IIHF World Championship: Kirk holds key to Team GB survival bid

LIAM KIRK will be the man to watch as Team GB attempt to survive at the top level in the ice hockey World Championship - again.

Held in Czech Republic until 26 May, Great Britain skaters will compete against the best teams in the world for the fourth time in five years.

That in itself is a remarkable feat considering Team GB had languished in the lower divisions for exactly a quarter of a century between 1994 and 2019.

The first breakthrough in this new era actually came in 2017 before Kirk had made his debut back when Britain beat Croatia (4-2), Estonia (5-1), Lithuania (5-2), Netherlands (14-0), and Japan (4-0) to gain promotion from the third tier.

One year later, like London buses, a second successive gold medal arrived after victories against Slovenia (3-1), Poland (5-3) and Italy (4-3) set up a tie on the last night against hosts Hungary, from which Britain needed to force overtime for at least a point.

Trailing 3-2 with 15 seconds of regular time remaining, Robert Farmer scrambled in an equaliser - and, for good measure, GB then won the shootout after a goalless period of overtime.

In 2019, Team GB at times endured a tough baptism of fire in the top division in Slovakia, suffering notable thrashings against the hosts (1-7), Canada (0-8) and Denmark (0-9).

But France were also without a win ahead of what became a decider in the final round of preliminary fixtures.

A tight opening period was shaded by Team GB. In the second period, though, the tie shifted decidedly in favour of the French as, devastatingly, they scored three times in four minutes and one second of play.

Two of the goals came just six seconds apart - and a previously even game had taken on a very uneven score.

Yet, remarkably, the British team kept their nerve, and began to dominate. First, Robert Dowd finished neatly from a pass by Ben O'Connor - then, three minutes later, Hammond reduced the lead down to one after O'Connor's shot had been parried.

By then, the momentum switch was obvious - and, with 14 minutes still to go, Farmer found another vital goal in his locker.

Neither team could find a winner in regulation time - but, in overtime, skipper Jonathan Phillips held off some close attention down the left and found Ben Davies in front of the net.

Davies made no mistake - and Team GB were going to Switzerland in 2020 - or so they thought.

Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived putting the whole planet, and not just the ice hockey world, on hold.

The effects were still being felt in 2021, of course - and GB were able to play in the World Championship without fear of being relegated with all of the lower divisions cancelled.

As a matter of fact, though, Britain would have stayed up in any case with their 4-3 win over Belarus - and they had improved notably on their 2019 performance, scoring more goals and conceding far fewer.

In particular, Kirk starred throughout, scoring seven goals which, along with his two assists, led to him being named among the tournament all-star players.

However, the spectre of relegation returned in 2022 - and Britain entered the Championship with a forward line truly ravaged by injury.

Kirk, Hammond and Ollie Betteridge were all ruled out - so it was no surprise that Britain could not stand the heat as they slumped to the bottom of the overall top division standings following seven defeats out of seven,  six of them coming in regular time.

Nevertheless, Pete Russell's men refused to feel too sorry for themselves - and, had the advantage of home ice for the Division 1A campaign at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham in spring last year.

There, they regained their seat at the very top table by beating South Korea (4-0), Poland (5-4 in overtime), Lithuania (3-0), Romania (7-0), and - in a decider - Italy (5-3).

Mere survival again is the order of the day this time then - and frankly those hopes will be placed heavily upon the talented young shoulders of Kirk.

The 24-year-old left wing forward from Maltby in North Yorkshire became the first player born and trained in England to be selected by an NHL team when he was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in 2018.

Having most recently plied his trade at HC Litvinov on the Czech-German border in the Czech Extraliga, Kirk should feel somewhat at home in Prague. 

Meanwhile, he will be supported in attack by the likes of Cade Neilson, Dowd, Davies, Betteridge and Brett Perlini.

In defence, Team GB strongly favours experience with Mark Richardson, David Phillips, Evan Mosey and O'Connor all well beyond the age of 30.

And if they lack the legs to see out a shift, head coach Russell will need his goalkeepers, first-choice Ben Bowns and back-up Jackson Whistle, to perform at the top of their game - even in the more winnable matches against 12th-ranked Norway and 16th-ranked Austria. 

So, this tournament is expected to be an uphill struggle as ever. Additionally, Britain's form heading into the main event could have been better.

