So after a great few days of hockey here in the UK last weekend, we now turn our focus on Team GB and the World Championships in Budapest. But first…
The Nottingham Panthers finished off an EIHL treble at the NIC last weekend, with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win against Belfast. There was plenty of drama in that one folks. The Giants had trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes, rallied in the third to knot the game at 2-2, and eventually succumbed to the Panthers 3-2 in OT, as penalty trouble finally caught up with them.
24 hours later, Belfast Head Coach Doug Christiansen was surprising everyone, being announced as the Sheffield Steelers new bench boss. We also saw Blaze legend Paul Thompson behind the bench for the last time for Coventry, as now, he moves on to Sweden to tackle a new coaching challenge. Plenty of story-lines, plenty of surprises, twists and turns!
Now, more drama awaits UK hockey fans! Team GB will look for a medal, and promotion, as they battle Hungary, Kazakhstan, Italy, Japan and Korea at Budapest Sports Arena from April 14-20th. Head Coach Tony Hand has named a strong squad, and welcomes back star goalie Stephen Murphy. Murphy had missed out on the final Olympic Qualifiers in Riga with an injury.
I’ll be in Hungary to call all five games live on Premier Sports. Don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel for all the behind-the-scenes Team GB interviews. To get you excited, here’s a few of my favourite player and coach chats from Arena Riga in February!
Murph wraps up the Olympic Qualifiers with Team GB Coach Tony Hand:
Murph goes 1-on-1 with Team GB forward Rob Dowd:
You can follow Murph on Twitter @MurphOnIce