-offs).

If the 2004-05 season was a high point in the career of Thompson and history of the Blaze, then the 2005-06 season was definitely a low point. After seeing his entire top line and netminder leave, and a number of other key players retiring, Thompson once again had to overhaul his roster for the year ahead.

Unfortunately the Blaze were on the losing end of the Challenge Cup final against the Devils and eventually finished fourth in the league. The biggest upset was failing to make the play-off semi-finals. Their last chance of success came in the newly formed Knock-Out Cup competition, but resulted in a shutout loss to the Steelers.

As was becoming the norm for Thompson in the EIHL era, a wholesale revamp of his team was required for the 2006-07 season. A key signing, it would seem, was that of League All-Star netminder Trevor Koenig. Returning after a year away where the grand-slam duo of Adam Calder and Dan Carlson. They were combined with proven past winners like Sylvain Cloutier, Samy Nasreddine, former NHL player Rumun Ndur, Reid Simonton and Danny Stewart.

The Blaze quietly went about their business and qualified for both cup finals, without defeat, whilst keeping a steady pace to the reigning champions, the Belfast Giants in the league. By February the Blaze had cut Belfast’s 11 point lead they held at Christmas and when the two sides met, an 8-0 victory in favour of Coventry was a turning point of the season. Despite being pushed all the way, a home win against the Edinburgh Capitals secured the league title with a few games remaining. A week later a second trophy was in the cabinet; a 5–1 win in Sheffield brought the Challenge Cup back to Coventry. The other two trophies eluded them thanks to the Cardiff Devils, with a 3–0 shutout on SkyDome ice in the Knockout Cup final followed up by a 3–2 success in the playoff semi-finals.

With the majority of the championship team remaining the Blaze set about the defence of their crowns for 2007-08. Despite relinquishing the Challenge Cup, the Blaze when on to secure the second successive, and third overall league title, whilst coming from behind in the Knock Out Cup final against the Basingstoke Bison in the second leg, to ensure a second trophy would be returning to the SkyDome Arena.

The 2008–09 season resulted in the Blaze and Thompson winning no major silverware for the first time in three years.

The Blaze celebrated their 10th anniversary season in 2009–10 with a third Elite League title in four seasons, making it 10 trophies in 10 seasons since their transformation from the Solihull Blaze in the summer of 2000. Once again Thompson made some key signings to his roster to bolster the team that missed out on all trophies the previous season. Peter Hirsh was installed in net, whilst Greg Chambers and Luke Fulghum provided the goals up front. The League became the priority for the coach as the cups become second priorities for success.

Once again the rollercoaster ride the Blaze were firmly seated on took another dip and the 2010-11 season once again resulted in no silverware for the team. As with previous times there were not many changes made to the team that had just won the league championship. Brett Jaeger replaced Peter Hirsh in goal whilst Canadian blueliners Brad Zanon and Jeff Smith were signed in place of long-time defenceman Tom Watkins, who moved to Telford Tigers as player-coach, and the retiring Jason Robinson. Up-front Owen Fussey was signed from rivals Edinburgh Capitals to replace the team’s highest goal scorer Adam Calder.

With early form eluding them the Blaze went on to finish 6th in the league, their worst finishing position of the 11 year history.

The 2011-12 season would become the team and coaches’ most troubling since their formation in 2000. In December 2011 it was announced that the club was hit by financial difficulties due to the economic climate and events outside of their control. The Blaze issued a press statement announcing Blaze Action Month, asking the fans to get behind the club by purchasing game tickets and buying merchandise in order to raise funds. One man at the head of the rescue plan was the coach himself. With a huge Twitter following Thompson turned to social media to get the word out and to help spread the word in hope that the Blaze could be rescued.

With weeks on uncertainty, it was announced in the New Year that the team would be continuing on for the remainder of the season and would fulfil their obligation to play the remaining league games. Once again the Blaze finished in 6th place in the league behind the newcomers Braehead Clan.

For the current season, 2012-13, once again Thompson looked to make a drastic overhaul of his squad. With what would have been a coup of the season Thompson looked to bring in ex-NHLer Mike Danton; to much controversy and raised eyebrows. Danton played for the New Jersey Devils and St Louis Blues between 2000 and 2004 before being imprisoned for conspiracy to commit murder. He was released on parole in September 2009 and set about reforming his life.