Back-to-back wins over Poland were tarnished by the concession of late goals in both matches, the second of which forced GB to penalty shots - while the latest international against Kazakhstan ended in a 5-2 defeat.

Britain also face a hideous start with ties against the top two in the world rankings - Canada and Finland - on the first weekend.

Russell must hope the confidence of his squad is not too damaged by their opening foray ahead of matches against Switzerland, Denmark and Czech Republic - and the vital last two of the preliminary stage against Norway and Austria.

Nevertheless, squad togetherness has been a feature throughout Russell's 10-year tenure in charge - and that, along with Kirk obvious sparkling quality, might just be enough for Great Britain to get over the line once more.

TEAM GB SQUAD
Head coach Pete Russell
Netminders Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils) - Lucas Brine (Dundee Stars) - Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants)
Defence Josh Batch (Cardiff Devils) - Nathanael Halbert (HC Innsbruck) - Sam Jones (Sheffield Steelers) - Evan Mosey (Cardiff Devils) - Ben O'Connor (Guildford Flames) - David Phillips (Belfast Giants) - Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils) - Sam Ruopp (Lausitzer Fuechse) - Josh Tetlow (Nottingham Panthers)
Forwards Ollie Betteridge (Nottingham Panthers) - Cam Critchlow (Manchester Storm) - Johnny Curran (Coventry Blaze) - Ben Davies (Cardiff Devils) - Robert Dowd (c) (Sheffield Steelers) - Sam Duggan (Cardiff Devils) - Liam Kirk (HC Litvinov) - Robert Lachowicz (Glasgow Clan) - Ben Lake (Belfast Giants) - Cade Neilson (Alaska Nanooks) - Sean Norris (Belfast Giants) - Brett Perlini (Saale Bulls) - Cole Shudra (Sheffield Steelers)

TEAM GB FIXTURES AND RESULTS

			Score	Periods	Team GB goals	Team GB assists
Sat 11-May	11:20	CANADA	L2-4	(1-1, 0-3, 1-0)	Kirk (PP) O'Connor	Mosey, Lake Kirk, Betteridge
Sun 12-May	11:20	FINLAND	L0-8	(0-1, 0-5, 0-2)
Wed 15-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	L0-3	(0-2, 0-1, 0-0)
Fri 17-May	15:20	DENMARK	L3-4	(2-2, 1-1, 0-1)	Kirk Neilson Halbert	Curran, Ruopp Mosey, Lake Lachowicz, Perlini
Sat 18-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	L1-4	(0-2, 1-2, 0-0)	Mosey (PP)	Kirk, O'Connor
Mon 20-May	15:20	NORWAY	L2-5	(0-3, 1-1, 1-1)	Perlini Betteridge	Dowd, O'Connor Lake, Mosey
Tue 21-May	11:20	AUSTRIA	W4-2	(0-0, 1-1, 3-1)	O'Connor (PP) Perlini (PP) Mosey Dowd	Lake Dowd, O'Connor Duggan, Tetlow Perlini

TEAM GB PLAYER POINTS
2+3 Evan Mosey
2+3 Ben O'Connor
2+2 Liam Kirk
2+2 Brett Perlini

1+2 Robert Dowd

1+1 Ollie Betteridge

1+0 Nathanael Halbert
1+0 Cade Neilson
0+4 Ben Lake
0+1 Johnny Curran
0+1 Sam Duggan

