GREAT BRITAIN collapsed from 3-1 up two days in a row earlier this week to suffer a painful relegation from the top flight of the ice hockey World Championships.
Team GB were beaten 5-3 by Austria on Monday, only just over 24 hours after a 4-3 defeat to Latvia at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.
Those defeats left Pete Russell's men on just one point from seven games, well short of the safety mark in Group B - but it could have been all so different if the build-up to the tournament had not been quite as disrupted by injury as it was.
Shorn of the brightest British hockey star of his generation, Liam Kirk, the team suffered further blows to the offence with the loss of Mike Hammond and Ollie Betteridge.
At least Team GB could call upon the vast experience provided by captain Jonathan Phillips who picked up a new national record by winning his 111th cap in the match against Austria.
But the lack of firepower was clearly in evidence in four warm-up matches, two each against Denmark and Italy, which finished with four defeats and an aggregate score of 1-16.
Nevertheless, in the finals themselves, Team GB acquitted themselves generally well - and were shut out only by Sweden (0-6), hosts Finland (0-6), and the United States (0-3), the latter of which was a competitive battle.
In total, Team GB found the back of the net on 10 occasions in the four other matches, scoring one more goal than in the 2019 World Championship when Britain beat France in overtime to survive in their first season back in the top flight for 25 years.
This time, though, it was not to be - despite a stunning recovery from 3-0 down in the third period against Norway in their second game.
A trio of quickfire goals from Robert Dowd, Brett Perlini and Mark Richardson forced an unlikely period of overtime - but, while there was no further scoring in the additional five minutes, it was the Norwegians who prevailed on penalty shots for the extra point.
At the time, it still looked like a good point - but results elsewhere in Group B conspired against Team GB with Austria forcing overtime against the United States then causing a shock by beating the Czech Republic on penalty shots.
Meanwhile, Latvia beat Norway in a regulation time victory for three points - and the points from the match between the Latvians and the Austrians were split 2-1 in favour of the former after another match which went all the way.
As largely expected then, the Team GB campaign would be decided by their last two matches with Latvia (5) and Austria (4), well clear of Russell's side on a single point.
Britain looked set to close the gap on the teams above them when Lewis Hook restored a two-goal lead at 3-1 within seconds of Oskars Batna pulling one back for Latvia.
Those goals followed an opening period which was dominated by Britain and rewarded on the scoreboard with a goal from Perlini and a maiden senior international strike for Cade Neilson.
By the end of the second period, Latvia were back in it at 3-2 after scoring on the powerplay - and Britain critically failed to stay out of the penalty box in the third as the Latvians completed the turnaround with two further powerplay goals.
At least, at that point, Austria remained within reach - and any win in regulation time was enough for Team GB to survive again at the elite level on head-to-head
In a carbon copy of the Latvia game, things looked good again early on as Matt Myers and Dowd deservedly put Britain 2-0 up, and Neilson produced a quick response to an Austrian goal for a 3-1 scoreline.
The main difference this time was that, by the time Neilson scored, the match was in the third period and had less than 14 minutes left.
Nevertheless, that was still more than enough time for an Austria team who did not panic in the knowledge that a tie at the end of 60 minutes would be enough for them.
The Austrians quickly got back on level terms through Dominique Heinrich and Benjamin Nissner as Britain were overwhelmed - then went ahead for the first time through Thomas Raffl to leave Britain needing two.
Unsurprisingly, Team GB pulled the goalie - but that merely allowed Peter Schneider to slide the puck into an empty net from the very next attack.
That fifth Austrian goal arrived with an undoubtable thud of finality - the new boys had secured safety and Great Britain were going down.
Of course, right now, there is much about the future which remains uncertain.
The expulsion of Belarus and Russia from the Championships this year following the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine has left questions over the future structure of the promotion and relegation places between the top flight and the second-tier Division 1A.
Russia - if ever welcomed back into the international fold - almost certainly would be placed straight back into the Top Division with Belarus likely to go to Division 1A following their bottom-placed finish in 2021.
This year, though, there were still two promotion spots up for grabs with Hungary and Slovenia replacing Britain and Italy who were relegated after they also took just one point in Group A.
