International Hockey

Team GB’s qualification path to the 2026 Winter Olympics began this weekend in Cardiff and they navigated the first stage with relative ease.

That’s to the credit of Head Coach Pete Russell’s team, who made light work of China (10-1) and Serbia (11-0) before dispatching a spirited Romania 7-4 on Sunday evening.

Brett Perlini scored twice against Romania, replicating his brace from the previous game against Serbia, whilst Liam Kirk added one to his pair against China and Cade Nielson completed the set of scoring in all three games.

Despite the usual frustrations that accompany most good news in British Ice Hockey – in this case, the impact on attendance caused by a clash with Elite Ice Hockey League games and the previously-lamented high pricing of the webcasts – it was a positive weekend for Team GB and they will go into the final qualification section at the end of August in confident mood.

That stage is split into three groups being hosted in Denmark, Latvia and Slovakia respectively. Further details on the line-ups for the three groups will be announced in due course.

Before all of that, there is the exciting prospect of the World Championships in Czechia, taking place between the 10th and 26th of May.

Great Britain are in Group A for that event, alongside Austria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Switzerland.

The recent confirmation that NHL players will be able to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan makes the prospect of qualifying for the tournament all the more exciting.

Great Britain’s efforts to do so begin on Thursday at Vindico Arena, Cardiff. Team GB are in a qualifying group with China, Romania and Serbia, with the winner heading on to the final Qualification Round in August.

The games are being broadcast online via the usual EIHL/Ice Hockey UK set-up and the details can be found on the IHUK website here.

The cheapest deal is to pay £40 for all six of the qualifying round games. An individual GB game will set you back £15, so it’s a £5 saving to buy the tournament package rather than all of the three individual GB games.

It’s for IHUK to determine the best price point based on the logistical costs of providing the coverage and their expectations of the core customer base (i.e. families, friends and hardcore fans will likely pay what’s needed so long as it’s not ridiculous) and who else they may attract (i.e. is it really likely that a lot more people would sign up at £25 for the tournament rather than £40 etc?).

With that being acknowledged, I’ll be honest and admit that I’m going to pass and catch up on the key details via social media, although if the Great Britain v Romania finale at 7pm on Sunday could be decisive then I might be tempted.

If you’re in the area, or it’s not too far to travel, the tickets to watch in person are priced at a similar amount and details on those can be found here.