0+1 Robert Lachowicz
0+1 Sam Ruopp

0+1 Josh Tetlow

TOURNAMENT FIXTURES AND RESULTS

Date	Time	GROUP A		O2 Arena, Prague	Periods
10-May	15:20	SWITZERLAND	5-2	NORWAY	(1-1, 3-0, 1-1)
10-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-0 GWS	FINLAND	(0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0 OT)
11-May	11:20	GREAT BRITAIN	2-4	CANADA	(1-1, 0-3, 1-0)
11-May	15:20	AUSTRIA	1-5	DENMARK	(1-2, 0-1, 0-2)
11-May	19:20	NORWAY	3-6	CZECH REPUBLIC	(3-2, 0-1, 0-3)
12-May	11:20	FINLAND	8-0	GREAT BRITAIN	(1-0, 5-0, 2-0)
12-May	15:20	DENMARK	1-5	CANADA	(0-2, 1-0, 0-3)
12-May	19:20	AUSTRIA	5-6	SWITZERLAND	(2-1, 2-3, 1-2)
13-May	15:20	NORWAY	1-4	FINLAND	(0-2, 1-2, 0-0)
13-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	2-1 GWS	CZECH REPUBLIC	(1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0 OT)
14-May	15:20	DENMARK	0-2	NORWAY	(0-0, 0-1, 0-1)
14-May	19:20	CANADA	7-6 OT	AUSTRIA	(3-1, 3-0, 0-5, 1-0 OT)
15-May	15:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	7-4	DENMARK	(1-1, 2-1, 4-2)
15-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	3-0	GREAT BRITAIN	(2-0, 1-0, 0-0)
16-May	15:20	FINLAND	2-3	AUSTRIA	(2-0, 0-1, 0-2)
16-May	19:20	CANADA	4-1	NORWAY	(1-0, 1-0, 2-1)
17-May	15:20	GREAT BRITAIN	3-4	DENMARK	(2-2, 1-1, 0-1)
17-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	4-0	AUSTRIA	(1-0, 2-0, 1-0)
18-May	11:20	DENMARK	0-8	SWITZERLAND	(0-2, 0-3, 0-3)
18-May	15:20	CANADA	5-3	FINLAND	(2-2, 1-1, 2-0)
18-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	4-1	GREAT BRITAIN	(2-0, 2-1, 0-0)
19-May	15:20	NORWAY	1-4	AUSTRIA	(0-0, 0-3, 1-1)
19-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	2-3	CANADA	(1-1, 1-2, 0-0)
20-May	15:20	GREAT BRITAIN	2-5	NORWAY	(0-3, 1-1, 1-1)
20-May	19:20	FINLAND	3-1	DENMARK	(0-0, 0-0, 3-1)
21-May	11:20	AUSTRIA	2-4	GREAT BRITAIN	(0-0, 1-1, 1-3)
21-May	15:20	CANADA	4-3 OT	CZECH REPUBLIC	(0-0, 0-0, 3-3, 1-0 OT)
21-May	19:20	FINLAND	1-3	SWITZERLAND	(0-0, 1-2, 0-1)

Date	Time	GROUP B		Ostravar Arena, Ostrava	Periods
10-May	15:20	SLOVAKIA	4-6	GERMANY	(0-0, 2-3, 2-3)
10-May	19:20	SWEDEN	5-2	UNITED STATES	(1-0, 2-1, 2-1)
11-May	11:20	FRANCE	1-3	KAZAKHSTAN	(1-2, 0-1, 0-0)
11-May	15:20	POLAND	4-5 OT	LATVIA	(1-0, 1-1, 2-3, 0-1 OT)
11-May	19:20	UNITED STATES	6-1	GERMANY	(2-0, 2-1, 2-0)
12-May	11:20	SLOVAKIA	6-2	KAZAKHSTAN	(3-0, 1-1, 2-1)
12-May	15:20	LATVIA	3-2 OT	FRANCE	(0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 1-0 OT)
12-May	19:20	SWEDEN	5-1	POLAND	(2-0, 1-0, 2-1)
13-May	15:20	UNITED STATES	4-5 OT	SLOVAKIA	(0-2, 1-2, 3-0, 0-1 OT)
13-May	19:20	GERMANY	1-6	SWEDEN	(0-3, 0-2, 1-1)
14-May	15:20	KAZAKHSTAN	0-2	LATVIA	(0-0, 0-2, 0-0)
14-May	19:20	POLAND	2-4	FRANCE	(0-2, 2-2, 0-0)
15-May	15:20	GERMANY	8-1	LATVIA	(2-0, 5-1, 1-0)
15-May	19:20	SLOVAKIA	4-0	POLAND	(2-0, 0-0, 2-0)
16-May	15:20	KAZAKHSTAN	1-3	SWEDEN	(0-1, 0-1, 1-1)
16-May	19:20	UNITED STATES	5-0	FRANCE	(4-0, 0-0, 1-0)
17-May	15:20	GERMANY	8-2	KAZAKHSTAN	(2-1, 3-0, 3-1)
17-May	19:20	POLAND	1-4	UNITED STATES	(0-0, 0-2, 1-2)
18-May	11:20	LATVIA	2-7	SWEDEN	(0-2, 2-4, 0-1)
18-May	15:20	GERMANY	4-2	POLAND	(0-0, 2-0, 2-2)
18-May	19:20	FRANCE	2-4	SLOVAKIA	(0-1, 1-2, 1-1)
19-May	15:20	UNITED STATES	10-1	KAZAKHSTAN	(4-0, 3-0, 3-1)
19-May	19:20	SLOVAKIA	2-3 GWS	LATVIA	(0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 0-0 OT)
20-May	15:20	SWEDEN	3-1	FRANCE	(0-0, 1-1, 2-0)
20-May	19:20	KAZAKHSTAN	3-1	POLAND	(1-1, 0-0, 2-0)
21-May	11:20	FRANCE	3-6	GERMANY	(1-1, 2-3, 0-2)
21-May	15:20	LATVIA	3-6	UNITED STATES	(0-2, 1-1, 2-3)
21-May	19:20	SWEDEN	6-1	SLOVAKIA	(1-0, 3-0, 2-1)

