Ice Hockey Annual - Home Page

Statement of Beliefs
*THE ICE HOCKEY ANNUAL* believes that this sport needs	- - - - -	A strong, independent, national governing body, A national men’s senior team in the top 16 of the world rankings, Better coaching at all levels, One national league and Strong partnerships between its governing body and (bodies representing) the leagues, players, media, officials and fans.

Ashley Tait (left) and Colin Shields celebrate Tait's winning goal against Poland.

Coach Paul Thompson gees up his men in the opening game against the Ukraine.

Photos : Diane Davey.

Oh dear, I've seen all this before, I thought, as I glumly watched the closing minutes of Britain's last, vital World Championship game against Poland, thanks to the wonders of internet TV. A win over the home nation would give Britain third place in the six-nation tournament and the medal which Paul Thompson and his men craved so dearly.

David Longstaff had startled 3,000 horn-blowing, whistling fans in Torun when he deservedly put GB one up halfway through the game. The Brits looked the best side for much of the first two periods. But when Lopuski equalised four minutes into the final session, it was no more than the Poles deserved as they battled their way back into the game.

Thinking of the last three matches (all defeats, two in shootouts) against these opponents, who were technically ranked eight places ahead of us in the world standings, and knowing how Britain - with the longest domestic schedule in Europe - often tire in the later stages of world contests, I couldn't help believing that the next goal would be the Polish winner.

But Britain held on and forced overtime and I was almost as excited as the team when Ashley Tait snared Colin Shields' pass in front of the Polish net and stuffed it past Zborowski.

GB celebrated like they had won the gold medal.

My worry about Britain being able to hold their game together for the full 60 minutes had also been coloured by their performance against Ukraine in their first game. This was a real choker, as Danny Meyers made it 2-2 against the second favourites with less than 12 minutes left. Then Britain conceded two quick goals in the last four minutes.

But apart from this bad spell and a letdown against a young Dutch side who GB edged only 3-2, this was a strong display by our lads. Disciplined, too, as they won the Fair Play Trophy for picking up the fewest penalties of any team in Torun and, famously, conceded only one power-play goal (the one by Poland) in 20 shorthanded situations. Full statistics here.

This result will have lifted GB up the world rankings by, I would estimate, three or four places to around 23rd or 24th. Although on this year's standings they're 21st or 22nd (Division I is divided into two groups), the IIHF use four years' championships to calculate the rankings. More here.

So is this a marvellous result for British ice hockey as some would like us to believe? That depends on how you look at it. If you work on the basis that Britain is a major European country with around 8,000 registered players and some 40 ice rinks, then you could argue that we're seriously under-achieving compared with many smaller nations like Denmark or Switzerland.

But if you look at the dysfunctional nature of the sport's admin here, from the feeble junior development to our foreigner-dominated top league, then Torun 2009 is Britain's Miracle on Ice.

As for the future, Meyers spoke for the team when he said: "This GB squad has been getting better and better over the years and this medal proves we are going in the right direction. Our aim now is to be challenging for the gold medal and promotion to the elite division."

This will depend partly on the calibre of the opposition, of course, but mostly on how much assistance the national team receives here in the next 12 months.

The players and the management have done their part in raising GB up the rankings. Now it's down to the game's authorities to do their bit. If the Elite League is going to shrink (more on this in a minute) then perhaps a couple of weekends could be found to give Britain some decent foreign competition.

If the time is used instead to stage an international club tournament, then we'll know that the game's bosses think more of their big clubs than their national team.

After all this excitement, it's back to the drudgery of domestic league hockey. Is there any good news? Well, Basingstoke Bison, the newest members of the English Premier League, are quickly sorting themselves out, signing three former Slough Jets in player-coach Steve Moria, forward Nicky Chinn, the Jets' captain, and defender Tony Redmond. All three have played for the Bison before. [link]

The Great Senior One has been handed quite a bit of power by Planet Ice, the rink operators who have taken control of the Bison. Mo has a multi-year contract which makes him the club's Director of Hockey Operations, taking over from Harry Robinson.

John Neville of Planet Ice has confidence in his new DHO who was Bison's player-coach for two seasons, 2002-04. "Steve was the man I wanted for the job having worked with him in Blackburn [in the early 1990s]. He is a true professional and will bring the stability that this club needs…"

The player moves should add a little spice to the games between the Jets and the Bison next season. Slough's player-owner Zoran Kozic was less than amused when he discovered that the trio were not going to stay with his club. From what I've heard it seems the deal was struck before the end of the season. Zoran's farewell to 'Mo' was less than fulsome [link].

But all is not well with the EPL's new Grand Slam winners, Peterborough Phantoms, who stand to lose their Canadian coach, Colin Patterson, possibly to an Elite League side, as well as the EPL's top scorer, Nathan Rempel. [link]

Meanwhile, Bracknell Bees seem confident of finding new owners to keep them in the league [link]

It's been a bit quiet in the Elite League in the last few days. No news is good news? I don't think so. Manchester Phoenix owner Neil Morris has been giving his views to his local paper. [link]

He echoes the comment by Edinburgh's Scott Neil that the only way that the big and small clubs can work together is by sticking to the rules, especially on the wage cap. He wants the £7,000 a week cap to be policed properly and strictly punished if broken. He says the changes talked about over the Playoff weekend must be put into action before he confirms his membership of the league.

He went further in this article, which can be read as a strong hint that if the Elite's rules are not tightened up, then it's the EPL for the Phoenix. Mr Morris is no one's fool. His three-year deal with Tony Hand is one of the league's smartest signings since, well, since Mr M first snapped up Tony in 2006. MBE is a box-office attraction whichever league he plays in as well as being one of our better coaches.

Newcastle Vipers have also failed to give a firm commitment regarding their future. They're going to put it to their fans first at the end of this week [link].

As I mentioned last time, the Vipers will have to play half of their games at Whitley Bay. The season ticket holders have complained bitterly about this, due to the travelling and the poor state of the rink. Not many made the journey in 2008-09. The club had around 500 season ticket holders last year and ideally, would like 500 to sign up again. Will they? Watch this space.

They do things differently over the water, so I'll leave you with a couple of items to entertain you over the long summer months. For those who like their hockey raw, read this article about the Stanley Cup playoffs being the most intense time of the season [link].

If you prefer the game's more artistic side, watch these shots of Washington Capitals' amazing Russian, Alex Ovechkin.

Until next time.