GB team named for IIHF World Championships D1A

Photo: Tony Sargent.

The Team Great Britain Roster for the upcoming IIHF World Championships has been named.

Assistant Coach, Chuck Weber, said: "This has been one of the toughest selections ever for the coaching staff. We had to cut many quality players from the roster but that shows the position of strength we are in.

"We believe we have a very strong squad that can give us the best possible chance of promotion back to the top division. This is going to be a very special tournament on home ice and the boys are focused on what they need to achieve."

The team is as follows:

Netminders:
Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils), Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants), Jordan Hedley (emergency reserve).

Defense:
Nathanael Halbert, Sam Jones (Sheffield Steelers), Evan Mosey (Sheffield Steelers), Ben O’Connor (Guildford Flames), David Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils), Sam Ruopp (Belfast Giants), Josh Tetlow.

Forwards:
Ollie Betteridge, Johnny Curran, Robert Dowd (Sheffield Steelers), Mike Hammond (Nottingham Panthers), Liam Kirk, Robert Lachowicz (Guildford Flames), Ben Lake (Belfast Giants), Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers), Cade Neilson, Brett Perlini, Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Josh Waller (Cardiff Devils). 

Great Britain, Italy, Lithuania, Korea, Poland, and Romania will do battle in the 2023 IIHF WMIA with the top two sides being promoted to the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Czechia. They begin their campaign against South Korea on Saturday at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. 

GB beat Hungary twice this week while also took an OT win over Latvia last weekend. Both of those sides will compete in the Elite Group in May.