Poland extinguish Welsh hopes in Euro 2024 playoffs

🟥 EURO 2024 PLAYOFFS 🟥

Semi finals 21-March | FINALS 26-March

PATH [A]	SF1	POLAND	5-1	ESTONIA	Warsaw
		Frankowski 22, Zielinski 50 Piotrowski 70, Mets 73og Szymanski 76		Vetkal 78
	SF2	WALES	4-1	FINLAND	Cardiff
		Brooks 3, N Williams 38 Johnson 47, James 86		Pukki 45
	FINAL	WALES	0-0	POLAND	Cardiff
			aet	won 5-4 on penalties

POLAND crushed Welsh dreams of a third successive European Championship finals - and fourth major finals out of five - by winning their playoff final on penalties after a 0-0 draw. 

Leeds United winger Daniel James sat his kick up at a good height to the right of Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, as the teams were finally separated after over two hours of stalemate. 

There had, after all, been precious little between the sides in the match itself.

Poland failed even to record a single effort on target across the 120 minutes - although Wales also struggled to make clearcut openings.

Indeed, in failing at any stage to build up a significant head of steam, Robert Page's men probably did not make the most of an expectant full house at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Stand-in skipper Ben Davies thought he had headed the hosts into a first half lead but was adjudged narrowly offside - while, early in the second half, Kieffer Moore forced Szczesny into a full-stretch save.

In the extra time period, though, Page's men were persistently pushed back and Jakub Piotrowski thought he had won it for Poland with a 25-yard shot which curled just wide.

A first ever competitive penalty shootout featuring Wales fast became an inevitability - and both teams had obviously been practicing for this eventuality.

Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and Krzysztof Piatek all converted for Poland - while Ben Davies, Moore, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams scored the first four Welsh kicks.

But, with the score in the shootout at 5-4 to Poland, James - looking understandably nervous - took the long march from the halfway line to the penalty area.

In fairness to James, it was more than a mere tentative prod at goal - but the direction of his effort was rather telegraphed and Szczesny's save was enough to settle this tightest of contests.

Earlier, both Poland and Wales had dealt with Finland and Estonia easily in their respective home semi finals.

The Poles unsurprisingly prevailed 5-1 in Warsaw against Estonia who were only in this tie by virtue of being the best-ranked team on the lowest rung of the Nations League.

Meanwhile, Wales beat the Finns 4-1 in Cardiff, leading from as early as the third minute when David Brooks slammed in a rebound from Wilson's shot.

The Welsh looked to be on easy street when Neco Williams thumped in a free-kick tapped to him by Wilson - but Teemu Pukki took advantage of some sleepy defending to keep it interesting at the interval.

Straight after the restart, though, Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson restored the two-goal lead after poaching from close range.

Cymru then had countless chances to put the tie to bed before James did just that by racing through and taking advantage of a dreadful mistake by the Finnish defender.

Certainly then, it has been a rollercoaster few days for the 26-year-old with the period finishing on a rather big dip.

James, though, still has plenty to play for this season with his club side Leeds at the top of the Championship heading into the run-in.

Head coach Page can also look ahead to the next campaign having been assured by Football Association of Wales bosses that his position is not in doubt. 

However, for Poland, a summer adventure now awaits with matches in neighbouring Germany against Netherlands in Hamburg on Sunday 16 June (2pm), Austria in Berlin on Friday 21 June (5pm), and France in Dortmund on Tuesday 25 June (5pm).

