Ben Bowns, Ben Davies, Robert Dowd, Mike Hammond, Brett Perlini and company have all received the plaudits following Great Britain’s remarkable performance at the World Championships which ensured them another crack at the top echelon of hockey in 2020.

Little has been said or written about the work of GB Head Coach Peter Russell however.

This isn’t surprising as he is a man who takes no prisoners, works in his own inimitable style and frankly doesn’t care what anyone from the outside thinks.
After all, every coach should be judged on results at the professional level.

For my money Peter Russell has earned more respect than he’s ever been given by British fans.

A very brief playing career between the pipes was swiftly followed by diving straight into coaching – mostly at the junior level to begin with and earned his first GB coaching assignment in 2003-04.
Russell has come through the ranks, taking on assistant and head coaching roles with GB U18 and U20 before being awarded the top job with Great Britain in 2014-15.

Between 2003 and 2015, he led GB’s junior sides to seven medals at World Championship tournaments, including four gold medals.

The GB head coaching appointment coincided with his arrival into the Elite League, firstly with Milton Keynes Lightening and most latterly with Glasgow Clan.

With Great Britain seemingly marooned in Division 1B, Russell finally masterminded an escape from that level following two heartbreaking years where the team were within minutes of earning promotion on each occasion.

In Division 1A, GB were once more written off but the man from Scotland wasn’t unduly worried what other nations or the hockey world thought, having instilled a belief amongst his group of players.
A wonderful if slightly miraculous late tying goal against Hungary propelled Great Britain into the top echelon of World Championship hockey for the first time since 1994.

The 44 year old Head Coach was taken to task in some quarters before the 2019 IIHF World Championships began. Lambasted by many in the GB hockey community for his decision not to select forward Cairan Long, Russell stood his ground with his final selections.
More ridiculing followed later when it was announced he would be leaving one season into his three year deal with Glasgow Clan (Elite League) to take up an opportunity in Germany (EHC Freiburg of DEL2).

Unperturbed by noise from the outside, Russell had got his GB squad ready and firing to go after a month long training camp.
A statement performance against Germany in the first game – where they could easily have earned a point or more- made people take notice but was duly followed by a thumping from a Canada team who simply outclassed GB.

An embarrassing 9-0 reverse against Denmark brought the doubters back out in force but there was no panic in the camp as Great Britain produced a performance for the ages in only losing to the USA by a 6-3 score line having being tied at 1-1 until the midway point of the game.
It was clear a team spirit had been moulded and despite two losses to Finland and Slovakia, there was a real belief in the GB camp that they could pull out a result against France to avoid relegation and that stems from the Head Coach.

Down 3-0 to France in the second period having generated the better scoring chance in the opening frame there was little panic from Russell who called a timeout.

Whatever was said or altered tactics wise certainly paid off as Great Britain masterminded the greatest comeback in the nation’s hockey history.
Three unanswered goals forced overtime and the rest is history as Ben Bowns made a plethora of awe inspiring saves and Ben Davies scored the crucial goal.

If anyone said in 2017 that Great Britain would win back-to-back gold’s and then remain in the top tier of World Championship hockey, it would have been considered crazy talk. How many coaches would have been able to achieve that incredible feat with the players available is a viable question that we shall never get an answer for.

The fans of Glasgow Clan might be upset at Russell’s departure from the club so early in his tenure but you have to respect his honesty in wanting to take on a challenge he felt he was unable to turn down.

The talk is always of British players heading abroad to better themselves so why not coaches?
Still young in coaching terms at the age of 44, I’ve little doubt that Russell has ambitions to ply his trade at the highest level possible and by pushing the boundaries he’ll develop and evolve into a better coach which should benefit GB in the long term.

Peter Russell deserves the gratitude of British fans for taking the nation to a level few thought possible, restoring hockey pride and making the hockey world stand up and take notice of what’s happening this side of the ocean.