What is British Ice Hockey Selling Exactly?

Periodically, we debate ice hockey’s place in the pecking order of British sport. With the men’s national team enjoying a better than expected return at this year’s World Championships, we have once again entered one of those periods.

Currently fans of the sport are shades of either outraged, frustrated, or simply saddened that the relative accomplishments of the men’s national side did not make more waves among the British media during the past month; despite the success, ‘relative’ is the key word here, and British ice hockey still faces some serious hurdles if it is to command more interest from both Britain’s sports media, and the public.

Notes From A Short Tournament

Team GB fell frustratingly short on Sunday night, slipping to a 4-1 defeat against Hungary in Nottingham in their final Olympic Pre-Qualification game.

Hungary now advance to the final qualification round, with a place at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics up for grabs; GB are left to regroup ahead of May’s World Championships.

Some thoughts from the weekend’s events:

Quality Versus Quantity

Doubtless it will sound odd for someone to downplay a 47-save performance, but here we are.

Miklos Rajna was tidy in backstopping Hungary to victory on Sunday, but that’s all he needed to be behind a defence that was just as effective – clogging lanes, clearing rebounds, blocking shots. It was as perfect example of the synergy between goaltender and defence as you might see.

Other than Mike Hammond’s blocked effort, it’s tough to think of another truly great scoring chance Great Britain created on Sunday, or were allowed to create. Even Matthew Myers goal was from a bad angle, the Cardiff Devils forward managing to bank the puck in off Rajna – one of the Hungarian’s few mistakes on the night.

GB seemed to fall back on pumping shot after shot on goal, hoping something would squeeze through, or a deflection or rebound would fall kindly.

Hungary meanwhile took the few chances they created, all of quality in one sense or another – not for the first time during the weekend, Ben Bowns found himself without a clear view of an opponents shot as the puck zipped by.

Equally ‘not for the first time’, an opposing forward found himself alone in the slot in front of the GB goal; where Estonia and Romania whiffed on such chances, Hungary did not.

You might argue Sofron should have been ejected for his high hit on Dallas Ehrhardt (a valid argument), but he wasn’t and when he saw an opportunity unfold in front of him, he took it.

Great Britain might be frustrated by the officiating, the ‘missed’ 5-on-3 opportunities that might have been, but the limited creativity on display through the rest of the game give little reason to think it would have made any difference.

GB To Face Poland And Kazakhstan

Great Britain will play Poland and Kazakhstan next year as part of their preparations for the World Championship in Switzerland.

GB will meet Poland on Friday 17th April 2020 (7:30pm) at the Skydome in Coventry, before the two sides face each other in Cardiff’s Viola Arena the next day, Saturday 18th April 2020 (7pm).

Pete Russell’s side will then take-on Kazakhstan on Sunday 3rd May (5:30pm) in Milton Keynes ahead of the sold-out encounter with Canada two days later at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham.

GB’s last meeting with both sides came during their successful promotion-winning campaign at the 2018 World Championship Division I Group A in Budapest.

Brett Perlini, Colin Shields, Brendan Brooks, Ben O’Connor and Jonathan Phillips were the goalscorers in a 5-3 win over Poland, while Luke Ferrara scored his first GB goal in a 6-1 defeat by Kazakhstan.

Russell said: “These are two more excellent opponents and they are sure to be three great matches as part of our World Championship preparations.

“We have had some terrific battles with Poland at both World Championship tournaments and in warm-up games – and I am sure next year will be no different.

“Kazakhstan are always tricky opponents for us so I am looking forward to seeing how we match-up against them.

“These games – and of course the match with Canada – are vital in getting ourselves ready for the World Championship in Switzerland.”

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW.

Ticket Prices

Adult £18
Senior £13
Student £13
Under-16 £10

To buy tickets for GB against Poland in Coventry, please call 02476 630693 or visit https://iceaccount.co.uk/ice-events/coventry/home

To buy tickets for GB against Poland in Cardiff. please call 0800 0842 666 or visit https://www.cardiffdevils.com/tickets/book-online

To buy tickets for GB against Kazakhstan in Milton Keynes, please call 01908 540020 or visit https://planet-ice.co.uk/locations/milton-keynes/

Please note ticket prices will be subject to each individual arena’s booking fee.

Press release via Ice Hockey UK. Photo: Dean Woolley. 

GB vs Canada – Players and Pundits React

Following the announcement that Team GB would face Team Canada in Nottingham next May, as part of their 2020 IIHF World Championship preparations, British hockey fans have been in something of a fever – bringing the top ranked team in the world to the UK is a big deal after all.

Tickets sold rapidly, the Motorpoint Arena is set to be full to the brim, the atmosphere already one of excitement. And that’s just the fans.

So what’s it like to be around Team GB at a time like this? With such a huge game on the horizon?

One Puck Short caught up with some of those closest to the team to get their reactions to the game, and what it means for British ice hockey:

“Phenomenal Response To GB-Canada Tickets”

Ice Hockey UK general secretary Andy French says the response to Great Britain’s international challenge game with Canada next year has been “phenomenal”.

Nearly 5,000 tickets were sold on yesterday’s first day of sale for the match-up with the world number one ranked team on Tuesday 5th May 2020 at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham.

The game will form part of both sides’ preparations for the World Championship in Switzerland later in May, when they will go head-to-head in Lausanne.

French said: “Playing Canada is a huge honour for Great Britain and it is fantastic they agreed to come to the UK as part of their World Championship preparations.

“It shows how far the programme has come in the past few years and full credit should go to Pete Russell and his players for what they’ve achieved which, in turn, means a top-ranked nation is interested in facing GB.

“We expected tickets to be popular for such an exciting game but the response on the first day was phenomenal.”

Tickets are available via the arena website www.motorpointarenanottingham.com, by phone at 0843 373 3000 or at the box office in person.

You are urged to purchase yours as soon as possible with limited availability remaining.

Early Bird – 18th November 2019 to 28th February 2020

Adult £40
Concession (OAP and under-16) £25

General Sale – 29th February 2020 onwards

Adult £60
Concession (OAP and under-16) £35

Please note: There is a 12% arena admin fee and £1.20 facility fee on all tickets.

Press Release courtesy of Ice Hockey UK. Photo Credit: Dean Woolley