PATH [B]	SF1	ISRAEL	1-4	ICELAND	Budapest
		Zahavi 31pen		Gudmundsson 39, 83, 87 Traustason 42
	SF2	BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA	1-2	UKRAINE	Zenica
		Matvienko 56og		Yaremchuk 85, Dovbyk 88
	FINAL	UKRAINE	2-1	ICELAND	Wroclaw
		Tsygankov 54, Mudryk 84		Gudmundsson 30

UKRAINE provided a rare good news story for its war-weary public by becoming the comeback kids of this playoff competition to qualify for a fourth successive European Championship.

Trailing 1-0 in both the semi final away to Bosnia-Herzegovina and in the final against Iceland, the Ukrainians turned both ties around to win 2-1.

The comeback in the semi final was particularly dramatic - Serhiy Rebrov's men were trailing right up until the 85th-minute when Roman Yaremchuk pulled Ukraine back level.

But, for good measure, the visitors stunned the home crowd again three minutes later as Artem Dovbyk headed in the winner.

It was tough on the Bosnians who were looking to qualify for a first European Championship finals since gaining their hard-won independence in the 1990s - although the Dragons did appear at the 2014 World Cup.

However, Ukraine themselves had suffered late devastation in the qualifying group when they were denied what looked like a clear last-minute penalty in their final game against Italy which, if scored, would have put them through.

By now, the momentum was back with the Ukrainians - although the ongoing invasion by Vladimir Putin's pariah state Russia forced their "home" final to be hosted in the Polish city of Wroclaw.

Moreover, Iceland refused to read the script - and, on 30 minutes, the in-form forward Albert Gudmundsson worked some space for himself and hit a thumping shot into the corner from just outside of the D. 

Ukraine had another comeback mission to complete - and they quickly responded with a barrage of shots including an effort from Yaremchuk which was correctly ruled offside.

But, early in the second half, an equaliser did arrive as Viktor Tsyhankov cut inside from the right and neatly found the bottom left corner.

The tie was in the balance as the clock wound down and Gudmundsson - who hit a hat-trick in the 4-1 semi final thumping of Israel - shot narrowly wide.

With just over five minutes left, though, Mykhailo Mudryk made his effort count, finding exactly the same spot of the net as Tsyhankov had earlier.

Ukraine were going through to the finals after all, having been in any case probably unluckiest of all the teams to end up in the playoffs.

Indeed, a talented set of players should be competitive this summer in Group E against Romania in Munich on Monday 17 June (2pm), Slovakia in Düsseldorf on Friday 21 June (2pm) and Belgium in Stuttgart on Wednesday 26 June (5pm).

PATH [C]	SF1	GEORGIA	2-0	LUXEMBOURG	Tblisi
		Zivzivadze 40, 63
	SF2	GREECE	5-0	KAZAKHSTAN	Athens
		Bakasetas 9pen, Pelkas 15 Ioannidis 37, Kourbelis 40 Tapalov 86og
	FINAL	GEORGIA	0-0	GREECE	Tblisi
		won 4-2 on penalties	aet

GEORGIA qualified for their first ever major tournament finals by shocking Greece on penalties amid a red-hot atmosphere in Tblisi. 

In another largely chanceless encounter, Euro 2004 winners Greece dominated possession and came closest to scoring when West Ham United defender Konstantinos Mavropanos hit the bar with a powerful header in the first part of extra time.

That was swiftly followed by the closest effort to a goal from Georgia as Georges Mikautadze breached the offside trap and set up Zuriko Davitashvili.

Otherwise, the most notable moment until the penalty shootout came on the stroke of half time when a series of tetchy fouls resulted in members from both benches storming onto the pitch.

Onto penalties - and Greece made a nightmare start to the shootout after Anastasios Bakasetas had his effort saved.

And so, Georgia - kicking first - went 2-0 up through Giorgi Kochorashvili and Davitashvili before Georgios Masouras got Greece on the board.

That seemed enough to unnerve Mikautadze who missed the target altogether before Andreas Bouchalakis brought Hellas level at 2-2 from three kicks.

But the Georgians restored their lead through Lasha Dvali and, after striker Georgios Giakoumakis had rolled his penalty wide, all Nikoloz Kvekveskiri needed to do was keep his cool.

Kvekveskiri obliged to send the crowd at the Boris Paitchadze National Stadium into a wild frenzy with hundreds of fans bounding onto the pitch in joyous celebration.

