Christiansen announces final squad for Lithuania

by UK American Sports Fans

read

556 View
0
0

Great Britain head coach Doug Christiansen has named his final 23-man squad for the World Championship (Division 1B), which gets under way in Vilnius this weekend.

Christiansen had 25 players at the final few days of training camp this week in Sheffield because of some injuries in the squad.

Belfast Giants defenceman Kevin Phillips and Braehead Clan forward Matt Towe were the unfortunate names in the end to be cut from the roster.

It means Paul Swindlehurst (Dundee Stars), Matty Davies (Hull Stingrays) and Mike Will (Braehead) have been named in a men’s World Championship squad for the first time.

GB, who fly out to tomorrow, play Croatia in their opening game of the competition on Sunday (11am UK time).

Hosts Lithuania, along with Romania, Netherlands and Poland, will also provide the opposition in the six-team IIHF tournament.

Christiansen said: “I think it was an outstanding camp and all the guys worked hard.

“They are a confident group of guys and it now up to us to go out and prove to the world what we can do.

“The two guys I have released are unlucky. Matt Towe was outstanding. He is an exciting player and will be a national-team player in the future for sure.

“Kevin Phillips had a great season with Belfast and was a big part of the team that won the Elite League title.

“I think our balance of left-handed and right-handed defencemen in the team will pay dividends.”

FINAL 23-MAN SQUAD FOR LITHUANIA

Netminders

  • Ben Bowns – Hull Stingrays
  • Stephen Murphy – Belfast Giants
  • Mike Will – Braehead Clan

Defencemen

  • Steve Lee – Nottingham Panthers
  • Danny Meyers – Sheffield Steelers
  • Ben O’Connor – Arlan Kokshetau
  • David Phillips – Belfast Giants
  • Mark Richardson – Cardiff Devils
  • Paul Swindlehurst – Dundee Stars
  • Jonathan Weaver – Nottingham Panthers

Forwards

  • David Clarke – Nottingham Panthers
  • Ben Davies – Cardiff Devils
  • Matty Davies – Hull Stingrays
  • Robert Dowd – Sheffield Steelers
  • Robert Farmer – Nottingham Panthers
  • Mark Garside – Belfast Giants
  • Jason Hewitt – Sheffield Steelers
  • Phil Hill – Sheffield Steelers
  • Robert Lachowicz – Nottingham Panthers
  • Matthew Myers – Cardiff Devils
  • Jonathan Phillips – Sheffield Steelers
  • Colin Shields – Belfast Giants
  • Ashley Tait – Coventry Blaze