The 2019 IIHF World Championships introduced the world to a brand new version of Great British hockey.

No longer were they the whipping boys of 1994 or the nation who frustratingly came close to winning promotions but missed out on the final day.

Team GB gave Germany a scare in game one, scored three against the USA and step-by-step earned the respect of the hockey world. And that was all before they pulled off the miracle three-goal comeback and overtime win against France to retain Pool A status.

That Great Britain team was given every chance to succeed in 2019. They were well prepared having had the opportunity to play exhibition games and had a thorough training camp before the tournament began.

That’s something this 2021 roster wasn’t fortunate enough to have.

The majority of the roster had barely played competitive hockey since March 2020.

The five-week Elite League series and then a training camp in Coventry could hardly be considered adequate preparation when you consider all the other competing nations had their players in competitive action through this past season.

Exhibition games were arranged in the bubble before the tournament started but those were shut down due to COVID protocols.
Instead of playing Germany and Latvia in an attempt to get up to running speed, Great Britain had to extend their camp in Coventry.

Great Britain was also without their head coach, Pete Russell, who made the difficult to remain at home due to family reasons.
Russell has been the driver behind Great Britain’s rise up the World standings and the man responsible for instilling a system and belief amongst the roster.

If the combination of those things isn’t the odds being stacked against you, I don’t know what is.

Great Britain has thrived on adversity and being counted out since earning that gold medal in Belfast back in 2017.

Despite the fact there was no threat of relegation this time around, there was a sense of pride and integrity among the group, attempting to finish seventh place or above to rightfully attain their place in Finland for 2022.

Never at any point was Great Britain humbled by the opposition and that began at the outset with a competitive performance against Russia. A 7-1 loss to a team full of NHL and KHL talent that had been in competitive action for the majority of the year was a highly respectable effort.

Facing Slovakia in the second game in the back-to-back with the opponents having fresher legs was also not ideal. However, GB showed they could hang with a nation ranked inside the top ten and only lost 2-1 as they pushed the Slovaks to the final seconds.

Ranked 19th in the world, attaining a point against any other nation was going to be a tough test with Belarus the next lowest seed at 13th.

Denmark embarrassed GB in 2019, inflicting a 9-0 reverse upon them.

Not in 2021 though.

Great Britain didn’t play a perfect game but would not go away and eventually tied the game at 2-2 with four minutes remaining. Though losing in overtime due to penalty trouble was disappointing in the circumstances, taking a point from Denmark showcased the giant strides that had been made.

If nothing else, Great Britain now believed they deserved to at the top table. A belief that at times was somewhat understandably lacking in 2019.

That would translate into a historic victory against Belarus.
A 4-3 victory was their first regulation win in the top tier since March 9, 1962, and only the second in the nation’s history.

By accumulating four points in as many games, Great Britain had already surpassed their previous best points total at the top tier of World Championship hockey.

Defeats to Sweden (4-1), Czech Republic (6-1) and Switzerland (6-3) followed but in each of those games Great Britain competed for large chunks.

Great Britain scored in every game of this year’s tournament, something they could only dream of in 2019. They conceded ten fewer and scored four more goals but more importantly, every game was competitive. There were no blowouts or rugby-type scorelines.

A 14th place finish at the World Championships would have been the wildest of pipe dreams ten years ago.

Now its reality.

Not only did Great Britain turn heads with their big stars performing, there were ‘rookies’ who also played their part.

Three defensemen, David Clements (26 years old), Sam Jones (23) and Joshua Tetlow (23) were not only competing at the top level for the first time but also making their international debuts.

That comment also applies to forwards Ciaran Long (30) and Lewis Hook (24) as GB opted to blood a host of new players with age no barrier if you’re good enough.

Ben Bowns has had a difficult time at the club level since 2019 but again showed at the World Championships that’s he an excellent goaltender who should interest a plethora of teams.
The 30-year-old posted a .910 save percentage through the tournament that took a hammering in the last game.

Jackson Whistle was given great responsibilities with the nature of the tournament playing its part.
He played some tough minutes, most notably against Russia but let no one, himself included down.

Great Britain was undoubtedly better defensively but the outstanding blueliner was Josh Tetlow.
A well-rounded defenseman who has come on leaps and bounds since a stint in Finland, Tetlow showed good instincts in all three zones and looked comfortable in possession.

The experienced Mark Richardson, Ben O’Connor and Davey Phillips accrued eight points between them, with O’Connor netting the lone goal.

At forward, the veteran’s all chipped in.

Mike Hammond continues to be a proven performer for Great Britain and he notched four points including two goals.
Robert Down recorded three assists, while Matthew Myers and Brandon Connolly added a goal and an assist apiece.

Leading the way was Liam Kirk with seven goals and two assists for nine points. A standout performance from the 21-year-old who continues to defy doubters and showcase his improving all-round game.
His shooting percentage of 36.84% is unsustainable at any level but he was clinical when it really mattered and punished opponents for mistakes.

The #daretodream motto was born of striving for the top echelon of world hockey and that nothing should be impossible.

Great Britain is no longer having to dream.

They’ve shown they can compete with the world’s best and would not have been relegated had that been in play this year.

They will head to Finland in 2022 with the belief that they’ll compete toe-to-toe again with every other nation.

In turn, Great Britain will be shown the due respect earned by prospering against all the odds.

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