Earlier, Georgia ended Luxembourg's own dreams of a first major finals appearance after the Luxembourgers belied their minnow status in the Nations League - while also giving a good showing in their qualifying group.

A keenly contested semi final turned on a mad sequence of events early in the second half. First, Georgia were denied a penalty by Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez then Gerson Rodrigues scored what appeared to be an equaliser for Luxembourg.

However, the Video Assistant Referee intervened and - fully three minutes after Rodrigues had hit the net - the officials ruled that Mikautadze had been brought down by Maxime Chanot.

The offence was deemed to have occurred outside of the box - but, as last man, Chanot was sent off. Play restarted with the resultant free-kick to Georgia while the Luxembourg equaliser was ruled out.

Unsurprisingly, a deflated and shorthanded Luxembourg struggled to mount much of a comeback after that - and Budu Zivzivadze soon scored his second of the game to put the tie out of reach.

In the other semi final, Greece thumped Kazakhstan - another side without any previous tournament experience - putting the tie in Athens beyond any doubt with a 4-0 lead at the interval before going on to win 5-0.

The Greeks, though, failed to carry through that goalscoring form to the final against the most talented all-round Georgian outfit since their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

As such, Georgia will take on neighbours Turkey in Dortmund on Tuesday 18 June (5pm), Czech Republic in Hamburg on Saturday 22 June (2pm), and Portugal in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday 26 June (8pm).

(Q) POLAND [A], UKRAINE [B] and GEORGIA [C] qualified for Euro 2024 via the playoffs 

🟥 COMPLETED EURO 2024 DRAW 🟥

GROUP A	GROUP B	GROUP C	GROUP D
[A1] GERMANY	[B1] SPAIN	[C1] SLOVENIA	[D1] POLAND
[A2] SCOTLAND	[B2] CROATIA	[C2] DENMARK	[D2] NETHERLANDS
[A3] HUNGARY	[B3] ITALY	[C3] SERBIA	[D3] AUSTRIA
[A4] SWITZERLAND	[B4] ALBANIA	[C4] ENGLAND	[D4] FRANCE
	GROUP E	GROUP F
	[E1] BELGIUM	[F1] TURKEY
	[E2] SLOVAKIA	[F2] GEORGIA
	[E3] ROMANIA	[F3] PORTUGAL
	[E4] UKRAINE	[F4] CZECH REP

GROUP A

14-June	(8pm)	GERMANY v SCOTLAND	Munich  ITV
15-June	(2pm)	HUNGARY v SWITZERLAND	Cologne  ITV
19-June	(5pm)	GERMANY v HUNGARY	Stuttgart  BBC
19-June	(8pm)	SCOTLAND v SWITZERLAND	Cologne  BBC
23-June	(8pm)	SWITZERLAND v GERMANY	Frankfurt  BBC
23-June	(8pm)	SCOTLAND v HUNGARY	Stuttgart  BBC

GROUP B

15-June	(5pm)	SPAIN v CROATIA	Berlin  ITV
15-June	(8pm)	ITALY v ALBANIA	Dortmund  BBC
19-June	(2pm)	CROATIA v ALBANIA	Hamburg  ITV
20-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v ITALY	Gelsenkirchen  ITV
24-June	(8pm)	ALBANIA v SPAIN	Dusseldorf  BBC
24-June	(8pm)	CROATIA v ITALY	Leipzig  BBC

GROUP C

16-June	(5pm)	SLOVENIA v DENMARK	Stuttgart  ITV
16-June	(8pm)	SERBIA v ENGLAND	Gelsenkirchen  BBC
20-June	(2pm)	SLOVENIA v SERBIA	Munich  ITV
20-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v ENGLAND	Frankfurt  BBC
25-June	(8pm)	ENGLAND v SLOVENIA	Cologne  ITV
25-June	(8pm)	DENMARK v SERBIA	Munich  ITV

GROUP D

16-June	(2pm)	POLAND v NETHERLANDS	Hamburg  BBC
17-June	(8pm)	AUSTRIA v FRANCE	Dusseldorf  ITV
21-June	(5pm)	POLAND v AUSTRIA	Berlin  ITV
21-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v FRANCE	Leipzig  BBC
25-June	(5pm)	NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIA	Berlin  BBC
25-June	(5pm)	FRANCE v POLAND	Dortmund  BBC