Danton returned to ice hockey action in September 2011 with IFK Ore in the Swedish Division one league.  In May 2012 the Blaze confirmed the signing of Danton for the coming season, only for his first foray in British Ice Hockey to be brought to an abrupt end when the UK Border Agency rejected his application for a UK visa on two occasions.

Thompson was very vocal during this period; offering is public support of Danton, whilst also assisting in trying to have the decision over-turned, however to no avail.

The Blaze have struggled to find consistent form this season and currently sit in 4^th place in the league standings 25 points off Nottingham at the top. They are also in fourth place of the newly formed Erhardt Conference inter-league.

However current and recent results should not be blamed for the decision by one of the best British Ice Hockey coaches to have graced these shores. Since taking the helm of the Coventry Blaze, through their different guises, 18 years ago, Thompson has guided the organisation to 15 major trophies in all competitions.

He has also coached the Blaze to a record four Elite League titles, more than any other team, and is the only team to have achieved the elusive grand slam from the 2004-05 season.

In an affiliation to rival that of Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, Thompson has been the driving force behind the Blaze’s success right from day one. Although 2009-10 was the last time the team won a trophy this should not be attributed to Thompson’s ability as a coach, as every team will and has been through a period of austerity, only to flourish once more and achieve more success.

Now for a player to stay at a club for multiple seasons can been seen as a land mark and an achievement. However to stay at a club for multiple seasons as a coach, when the successes and failures lie at your feet is truly remarkable; and something that football could learn a lot from. Thompson’s reign at the Blaze is not only the longest in Britain but he is also the longest serving head coach in Europe.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Thompson said “This isn’t a decision that’s been made at the drop of a hat.”

“It’s something I’ve been discussing with my family and fellow directors for a while now. It was just a question of when we all felt the time was right. I’ve coached in the UK all of my life and I feel I now need to test myself and continue to develop as a coach by learning new things in a new country and hockey environment. 

“Sweden is a hockey nation and I’m excited about being able to work in a country where they live and breathe hockey. I also feel my experience will benefit Troja – my experience of over 1200 professional games and international hockey is a big reason I’ve been given this opportunity. Troja is a well-run, established club and is a perfect fit for me right now.

“The Blaze are my club. I’ve put my heart and soul into this team and club my whole career and at some point maybe I will be able to bring the things I learn in Sweden back to the club.” 

What Thompson has done for British Ice Hockey, not only at the Blaze, but also for GB’s national team will ensure that he is seen as one of the all-time greats.

I genuinely believe that the recent successful failure by Team GB at the 2014 Olympic qualifiers can be attributed to the stand out hard work that Thompson and his team put into coach the future stars from the UK. Stepping down from head coach duties last season was once again a big decision to make, but one that was understandable given the pressures and trying times being experienced by the Coventry team. It also gave a perfect opportunity for another of the UK’s greats, Tony Hand, to build on the foundations laid by Thompson.

Despite failing to qualify for next year’s winter Olympics, I truly believe that British Ice Hockey is now entering the next chapter of its history and that we will soon see success for our national team.

I for one would love to see Thompson return to Britain in the coming years to further progress his success and history in our beloved sport, but for now I wish him all the success and happiness he deserves in Sweden.

Latvia 6 – 4 Great Britain – Game One

The scene was the Riga Arena, Latvia. The hosts took to the ice to face the underdogs from Great Britain in the second match of the weekend, with the visitors hoping for an upset. Unfortunately however it was not to be as the host team showed their class and why they are ranked 11th in the world as they beat Great Britain 6-2.

Great Britain had an early chance to take the lead, but David Clarke’s shot fired just wide, as the visitors showed their early intentions to not be taken easily. But the hosts were the first to score when Gints Meija fired a shot past Stevie Lyle at 2:57.

It took only 61 seconds for the Lions to show their fighting spirit; as Colin Sheilds fed Robert Dowd in the slot. Dowd calmly fired the puck low and fast past Edgars Masalskis to register his 11th international goal, and to draw the game level.

Latvia were killer on the powerplay and this showed as they grabbed their second goal of the game, as Ben O’Connor was called for interference, allowing Miks Indrasis to get his back door shot past Lyle for a 2-1 lead at 14:43. As the team’s retired to their respective dressing rooms, Great Britain took great spirit and pride in knowing that the scoreline could have been vastly different, had it not been for the class that Lyle displayed.

