The competitive ice hockey season gets underway this week with three Olympic Qualifier groups taking place over 29 August to 1 September.
Great Britain are in action in Group F in Aalborg, Denmark. Pete Russell’s team face an up-hill task given the NHL talent that hosts Denmark have called upon and the strength of Norway’s squad. Japan are a lesser-known quantity at international level, but it counts against GB’s prospects that they will face them in their final game.
Great Britain lost 4-3 to Denmark and 5-2 to Norway in the World Championships back in May. The form book would suggest that the GB-Japan match-up will be a dead-rubber and, let’s be honest, the schedulers making Denmark vs Norway the final game is in anticipation of that being the unofficial ‘Final’. Stranger things have happened though.
Regardless of the results, watching the Brits on the ice is a great way to start the competitive action for the 2024-25 season. Premier Sports will be broadcasting all three of GB’s group games:
- Thursday 29th August: Denmark at 18:30 BST.
- Friday 30th August: Norway at 14:30 BST.
- Sunday 1st September: Japan at 11:30 BST.
UPDATE: Great Britain officially announced their 22-man squad on Monday morning.
Group D
Austria, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Slovakia will be competing in Group D in Bratislava. The hosts Slovakia are determined to get back to the Olympics after claiming a Bronze medal in 2022, although they will have to do so without the Montreal Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky who is out with a back injury.
Group E
France, Latvia, Slovenia and Ukraine compete in Riga. Lativa would appear to be the favourites, particularly as Slovenia are without Ante Kopitar.
Full details of the groups can be found on the IIHF website.