GROUP E

17-June	(2pm)	ROMANIA v UKRAINE	Munich  BBC
17-June	(5pm)	BELGIUM v SLOVAKIA	Frankfurt  ITV
21-June	(2pm)	SLOVAKIA v UKRAINE	Dusseldorf  BBC
22-June	(8pm)	BELGIUM v ROMANIA	Cologne  ITV
26-June	(5pm)	SLOVAKIA v ROMANIA	Frankfurt  BBC
26-June	(5pm)	UKRAINE v BELGIUM	Stuttgart  BBC

GROUP F

18-June	(5pm)	TURKEY v GEORGIA	Dortmund  BBC
18-June	(8pm)	PORTUGAL v CZECH REPUBLIC	Leipzig  BBC
22-June	(2pm)	GEORGIA v CZECH REPUBLIC	Hamburg  BBC
22-June	(5pm)	TURKEY v PORTUGAL	Dortmund  ITV
26-June	(8pm)	GEORGIA v PORTUGAL	Gelsenkirchen  ITV
26-June	(8pm)	CZECH REPUBLIC v TURKEY	Hamburg  ITV

LAST 16

29-June	(5pm)	[38]  RUNNER-UP A v RUNNER-UP B	Berlin
29-June	(8pm)	[37]  WINNER A v RUNNER-UP C	Dortmund
30-June	(5pm)	[40]  WINNER C v THIRD PLACE D/E/F	Gelsenkirchen
30-June	(8pm)	[39]  WINNER B v THIRD PLACE A/D/E/F	Cologne
01-July	(5pm)	[42]  RUNNER-UP D v RUNNER-UP E	Dusseldorf
01-July	(8pm)	[41]  WINNER F v THIRD PLACE A/B/C	Frankfurt
02-July	(5pm)	[43]  WINNER E v THIRD PLACE A/B/C/D	Munich
02-July	(8pm)	[44]  WINNER D v RUNNER-UP F	Leipzig

QUARTER FINALS

05-July	(5pm)	(45)  WINNER [39] v WINNER [37]	Stuttgart
05-July	(8pm)	(46)  WINNER [41] v WINNER [42]	Hamburg
06-July	(5pm)	(48)  WINNER [40] v WINNER [38]	Dusseldorf
06-July	(8pm)	(47)  WINNER [43] v WINNER [44]	Berlin

SEMI FINALS

09-July	(8pm)	WINNER (45) v WINNER (46)	Munich
10-July	(8pm)	WINNER (47) v WINNER (48)	Dortmund

Team GB lose place at ice hockey top table

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.

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

2+2 • Brett Perlini

2+0 • Robert Dowd

1+1 • Ben Lake

1+1 • Lewis Hook
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

Free hit for Team GB in ice hockey finals

"THEY'RE going to Switzerland!" roared commentator Aaron Murphy as he called the final dramatic overtime play of Great Britain's incredible comeback triumph against France two years ago.

But, ultimately, neither Great Britain - nor anyone else - got to go to Switzerland after the tournament last year inevitably ended up on the long list of sporting events which were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, coronavirus has not magically gone away - and, even this year, all of the divisions below the elite tournament were again cancelled. 

For Team GB, that was good news as the resultant removal of relegation in these World Championships has guaranteed that, whatever happens this year, Britain will keep their place in the top flight in 2022.

In fairness, Britain had earned their place among the elite in 2018 - and retained it in 2019 - on merit with two brilliant victories over Hungary and France, respectively.

In 2018, promotion to the top division for the first time since 1994 was achieved when Robert Farmer equalised against the Hungarians with 15 seconds of regulation time remaining to give Britain the point they needed.

Then, the campaign in 2019 came down to what was effectively a relegation playoff against the French after six inconsistent performances had all ended in defeat. 

France were also without a win going into the match - and a tight opening period was shaded by Team GB.

In the second period, though, the tie shifted decidedly in favour of the French as, devastatingly, they scored three times in four minutes and one second of play. Two of the goals came just six seconds apart. 

An even game now had a very uneven score - yet, remarkably, the British team kept their nerve, and began to dominate. 

First, Robert Dowd finished neatly from a pass by Ben O'Connor - then, three minutes later, Hammond reduced the lead down to one after O'Connor's shot had been parried.

