Remember this?

That momentous overtime goal by Den Davies ensured Great Britain would remain at the elite tier of World Championship hockey.

GB have once again been placed in Group A for their second successive year in the top flight, alongside Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden, with the tournament hosted in Switzerland.

Peter Russell’s charges begin their campaign in Lausanne against Slovakia and then Germany the following day in a repeat of 2019.

Denmark and Czech Republic are the opponents on back-to-back games, followed by another rest before taking on the might of Canada.

GB finish off their campaign with consecutive games against Sweden and Belarus.

Group B in Zurich will consist of Finland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Norway, Russia, hosts Switzerland and USA.

The top four teams from each group will advance to the knockout stages, starting with the quarter-finals.

GB Group A schedule
Sat 9th May: Germany v GB
Sun 10th May: GB v Slovakia
Tues 12th May: GB v Denmark
Weds 13th May: Czech Republic v GB
Fri 15th May: GB v Canada
Sun 17th May: Sweden v GB
Mon 18th May: Belarus v GB

On paper this group is slightly more palatable for Great Britain than they one they faced in 2019 but there is a caveat as avoiding relegation will be a much tougher ask.

Belarus will be exempt from relegation if they finish bottom of the group because they will co-host the 2021 tournament in Latvia.
This would mean a second from bottom placing may not be enough for GB to escape the drop back to Division 1A.

A tough break if that comes to realisation next May but rightly or wrongly, with the rule already set in place, Pete Russell knows he’s going to have to ask more of his team that has continued to defy all the doubters to this point.