As in the first period, Great Britain ran into penalty trouble which would ultimately become their downfall, as Rob Sarich was called for elbowing at 26:36 before Shields was called for a slash at 29:34; giving Latvia a near un-interupted four minute spell of having the man advantage. Once again they took the chances they had and following Shields’ visit to the box, Oskars Bartilis fired a low canon  shot from the blueline at 29:50 to give the hosts a two goal cushion. It was to be the only marker in a fairly equal second period.

With only a two goal deficit to start the third and final period, hopes would have been high in the Great Britain camp for a sterling comeback. However the hosts had other plans and extended their lead to 4-1 just three minutes into the final stanza.

Ronalds Kenins was unmarked by any Great Britain defenceman in the left circle, taking his time he aimed and fired a quick shot past Lyle at 43:24. Moments later Craig Peacock had a great chance on a delayed penalty call but his shot fired wide.

Latvia stretched the game from all doubt and added a fifth goal at 53:07; Georgijs Pujacs beating his man to fire a shot past Lyle. Moments later Lauris Darzins, missed an open netter, which would have given them a sixth goal; shortly before O’Connor rattled the base of the post whilst Great Britain had a 5-on-3 advantage. The two man advantage worked in GB’s favour as Clark, O’Connor and Shields all combined on a great effort to set up Peacock on the doorstep, who fired home for GB’s second of the night, with just under 3 minutes to go.

Once again, GB ran into penalty trouble as Latvia were gifted an end of game 5-on-3 advantage, firstly as Rob Farmer was called for interference at 58:34. Then just 13 seconds later Matthew Myers received a 2+10 misconduct penalty for checking from behind.

Once again Darzins showed his class to fire a shot past Lyle and end the game with a 6-2 victory over Great Britain.

Head coach Tony Hand said: “I am very proud of this team and it was a great advert for British ice hockey. “It is very difficult to pick a man of the match as they all played their hearts out.
“You must not forget Latvia are ranked 11th in the world and are a very, very good hockey team. “They have skills all over the ice, but we gave everything we had and caused them problems at times. “Now we must lift ourselves for tomorrow for our second game in the tournament.”

Despite the unflattering scoreline; it was a very good opening game for Great Britain. No one believed that Latvia would be a walk-over and most knew it would be a struggle to take on a team ten places above you in the world rankings and outclass them. Latvia showed why they are 11th, and the class of their players, who play across some of the highest leagues in Eastern Europe and Russia. However Great Britain showed they have potential and have got the class and ability to keep up with Teams a lot higher then them in the rankings. Unfortunately it was the discipline and penalty killing that was the downfall for them. In the end with 3 of Latvia’s 6 goals coming whilst on the powerplay. Had they not been gifted those chances, the score would most definitely have been closer.

Some fans on socail media questioned why Lyle, an EPL goalie, had been picked over Ben Bowns; who is an EIHL goalie. The decision by Hand was the correct one to make and his explanation sums it up perfectly. Yes Lyle currently plays in the EPL, but he has shown that he still has the guts and ability to play at a higher level. Had it not been for his skill and experience the scoreline could have been vastly different. That is not to say that Bowns would not have performed well in the same situation, but the opening game of a pre-Olympic qualification tournament, against the host nation, when you are trying to qualify for the first time since the 40’s may have been too much pressure for the young shoulders of Bowns to handle.
Hand has mentioned that Bowns will see the ice time during this tournament and I have no doubt he will be a big stopper at the back, giving confidence from the back forward throughout the team.

The team is back in action this afternoon as they take on the other winners from day one, Kazakhstan at 1:30 (UK time).

Team GB beat Import Select in warm-up game

Team GB warmed up in the best possible style, for their Olympic qualification tournament later this week, with a 6-3 victory against the EIHL/EPL Import Selective at Ice Sheffield last night. Team GB were without experienced Ashley Tait, who sat out the game due to a knock, with Head Coach Tony Hand taking the precautionary route to rest one of the important players in the team.

Hand’s men took an early lead inside the opening two minutes when a good move saw Davie Philips and Jonathan Philips set up Cardiff Devil’s Phil Hill to slot the puck home at the doorstep.

The Import Select hit back and got back on level terms in the 15th minute when Ondrej Pozivil (Manchester Phoenix) slotted the puck past fellow EPL select Stevie Lyle. It was all action in the dying minutes of the opening period. David Clarke restored Team GB’s one goal lead at 18:11; however the advantage was short lived as David-Alexandre Beauregard (Panthers) sent his club coach Corey Neilsen clear to skate in on Lyle and slot home for 2-2.