In some heartening news this week, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced Great Britain as the host of Division 1A in 2023 with the matches set to be played on home ice at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.
Therefore, Team GB already stand an excellent good chance of ensuring that this memorable spell among the elite merely ended on a semi-colon - and not a full-stop.
Therefore, Team GB already stand an excellent good chance of ensuring that this memorable spell among the elite merely ended on a semi-colon - and not a full-stop.
| GROUP A | W | W-OT | L-OT | L | F | A | Pts |
| (Q) SWITZERLAND | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 15 | 20 |
| (Q) GERMANY | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 20 | 16 |
| (Q) CANADA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 18 | 15 |
| (Q) SLOVAKIA | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 19 | 12 |
| DENMARK | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 18 | 12 |
| FRANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 5 |
| KAZAKHSTAN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 31 | 3 |
| (R) ITALY | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 32 | 1 |
• All matches at the Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland
| 13-May | 14:20 | FRANCE | 2-4 | SLOVAKIA | |
| 13-May | 18:20 | GERMANY | 3-5 | CANADA | |
| 14-May | 10:20 | DENMARK | 9-1 | KAZAKHSTAN | |
| 14-May | 14:20 | SWITZERLAND | 5-2 | ITALY | |
| 14-May | 18:20 | SLOVAKIA | 1-2 | GERMANY | |
| 15-May | 10:20 | ITALY | 1-6 | CANADA | |
| 15-May | 14:20 | FRANCE | 2-1 | KAZAKHSTAN | |
| 15-May | 18:20 | DENMARK | 0-6 | SWITZERLAND | |
| 16-May | 14:20 | SLOVAKIA | 1-5 | CANADA | |
| 16-May | 18:20 | FRANCE | 2-3 | GERMANY | |
| 17-May | 14:20 | ITALY | 1-2 | DENMARK | |
| 17-May | 18:20 | SWITZERLAND | 3-2 | KAZAKHSTAN | |
| 18-May | 14:20 | FRANCE | 2-1 | ITALY | OT |
| 18-May | 18:20 | SWITZERLAND | 5-3 | SLOVAKIA | |
| 19-May | 16:00 | GERMANY | 1-0 | DENMARK | |
| 19-May | 19:30 | CANADA | 6-3 | KAZAKHSTAN | |
| 20-May | 14:20 | GERMANY | 9-4 | ITALY | |
| 20-May | 18:20 | KAZAKHSTAN | 3-4 | SLOVAKIA | |
| 21-May | 10:20 | DENMARK | 3-0 | FRANCE | |
| 21-May | 14:20 | CANADA | 3-6 | SWITZERLAND | |
| 21-May | 18:20 | ITALY | 1-3 | SLOVAKIA | |
| 22-May | 14:20 | KAZAKHSTAN | 4-5 | GERMANY | |
| 22-May | 18:20 | SWITZERLAND | 5-2 | FRANCE | |
| 23-May | 14:20 | KAZAKHSTAN | 5-2 | ITALY | |
| 23-May | 18:20 | CANADA | 2-3 | DENMARK | |
| 24-May | 10:20 | GERMANY | 3-4 | SWITZERLAND | GWS |
| 24-May | 14:20 | SLOVAKIA | 7-1 | DENMARK | |
| 24-May | 18:20 | CANADA | 7-1 | FRANCE |
| GROUP B | W | W-OT | L-OT | L | F | A | Pts |
| (Q) FINLAND | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 5 | 19 |
| (Q) SWEDEN | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 10 | 18 |
| (Q) CZECH REPUBLIC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 13 | 13 |
| (Q) UNITED STATES | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 12 | 13 |
| LATVIA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 8 |
