👀 Friday Preview: Flying the Flag

GB look for top division return in World Championships

Apr 25, 2025

Great Britain’s Men’s team are about to go again in Romania in World Championship Division 1 Group A (PHOTO: Dean Woolley)

Club allegiances will be put aside now that the season is over and thoughts turn to international matters as Great Britain are looking up in their World Championship bid.

Pete Russell’s side were relegated from the top division last season in a campaign that saw only one win from their seven outings in Czechia.

Now a year on, the team are in Romania getting ready to go for promotion for a third time, following on from previous successes in 2018 and 2023.

Lying in wait are the Romanians, Ukraine, Poland, Italy and Japan, with two going up to the main divisions next year so it’s by no means an easy task.

THIS WEEKEND’S OPPOSITION

First up on Sunday is Ukraine and a nation promoted to Division 1A after sweeping aside all five of their opponents in Division 1B a year ago.

Their build-up to the competition has been patchy as they look for the right formula, with their most recent outings seeing an overtime win and an overtime loss against Poland, with both games ending 3-2 in the end.

There were high hopes for them in Olympic qualifying on the back of their Worlds success, but that was quickly extinguished as France, Latvia and Slovenia beat them convincingly in all three games, but then all three nations are in the top flight.

Since then, they’ve also beaten the Poles in a pre-Christmas game and Romania and given they are in this group as well, will fancy their chances, particularly if they can get a win over GB in their opening game.

It’s actually been nine years since GB faced Ukraine when Jonathan Phillips scored the only goal in a 2-1 defeat in 2016 - a game that denied promotion to Division 1A for the Brits, but it’s a very different affair these days.

Sunday’s game against the Ukrainians is at 3pm.

On Monday, we’ll look ahead to GB’s meeting with hosts Romania.

THE TEAM

Davey Phillips and Evan Mosey announced their retirements last month so there’s an opportunity for some new faces to come in and establish themselves in this upcoming tournament.

Enter Joe Hazeldine from Glasgow Clan, Nottingham Panthers’ Logan Neilson and Kieran Brown of Leeds Knights and they’ll be looking forward to this trip while playing alongside some seriously experienced players.

Liam Kirk may be delayed in joining with the team because of his exploits in the DEL play-off final with Eisbaren Berlin, but should feature later in the week, but for many of the players, many of whom have had three turns against the big boys in the top flight will be looking for a great start.

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🇬🇧 GB FIXTURES AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 📆

Sunday 27th April -

Ukraine vs Great Britain (2pm)

Monday 28th April -

Great Britain vs Romania (5:30pm)

Wednesday 30th April -

Great Britain vs Japan (10:30am)

Thursday 1st May -

Italy vs Great Britain (10:30am)

Saturday 3rd May -

Great Britain vs Poland (5:30pm)

🕰️ All face offs at British Standard Time

📺 All games will be shown live on Premier Sports

🤝 ON THE MOVE

Now that the 2024-25 season is officially over, the Elite League clubs are already getting stuck into their rosters for the next season so here are the movers and shakers so far.

We’ll update this in every edition over the summer

🔴 Cardiff Devils began their preparation for the new season as they announced the return of top scoring Josh MacDonald - Cardiff Devils website

🏒 Ben O’Connor has ended his lengthy and successful career in the Elite League as he leaves Dundee Stars to join NIHL National League side Swindon Wildcats - Swindon Wildcats on X

🟠 Sheffield Steelers gave their fans an early wake-up call on Thursday as they announced multi-year extensions for captain Robert Dowd and defensive pair Kevin Tansey and Reece Kelly - Sheffield Steelers website

👋 Nottingham Panthers announced Logan Neilson would be moving on after two years with the club, his destination unknown at this time - Nottingham Panthers on X

🏟️ AROUND THE RINKS

Time to take a wander up and the country and pick out some of the articles and posts you may have missed in the aftermath of the weekend in Nottingham.

🙋 Once more, a reminder the annual Elite League play-off jersey auction is still going on and will close over the weekend - Elite League auctions website

🏟️ The Elite League announced record crowds in 2024/25, with 1.2 million fans coming through the doors at the ten venues across the country - Elite League website

🤔 A goodbye…or just an expression of gratitude from this Steelers D-man? - Dominic Cormier on X

🗣️ Sheffield Steelers coach Aaron Fox talks about his three re-signings and gives from reflection on the season just finished - Phil Harrison for Yorkshire Post (website)

💪 Coventry Blaze defenceman David Clements is continuing preparations for his testimonial with three more faces announced as taking part - David Clements Testimonial on X

🆕 The deal to buy Fife Flyers remains ongoing but after a new company was formed, a director has been named and it’s someone familiar to Elite League fans - Allan Crow for Fife Free Press (website)

📻 Coventry Blaze head coach Kevin Moore was a guest on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire giving his thoughts on his first season in charge. Listen to it here - Kevin Moore on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

🙌 Former Coventry Blaze and Sheffield Steelers head coach Paul Thompson is one game away from leading Odense Bulldogs in Denmark to Metal Ligaen glory after they won their third game in the best of seven series earlier this week. Bulldogs lead the series 3-1 and they face Herning Blue Fox in Game five tonight.

🏆 Also on the edge of glory is DEL side Eisbaren Berlin, featuring another former Elite League star in Liam Kirk and their 7-0 thrashing of Kölner Haie on Wednesday - their second straight win by that scoreline. Kirk scored twice in midweek and it’s set up for them to take the crown in game five tonight.

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😲 Here’s a name you haven’t heard for a while. Former Nottingham Panthers and Braehead Clan - as they were then - forward Jade Galbraith is coming out of retirement and will make his debut in Australia this weekend with Adelaide Adrenaline. Galbraith was announced as their head coach last month as they begin their season with a home double header against Canberra Brave -

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