A brace by Braehead Clan’s Robert Farmer either side of the first period interval saw Team GB open up a two goal lead; with goals at 19:53 and 21:15.

At the midway point of the game, Coach Hand made a change between the pipes for Team GB as Ben Bowns replaced Stevie Lyle for the remainder of the game. For the remainder of the period the game was level pegging with neither team able to find the back of the net as Team GB completed the second period with a 4-2 lead.

Team GB were once again deadly at the opening of the period and two quick goals by Craig Peacock and Rob Sarich gave the men a 6-2 lead over the Import Select. However Sheffield Steeldogs Lubomir Korhon was able to get on the score sheet before the final whistle and scored the Import Select’s final goal; which saw Team GB take a well earned 6-3 victory at Ice Sheffield.

Head Coach Tony Hand spoke to Ice Hockey UK, “It was a good workout for the boys and I would like to thank the import side for turning out to take part in the game and help our preparations. “It is all systems go now and no time to rest. We fly to Latvia in the morning and then straight on the ice in the afternoon.

“Ashley Tait has a very minor knock but he is fine. We just want to give him a extra day’s rest.”

The team will now travel to Latvia today (Wednesday 6th) to prepare for the opening match against the hosts tomorrow with face off at 5:30pm UK time. Don’t forget the games are being shown live on ESPN UK and Ireland. We will also be bringing you news of the games as soon as possible after.

Hand Takes Lyle and Lee

Team GB head coach Tony Hand, has made two changes to his earlier announced roster for the trip to Latvia later this week, with Stevie Lyle replacing the injured Stephen Murphy and Steve Lee replacing Jonathan Weaver on defence.

The 33 year old Welshman is no stranger to Team GB having competed at many international competitions; however his last outing in GB colours was during the 2009/10 season. Lyle’s first taste of international competition came in 1995-96 for the GB under 20’s squad where he iced in 4 games at the World Junior Championships registering a GAA of 4.00 and Save % of .890.

“We knew it would be touch and go for Murphy, but we have a fantastic replacement in Lyle,” says GB coach Tony Hand. “He is in terrific form with Basingstoke and an experienced player in major international tournaments.”

Also joining Lyle on the roster is Steve Lee of the Nottingham Panthers who replaces team-mate Jonathan Weaver who sustained an injury and has been ruled out of the qualification games.

Hand’s team will prepare for their Olympic qualification games with a warm-up fixture against an Elite League/EPL import select team at Ice Sheffield this evening (face-off 7:30pm) before travelling out to face the hosts Latvia on Thursday, France on Friday and Kazakhstan on Sunday. It is a very tight schedule for the players, with most having played twice this past weekend for their respective club teams and then 4 games in 6 days.

“I always said we had a very strong squad and a very strong list of replacements,” said head coach Tony Hand. “It speaks volumes of how good our British talent is at the moment in that we lose two players so close to the tournament, but are able to bring in two quality players to replace them.”

Team GB will be entering the tournament as clear underdogs, being the lowest ranked team of the 4 participants, however the team features a high quality of experience mixed with enthusatic youth and to underestimate them could be the failure of the fellow teams in the tournament.

Luckily for fans in the UK the games will be aired on the ESPN channel in Great Britain and Ireland. Below is a listing of the games and their respective start times.

Thursday 7 February – GB vs Latvia – 5:30pm (UK time)

Friday 8 February – GB vs France – 1:30pm (UK time)

Sunday 10 February – GB vs Kazakhstan – 10:30pm (UK time)

Hand names Team GB squad

Team GB head coach Tony Hand has named the 22 man squad that will be travelling to Latvia between 7 and 10 February for the final qualification round for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Following a training camp in Manchester last week, Hand has wittled his squad down to the following players, which features just one from the English Premier League in Greg Owen of the Basingstoke Bison.

Netminders

Ben Bowns (Hull Stingrays)

Stephen Murphy (Belfast Giants)

 

Defencemen

Danny Meyers (Sheffield Steelers)

Ben O’Connor (Arlan Kokshetau)

Dave Phillips (Belfast Giants)

Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils)

Rod Sarich (Sheffield Steelers)

Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers)

Jonathan Weaver (Nottingham Panthers)

 

Forwards

David Clarke (Nottingham Panthers)

Robert Dowd (Troja-Ljungby)

Robert Farmer (Braehead Clan)

Mark Garside (Belfast Giants)

Jason Hewitt (Sheffield Steelers)

Phil Hill (Cardiff Devils)

Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers)

Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers)

Greg Owen (Basingstoke Bison)

Craig Peacock (Belfast Giants)

Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers)

Colin Shields (Belfast Giants)

Ashley Tait (Sheffield Steelers)

 

Reserves

Stevie Lyle (Basingstoke Bison), Geoff Woolhouse (Sheffield Steelers), Stevie Lee (Nottingham Panthers), Kevin Phillips (Braehead Clan), Russ Cowley (Coventry Blaze), Ben Davies (Cardiff Devils), Matty Davies (Hull Stingrays), Leigh Jamieson (Milton Keynes Lightning), Aaron Nell (Swindon Wildcats)

Hand’s GB side are currently ranked 21st in the world listings and during the tournament they will face the hosts, Latvia on 7th February who are seeded 11th. Over the remainder of the tournament they will then play 14th seeded France; followed by Kazakhstan who are 17th. The winner of the tournament will progress through to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Hand said: “I believe this is a very competitive squad and one of the most talented GB squads I have ever known. We are going to Latvia as the underdogs and I am sure most people in the ice hockey world don’t expect us to qualify. But this is the most close-knit squad I have worked with and they believe in their own abilities. There is no doubting that it is going to be tough but we are going out there and will do Great Britain proud.

“As with the trip to Japan for the pre-qualifiers, some quality players have been left out. But many of them are amongst the reserves and we can call upon them if need-be. Stephen Murphy picked up an injury playing for Belfast but he is on the mend and we are very hopeful he will be fit. If he does not prove his fitness, there are two capable netminders on the reserve list to choose from.”

Longstaff Retires from GB duty

It has been a while since I last posted, due mostly to a busy Christmas and New Year period, however I felt it right that the first post in 2013 should be regarding the sadning news that David Longstaff has called time on his international career with Team GB.

The 38 year old, Guildford Flames forward, took part in his first major tournament in the 1994 Pool A World Championship and has gone on to contest in a further 17 major tournaments over the past 20 years which has resulted in Longstaff reaching the remarkable milestone of 101 GB caps.

The announcement for some has been disappointing, coming just a matter of weeks before the team head out to Latvia for the final qualification round for Sochi 2014 “Winter Olympics”. Longstaff, seen as a leader amongst his peers, will surely be missed from the dressing room for Team GB. I would say that he has been an influential part of the Team GB set up in recent years and has provided the leadership and guidance to those younger players coming through the ranks. Despite his age (38 isn’t old by any means) he was still able to competitively play at international level, as shown from the Team’s last major qualification tournament in Japan.

I have seen some comments floating around the internet and social networking sites that he was being selfish and only made the decision because he wasn’t likely to be selected by Head Coach Tony Hand. However some are being rather rash in their assessment of Longstaff’s contribution to the organisation and British Hockey as a whole. It is regrettable the timing of this announcement; as it is likely that David would have played a role in the qualification round in Latvia in February, however he has made the decision off his own back and no one but himself will know how long this has been in the pipeline. Although his presence in Latvia will be greatly missed, it allows the curent crop of British talent to make a name for themselves and establish their place in the Team GB set up.

Should the remarkable happen, and it is well within the grasp of the talent we currently have, and Team GB qualify for the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year, then there will be much emphasis placed on development of the players and of the sport in the UK. Only last week it was announced that the British Olympic Association had succeeded in securing a $100,000 (about £740,000) grant from the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Solidarity World Programme to support Ice Hockey UK in its efforts to qualify a British men’s team for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The entire grant will be directed to Ice Hockey UK and will be utilised to help defray expenses associated with team training camps, travel for competition and other costs associated with the ongoing effort to qualify for the Games.

Great Britain last made an appearance in the Olympic ice hockey tournament at the 1948 Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland; so much importance has been placed on the hopeful qualification for 2014. Should however Team GB fail to overcome Lativa (11), France (14) and Kasakhstan (17) and win the tournament it should not be seen as failure but rather as a stepping stone to future success, should they continue to receive the support they deserve.

I would like to take this moment to thank David for his contribution to British Ice Hockey and Team GB over the past 20 years; on behalf of all Ice Hockey fans in the UK.

GB ontop in Japan

It is now some 12 days since Team GB returned from Japan having secured their place in the final qualification round for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Coach Tony Hand named his 22 man squad in October which featured just one English Premier League (EPL) player in the form of GB legend David Longstaff. However Hand was forced to make two late changes as Rob Sarich and David Clarke were forced to withdraw through injury. Their replacements were Stevie Lee from Nottingham and Leigh Jamieson of the Milton Keynes Lightning; who would feature as the team’s second EPL entrant.

