Following a frantic beginning to the tournament, a day of rest will be welcomed by all teams.

Three nations have recorded two victories.

At the other end of the scale, Lithuania and Romania have yet to pick up a point.

Results after two days.

Great Britain 7 – 2 Spain

Italy 7-0 Lithuania

Korea 4-1 Romania

Great Britain 5-3 Lithuania

Korea 2-1 Spain OT

Italy 5-0 Romania

Two GB players lead the way in the scoring charts.

Finley Howells is the leading scorer with five points (2-3-5).

Logan Neilson tops the charts in goals with four.

Great Britain also lights the way in two scoring statistics. 

Leading the tournament in shooting percentage (14.63%) and a power-play clicking at 33.33%.

In defensive metrics, favourites Italy is head and shoulders above everyone else.

They have allowed zero goals against on just thirty-eight shots through two games.

Italy’s perfect penalty kill has been tested on nine occasions.

Korea also has a 100% penalty kill but has only been short-handed seven times.

Game Three: December 16, 2021

Great Britain vs Korea 2:30 pm puck drop

It will be the first meeting of the tournament between two unbeaten teams.

Korea may not have the speed of Japan, but they are a team who work incredibly hard, are defensively sound and well-coached.

Great Britain may have to resort to some basics.

Driving hard to the net and getting to the dirty areas should lead to a successive outcome.

GB has enough offensive quality to break Korea down but needs to remain composed and stick to their structure. 

Game Four: December 17, 2021

Romania vs Great Britain 6:00 pm puck drop

Any game against the home nation in IIHF competition is never easy.

Romania has lost two straight games to begin their campaign, and Lithuania is their next opponent.

Should Great Brain beat Korea, they will enter this game with the clear objective of earning a shot of a gold medal if defeating the hosts. That alone should be enough to inspire the team to victory.

I spoke with GB assistant coach Dayle Keen to ask how the spirits are in the camp and progress through two games.

Life in the bubble:

“We haven’t seen anything of the city (Brasov), only the bus and the ice rink. But to be fair the hotel is really nice, the food has been great, so there’s nothing really much for us to moan about other than we can’t physically go out.” 

“We jumped on the bus (after practice), coming back up to the hotel. We had a little bit of karaoke on the bus. Logan Neilson was having a great sing-along and the boys were all joining in. So again, it shows a real credit to the camaraderie all of the boys have created.”

On introducing so many rookies to the international stage:

“I think it’s been absolutely perfect. We’ve had so many guys who are coming into it fresh, that haven’t had the experience and haven’t taken bad habits from one tournament to the next. So we’ve almost started with a fresh clean slate. Also, we’ve kept Alex Graham and Liam Stenton who have both played U20’s and are terrific hockey players and very good professionals. The boys have all really adapted to the playing style.”

On the third period against Lithuania and producing offense at even-strength:

“We were really happy with our 5v5 play. We’ve got some very good skilled forwards, that have got size. I like the way we were possessing pucks down low and I like the way that we were able to penetrate. I think our 5v5 play in the O-Zone, D-Zone and neutral zone in the third period was a lot better but again every day we are striving to make ourselves better.”

Lucas Brine:

“I think Lucas has been solid. He’s shown us some terrific saves at times and saved us when we’ve needed him – which is all you can ask of your goalie. He’s very calm and collected in the net which does promote a very positive and calming environment for the players. I think he’s been really good so far.”

Logan Neilson:

“Logan’s been great. He’s a big character, his work rate on the ice has been really good. Obviously, he had a terrific game against Spain but in both pre-tournament games, we were really happy with Logan. He just does his job and has a good skill set. Has great size, good hands. He’s been a real stalwart for us so far.“

Finley Howells:

“I think one of the biggest reasons (for his success) will be the fact that he’s playing with his best pal. He and Sammy Watkins have been terrific together. They’ve come through the Telford junior ranks and obviously now playing for Tommy [Watkins]. I think just having that chemistry pre-tournament has really helped get Finley off to a good start.”

Full Interview with Dayle Keen

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