Team GB will face Italy once again before heading off to Tampere for the Men’s World Championships.
It has been a tale of limited success so far for the Senior side who have yet to win in 3 warm-up games. A 3-1 loss to Italy was followed by 2-0 and 8-0 losses to Denmark over the weekend. GB now face Italy once before on Tuesday the 10th of May before heading off to Finland. They will then begin their campaign against the Czechia on the 14th of May.
It has been tough for Team GB who are currently the 18th ranked side in the world. Italy is the easier of the two opponents ranked at 16th, compared to 10th seed Denmark. It’s only going to get more difficult at the Worlds as GB face four of the top 10 ranked sides.
GB in attack versus Denmark (PHOTO: Karl Denham)
Number one seed and hosts Finland, USA, Sweden and Czechia all sit amongst the best teams worldwide. GB are also the lowest seeded side in their group with Austria and Latvia sitting just above them. This makes for a difficult group for Pete Russell’s men, who will need to start showing some grit.
With one more warm-up game to go the side will hope they can prove themselves capable of winning. Having scored just one the goal and conceding 13 it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the outfit.
It’s going to be an uphill battle to try get the side to click together on the ice and put up a real fight. The side has bags of talent which will be put to good use in Finland to try restore some faith in the side.
One fan thinks the change must be made at the back asking for Coventry Blaze’s Jordan Hedley to start between the pipes.
What will it take for Team GB to start @JHedley1 tonight ?! Give the guy a chance ! Something else clearly isn’t working … #GBvsItaly #Coventry #Skydome #Icehockey #StartHedley
— Jo 🐲 (@BlazeRangerJoey) May 10, 2022
It remains to be seen what Russell’s ideal starting six is, whatever it is the loyal fans will get behind their side and support.
Let us know what you think on our Twitter @BritIceHockey.
