Team GB Ice Hockey: Division 1B to the World Championships

Team GB Ice Hockey went on a historic run from 2017 to 2019, moving from Division 1B to the World Championships where they stayed up and claimed a spot in the next tournament. So, what was their journey?


2017: Division 1B

In 2017, the SSE Arena Belfast hosted the IIHF Division 1B tournament. Five teams- Croatia, Estonia, Netherlands, Japan and Lithuania, joined GB in Belfast from 23-29 April 2017. Having just missed out on promotion in 2015 and 2016, GB would look to take the gold medal this time around.



Early Success

GB won their opening game 4-2 vs Croatia. Goals from Dowd, Clarke, Mosey and Cowley in a first start of the tournament for Ben Bowns got GB off to an ideal 3-point start.

GB built on their success in games 2 and 3, claiming a 5-1 victory over Estonia and a 5-2 victory over Lithuania. Any Giants fans watching would have been delighted to see Stephen Murphy get his first start and win of the tournament against Estonia while Garside added a goal and assist and Colin Shields also got an assist, coming on the game-winning goal. Game 3 saw Ben Bowns get his second win of the tournament and goals from Shields, J. Phillips, Mosey, Farmer and O’Connor against a team GB had faced and defeated in 2016.



Record-breaking Colin Shields

Friday night vs the Netherlands saw GB storm to a 14-0 win. With the win, Colin Shields became the GB all-time leading goalscorer after scoring a hattrick to reach 41 goals. Shields passed Tony Hand’s previous mark of 40 in a game where GB outshot their opponents an incredible 56-11 and had 9 different goalscorers. Netminder Stephen Murphy stopped all 11 shots for GB’s only shutout of the tournament.



The Real Test

Saturday would be the real test. In the race for the gold medal and promotion to Division 1A, GB faced-off with Japan in the final game of the 2017 tournament. Both teams had won all their games prior to the matchup. The game-winning goal came in the first period as Robert Dowd put the puck past Japan on a 5 on 3 advantage. GB added another three goals and at the final buzzer GB had topped the group with a perfect 15 points and were officially going to Division 1A.

GB had finally got the gold medal they had so narrowly missed out on the two years previous. What was even sweeter was that they were able to do it at home in front of many fans who otherwise could not have made the journey.



2018: Division 1A

We had made it! After 3 years we were finally here. But could we stay up? More so, could we progress?



Another Great Start

Game Day 1 saw GB get off to a great start in their quest to the top level. GB registered a 3-1 win vs Slovenia with the Sheffield duo of Ben O’Connor and Robert Dowd getting goals 1 and 2 before Perlini netted GB’s third to make it a 3-1 game in the 3^rd period.



A Setback and a Comeback

Then would come a setback. Although GB started out with a 1-0 lead thanks to Luke Ferrara, GB then surrendered 6 straight goals and feel to a 6-1 defeat to Kazakhstan.

The result of game #3 for GB proved that the setback suffered in game 2 was not going to put them off as they rebounded with a 5-3 win over Poland. GB did fall behind just under midway through the second period but 3 goals in the 3^rd from Brooks, O’Connor and J. Phillips ensured GB would come away with the 3 points.



Back and Forth

Game 4 vs Italy was a back and forth goalscoring affair as each time GB got a go-ahead goal, Italy levelled. Goals from Perlini, Dowd and O’Connor were matched by three Italian goals. It wasn’t until just under midway through the 3^rd that GB were able to go ahead with what proved to be the game-winning goal from Perlini.



Daring to Dream

In the final day, GB needed just one point to qualify for the 2019 World Championships. GB’s quest for the top spot seemed in doubt as just under 2 minutes into the third, they found themselves two goals down. However, just over mid-way through the period, the brilliance of this GB team found a way to break through as Robert Dowd scored to give this GB team hope. GB continued to press for an equalizer and it was Robert Farmer who became the hero and levelled with 15 seconds left in regulation. This sent GB fans crazy as the dream of playing in the top division seemed more and more real… and GB held on and got the necessary point! However, they finished off in style as they won the game in the penalty shootout.

Look out World Championships, GB were on their way!



World Championships 2019

This was it! The moment GB fans had been waiting for, the moment GB fans may never even have thought to dream of.

GB were part of Group A and up against Canada, USA, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Denmark and France. Realistically the goal was not to get destroyed by these teams, but we could dream of staying up.


Game 1 at the Top

GB started off with a 3-1 loss to Germany. The first period ended scoreless and it wasn’t until the final minute of the second period that Germany opened the scoring. GB did equalize through Hammond soon after the 3^rd period began but 2 goals from Germany just after the midway point of the period ensured the game would end 3-1. Not bad against a team that had beat the group winners Finland in OT the previous year in their only win of the tournament.



Making History: GB vs Canada

The following day GB faced-off against Canada. This was an 8-0 defeat but was a historic affair as GB faced off against Team Canada, a dream come true for many GB players and fans alike. In a team loaded with NHL talent, GB didn’t have much of a chance, surrendering goals to the likes of Kyle Turris and Dante Fabbro (Nashville) and Dylan Strome (Chicago, 3^rd overall draft pick 2015).



Mike Hammond Continues to Be Successful for GB

Two days later GB suffered a 9-0 defeat to Denmark but went some way towards proving themselves with a 3-goal performance in a 6-3 loss to Team USA the following day. Mike Hammond again proved his great worth to this GB squad as he tied the score at 1-1 just under 3 minutes after falling behind in the first period. GB then went on to allow 3 goals to NHLers Keller, Kreider and DeBrincat before Brett Perlini brought it back to 4-2 with 6 seconds to go in the second period. Davies also netted for GB towards the end of the game to leave the score a respectable 6-3 against the 2018 bronze medalists.

May 17^th saw another shutout as Finland blanked GB in a 5-0 win. The following also saw defeat, this time 7-1 at the hands of Slovakia but Hammond again added to his goal total for the tournament.



Daring to Dream (Again!)

20^th May. The final game. The final chance to stay up. GB vs France.

Just under midway through the second period, GB found themselves 3-0 down. However, 2 goals inside 5 minutes before the second intermission left GB within touching distance of staying at the top for another year. Robert Farmer again proved to be a hero for GB, this time early in the third period (after the previous year scoring the goal that gave GB the chance of promotion just seconds before the final buzzer) and his teammates crowded around him to celebrate. Farmer’s goal would be the last of the goalscoring action and the two teams would remain tied after regulation.

Ben Bowns made a spectacular stop just under two minutes into overtime as France came away from a face-off with an excellent opportunity. Seconds after Jonathan Phillips raced down the ice after a puck and made a pass to Ben Davies who was alone in front of the net. Davies made a quick move, scored and cemented GB’s place in the next tournament. GB rushed onto the ice to celebrate!



Mission accomplished.



GB dared to dream.



GB went from playing in Division 1B in 2017 to securing their place in the top division for another year in 2019.