Great Britain Head Coach Pete Russell has named his 25-player squad for the 2022 IIHF World Championship in Finland.

Having already been forced to omit Brendan Connolly, Liam Kirk and Steve Lee from his plans, Russell has made a further two changes to his original roster announcement.

Injuries to Ollie Betteridge and Mike Hammond have ruled them out of the tournament and are replaced by defenceman Dallas Ehrhardt and forward Luke Ferrara.

Evan Mosey will switch to being listed as a forward through his flexibility in position gives the team extra cover and options.

Goaltenders

Ben Bowns – Dukla Trencin, Slovakia

Jordan Hedley – Coventry Blaze

Jackson Whistle – Belfast Giants

There can be little argument about the goaltender selections with only the third spot being a talking point for those who may have favoured one of Ben Churchfield, Sam Gospel or Will Kerlin.

Defence

Josh Batch – Cardiff Devils

David Clements – Coventry Blaze

Dallas Ehrhardt – Manchester Storm

Sam Jones – Sheffield Steelers

Ben O’Connor – Csikszerda, Romania

David Phillips – Sheffield Steelers

Mark Richardson – Cardiff Devils

Josh Tetlow – Nottingham Panthers

A very experienced defensive core that picked itself in reality. In a dream scenario, a young promising player in Joseph Hazeldine would have been nice to take for the journey but there will be other tournaments for him.

Forwards

Scott Conway – Belfast Giants

Ben Davies – Cardiff Devils

Robert Dowd – Sheffield Steelers

Sam Duggan – Cardiff Devils

Luke Ferrara – Coventry Blaze

Lewis Hook – Belfast Giants

Robert Lachowicz – Guildford Flames

Ben Lake – Belfast Giants

Evan Mosey – Sheffield Steelers

Matthew Myers – Nottingham Panthers

Cade Neilson – Aberdeen Wings, NAHL

Brett Perlini – Ringerike, Norway

Jonathan Phillips – Sheffield Steelers

Josh Waller – Cardiff Devils

The biggest losses for this roster revolve around Liam Kirk and Mike Hammond. Clearly, Liam Kirk is a huge loss with the quality of his overall game and proven class at the level.

Mike Hammond is a proven goalscorer at the World Championships and both players leave a gaping hole in that regard.

Pete Russell will be hoping that Scott Conway will be able to provide some goals in his first World Championship appearance. The forward has recorded a hundred point season for Belfast this season and has had no trouble finding the net.

Cade Neilson and Josh Waller are the two interesting additions to the forward group with the former a selection that few fans or pundits foresaw.

At the age of twenty, Neilson is the youngest player on the roster and has just enjoyed a record-breaking season with Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL. The Centreman has committed to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for next year and it’ll be fascinating to see how Russell utilises him at this level.

Josh Waller has become an EIHL regular the past three years and has earned his roster spot with a high level of consistent play and the ability to put up decent offensive numbers.

Reserves

Netminders: Ben Churchfield (Vermilion County Bobcats, SPHL), Brython Preece (Dundee Stars). Defence: Joe Hazeldine (Manchester Storm). Forwards: Jordan Cownie (Guildford Flames), Mac Howlett (Guildford Flames), Jordan Kelsall (Nottingham Panthers), Ross Venus (Coventry Blaze), Brandon Whistle (Sheffield Steelers).

The 2022 World Championships take place in Tampere and Helsinki from 13th to 29th May.

Great Britain will be based in Tampere and face Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and the USA in Group B.

All GB games will be played at the newly-built 13,500-seater Nokia Arena.

Pete Russell had the following to say regarding his roster.

“Losing both Ollie [Betteridge] and Mike [Hammond] is a massive blow for us and they will be very much missed in Finland.”

“I know they – along with Brendan [Connolly], Liam [Kirk] and Stevie Lee – are devastated to miss out on this year’s tournament.”

“Despite a few injuries to key players, I really like the squad we are taking to Finland.”

“As ever, competition for places was tough and I am sure there will be some disappointed players who have missed out.”

“We now firmly know what it takes to be competitive at this level and we can build on what we achieved at the past two tournaments.”

“Once again, it will be a massive moment in the careers of these players to wear the GB shirt at a top-level tournament against some of the best teams in the world.”

“One thing we wanted to do was add Josh [Waller] and Cade [Neilson] as they are the future and two talented young men who deserve this chance. This is going to be a great opportunity and experience for them both.”

Quotes courtesy of IHUK.

Great Britain’s camp begins Tuesday 3rd May and there will be a lot of preparation squeezed in between then and May 11th when the roster flies out to Finland.

Four exhibition games against top-level opposition have been organised.

Italy: Thursday 5th May @ Milton Keynes

Denmark: Saturday 7th May @ Coventry

Denmark: Sunday 8th May @ Nottingham

Italy: Tuesday 10th May @ Coventry

There are limited tickets still available and they can be found here https://iceaccount.co.uk/team-gb

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