| AUSTRIA | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 7 |
| NORWAY | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 29 | 5 |
| (R) GREAT BRITAIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 33 | 1 |
• All matches at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland
| 13-May | 14:20 | UNITED STATES | 4-1 | LATVIA | |
| 13-May | 18:20 | FINLAND | 5-0 | NORWAY | |
| 14-May | 10:20 | SWEDEN | 3-1 | AUSTRIA | |
| 14-May | 14:20 | CZECH REPUBLIC | 5-1 | GREAT BRITAIN | |
| 14-May | 18:20 | LATVIA | 1-2 | FINLAND | |
| 15-May | 10:20 | NORWAY | 4-3 | GREAT BRITAIN | GWS |
| 15-May | 14:20 | AUSTRIA | 2-3 | UNITED STATES | OT |
| 15-May | 18:20 | CZECH REPUBLIC | 3-5 | SWEDEN | |
| 16-May | 14:20 | LATVIA | 3-2 | NORWAY | |
| 16-May | 18:20 | FINLAND | 4-1 | UNITED STATES | |
| 17-May | 14:20 | CZECH REPUBLIC | 1-2 | AUSTRIA | GWS |
| 17-May | 18:20 | SWEDEN | 6-0 | GREAT BRITAIN | |
| 18-May | 14:20 | NORWAY | 5-3 | AUSTRIA | |
| 18-May | 18:20 | FINLAND | 2-3 | SWEDEN | GWS |
| 19-May | 14:20 | GREAT BRITAIN | 0-3 | UNITED STATES | |
| 19-May | 18:20 | CZECH REPUBLIC | 5-1 | LATVIA | |
| 20-May | 14:20 | GREAT BRITAIN | 0-6 | FINLAND | |
| 20-May | 18:20 | LATVIA | 4-3 | AUSTRIA | GWS |
| 21-May | 10:20 | UNITED STATES | 3-2 | SWEDEN | |
| 21-May | 14:20 | AUSTRIA | 0-3 | FINLAND | |
| 21-May | 18:20 | NORWAY | 1-4 | CZECH REPUBLIC | |
| 22-May | 14:20 | GREAT BRITAIN | 3-4 | AUSTRIA | |
| 22-May | 18:20 | SWEDEN | 7-1 | NORWAY | |
| 23-May | 14:20 | UNITED STATES | 0-1 | CZECH REPUBLIC | |
| 23-May | 18:20 | AUSTRIA | 5-3 | GREAT BRITAIN | |
| 24-May | 10:20 | SWEDEN | 1-0 | LATVIA | |
| 24-May | 14:20 | UNITED STATES | 4-2 | NORWAY | |
| 24-May | 18:20 | FINLAND | 3-0 | CZECH REPUBLIC |
QUARTER FINALS
| 26-May | 14:20 | GERMANY | 1-4 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Helsinki |
| 26-May | 14:20 | SWEDEN | 3-4 | CANADA | Tampere OT |
| 26-May | 18:20 | SWITZERLAND | 0-3 | UNITED STATES | Helsinki |
| 26-May | 18:20 | FINLAND | 4-2 | SLOVAKIA | Tampere |
SEMI FINALS
| 28-May | 10:20 | FINLAND | 4-3 | UNITED STATES | Tampere |
| 28-May | 14:20 | CANADA | 6-1 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Tampere |
BRONZE FINAL
| 29-May | 13:20 | UNITED STATES | 4-8 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Tampere |
GOLD FINAL
| 29-May | 18:20 | FINLAND | 4-3 | CANADA | Tampere OT |
OVERALL RANKINGS
1 • FINLAND
2 • CANADA
3 • CZECH REPUBLIC
4 • UNITED STATES
5 • SWITZERLAND
6 • SWEDEN
7 • GERMANY
8 • SLOVAKIA
9 • DENMARK
10 • LATVIA
11 • AUSTRIA
12 • FRANCE
13 • NORWAY
14 • KAZAKHSTAN
15 • (R) ITALY
16 • (R) GREAT BRITAIN
GREAT BRITAIN TOURNAMENT POINTS
2+3 • Cade Neilson
GREAT BRITAIN TOURNAMENT POINTS
2+3 • Cade Neilson
2+2 • Brett Perlini
2+0 • Robert Dowd
1+1 • Ben Lake1+1 • Lewis Hook
1+1 • Matthew Myers
1+0 • Mark Richardson
1+1 • Matthew Myers
1+0 • Mark Richardson
0+2 • Scott Conway
0+2 • Josh Batch
0+1 • Evan Mosey
0+1 • Joshua Tetlow
0+1 • Sam Jones
0+1 • Ben O'Connor
0+1 • Evan Mosey
0+1 • Joshua Tetlow
0+1 • Sam Jones
0+1 • Ben O'Connor
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