The 22 man squad that headed to Japan were;

Netminders 

Ben Bowns (Hull Stingrays)

Stephen Murphy (Belfast Giants)

Defence

Danny Meyers (Sheffield Steelers)

Ben O’Connor (Arlan Kokshetau)

Dave Phillips (Belfast Giants)

Mark Richardson (Arlan Kokshetau)

Stevie Lee (Nottingham Panthers)

Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers)

Jonathan Weaver (Nottingham Panthers)

Forwards

Robert Dowd (Troja-Ljungby)

Robert Farmer (Braehead Clan)

Mark Garside (Belfast Giants)

Jason Hewitt (Sheffield Steelers)

Leigh Jamieson (Milton Keynes Lightning)

Phil Hill (Cardiff Devils)

Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers)

David Longstaff (Guildford Flames)

Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers)

Craig Peacock (Belfast Giants)

Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers)

Colin Shields (Sheffield Steelers)

Ashley Tait (Sheffield Steelers)

The Olympic pre-qualification games for Group J (GB, Japan, Romania and South Korea) were held in Nikkō, Tochigi – Japan. Great Britain, ranked 21st had the option to host the Group J contest, however passed the rights to the next highest-ranked team which was Japan.

Great Britain were first up on Friday 9th November as they faced South Korea in the opening game of the weekend. GB made a great start to the game and were 2-0 up within the opening 5 minutes as Craig Peacock and David Longstaff scored.

Won Jung Kim pulled a goal back for S.Korea within 57 seconds. However a goal by Ben O’Connor’s in the 17th minute ensured GB led 3-1 at the first interval.

Won Jung Kim netted his second at 22:27 to pull S.Korea back to a one goal deficit. But Colin Shields scored at the half-way mark of the game to restore GB’s two goal advantage. Won Jung Kim completed his hat-trick at 38:45 and Geunho Kim then leveled the game shortly after the second interval in the 46th minute of play.

Both teams held on for the remainder of the game and no further scoring was seen; sending the game into overtime. With the overtime period still unable to declare a winner the opening game of the tournament went to penalty shots. Shields and Longstaff missed for Great Britain, with Sang Wook Kim and Min Ho Cho successful for S.Korea; who took the victory 5-4. However GB earned a very valuable point from the game.

On Saturday 10th November Great Britain were once again in action in the opening game of the Day as they faced Romania. The game saw David Longstaff reach the milestone 100 caps for Great Britain which was suitably celebrated with a 3-0 victory. In addition to Longstaff; Matthew Myers and Jonathan Phillips and netminder Stephen Murphy, all reached the 50 game milestone for what turned out to be a memorable day in Japan.

With Japan beating South Korea 3-2 in overtime, a dramatic end to the weekend was set, with the winner of the Great Britain v Japan match on Sunday likely to win the group and earn their place in the final qualification round.

With a late face off time on Sunday 11th November; Great Britain were able to rest up as they prepared to face Japan. Two goals in 30 seconds in the opening period saw GB take a 2-0 lead.

Craig Peacock netted on the powerplay at 9:59 and Ben O’Connor scored his third goal of the tournament at 10:29 two give GB the required lead in the game. A scoreless second period set up a thrilling final 20 minutes which saw Japan pull a goal back through Shuhei Kuji just 4 minutes into the period; but GB held on to take the victory and to earn their place in the final qualification rounds.

Head coach, Tony Hand, said: “This is a huge moment in the history of British ice hockey. I am so, so, proud of every one of these guys and so should everyone back home. We have proved we can compete at this level and now we want to prove we can compete at a higher level.

“Every single guy played their heart out and we did this with talent and determination.No-one should under-estimate how much this means to British ice hockey. It is massive.We are one step away from Sochi 2014 and now get to test ourselves against some of the world’s best hockey nations.”

Following the contest it was confirmed that Team GB would be traveling to Latvia for the final Olympic qualification round. GB have been placed in Group E and will play Latvia, France and Kazakhstan between 7th and 10th of February 2013.

GB are ranked 21st in the world and will be the lowest seed in their group with Latvia ranked 11th in the world, France 14th and Kazakhstan 17th.

Coach Hand and Team GB are now within touching distance of the Winter Olympics due to be held in Sochi, Russia in 2014.