New faces for Olympic bid...

Tuesday, 14th October 2008

Head Coach Paul Thompson has drafted in three new recruits ahead of Team GB’s Olympic qualification tournament in Poland this November.

Jez Lundin (Newcastle Vipers), Ben O’Connor (Coventry Blaze) and Jason Hewitt (Sheffield Steelers) all make the squad for the first time alongside returnee’s Steve Thornton, Paul Sample and Colin Shields.

”We’re a better team than we were for the World Championships at the end of last season,” said Thompson looking forward with relish to his side’s offensive talents. “Having Steve Thornton back in the team just makes us a better team, it’s as simple as that. Then we bring in Colin Shields who missed the World Championships through injury and Paul Sample, a guy who plays a specific, disciplined role in the National team. ”I thought long and hard about the new faces, but these guys aren’t new to the big occasions - they all play important roles on their club teams. These guys have worked hard all of their careers for this opportunity. They have earned their chance. They deserve their chance.

”We have good depth, which in these tournaments is so important. Our strength is going forward. We are good offensively, we skate well and have great speed. We also have several different guys who can put the puck in the net.

”We go to Poland with a positive attitude and the determination that we can make it through this round and be one step closer to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.”

The Great Britain team will travel to Sanok, Poland for games against Poland (Nov 6th), Japan (Nov 7th) and Romania (Nov 9th). The tournament winners will advance to the final qualifying round in 2009.