By then, the momentum switch was obvious - and, with 14 minutes still to go, Farmer found another vital goal in his locker.

Neither team could find a winner in regulation time - but, in overtime, skipper Jonathan Phillips held off some close attention down the left and found Ben Davies in front of the net.

Davies made no mistake - and Team GB were going to Switzerland, or so they thought.

This year, instead of going to Switzerland as commentator Murphy had foretold, Team GB were meant to travel to Minsk, the capital of original co-host Belarus, after being drawn in Group A.

But, on 18 January, there was another big change. International ice hockey governing body, the IIHF, decided that the World Championship could not be played in Belarus due to "safety and security issues".

And, to be honest, it would be difficult to pretend that outcome did not come as a surprise.

For months, the Belarusian capital had been paralysed by a series of protests against the government in Minsk which has been under the control of Alexander Lukashenko for the last 27 years. 

Lukashenko has built a despotic cult of personality and continues to hold in an iron grip on Belarus to the extent that he has even been described as the last dictator in Europe

Several political groups, politicians and international entities, including the European Parliament, called for Belarus to be stripped of it matches - and, eventually, the situation there became so untenable that the IIHF felt obliged to act.

Group A matches will now be held at the Olympic Sports Centre in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which has also retained its own hosting rights of Group B.

Those matches in Group B - between Latvia, Canada, Finland, United States, Germany, Norway, Italy, and Kazakhstan - will be played, as planned, at the Arena Riga.

Meanwhile, alongside Great Britain and Belarus, Group A features Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark - and, effectively, the Russia national team.

In line with a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping sanctions in December, however, the Russian team is prohibited from competing under the Russian flag or using the Russian national anthem at any Olympic Games or World Championships until 16 December 2022.

Instead, Russia must compete as "neutral athletes", not that those circumstances make the number two-ranked team any less of a threat.

By contrast, Great Britain - at 19th, the lowest ranked team - are still going to find it difficult at times to compete over the next 12 days against some of the powerhouses of the sport, even if the big guns are shorn of many of their Stanley Cup-tied NHL stars.

Meanwhile, Team GB will be without their usual coach Pete Russell who will miss the tournament after he chose to spend time with his family following the end of his season at Freiburg in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Assistant coaches Adam Keefe and Corey Neilson will co-lead this British campaign in his place.

Nevertheless, the aforementioned lack of relegation should lift a weight off the shoulders of the players - and, hopefully, that means Team GB can, once again, punch above their weight.

Pos	GROUP A	W	OTW	OTL	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	RUSSIA	3	0	0	1	15	7	+8	9
2	SWTIZERLAND	3	0	0	1	14	10	+4	9
3	SLOVAKIA	3	0	0	1	11	12	-1	9
4	CZECH REPUBLIC	1	1	0	2	12	13	-1	5
5	DENMARK	1	1	0	2	7	9	-2	5
6	BELARUS	1	0	1	2	8	12	-4	4
7	GREAT BRITAIN	1	0	1	2	8	15	-7	4
8	SWEDEN	1	0	0	3	12	9	+3	3

21-May	14:15	RUSSIA	4-3	CZECH REPUBLIC
		Burdasov [04:16 PP] Shvets-Rogovoy [35:27 SH] Barabanov [45:28] Grigorenko [59:41]	(1-1, 1-1, 2-1)	[09:26] Flek [37:53] Vrana [57:23 PP] Kubalik
21-May	18:15	BELARUS	2-5	SLOVAKIA
		Stefanovich [53:25 PP2] Sharangovic [54:22]	(0-3, 0-0, 2-2)	[03:53] Pospisil [09:17 PP] Cehlarik [11:02 PP] Pospisil [45:05] Hrivik [59:15 EN] Cehlarik
22-May	10:15	DENMARK	4-3	SWEDEN
		Nick Jensen [30:40] Nick Jensen [37:33] Kristensen [38:09] Nick Jensen [48:22 PP]	(0-0, 3-2, 1-1)	[22:06] Klingberg [35:09] Tommernes [50:56] Klingberg
22-May	14:15	GREAT BRITAIN	1-7	RUSSIA	📺
		Liam Kirk [18:46 PP]	(1-4, 0-1, 0-2)	[05:53 PP] Burdasov [07:19 SH] Grigorenko [09:21] Burdasov [10:51] Tolchinsky [30:08] Karnaukhov [49:59 PP] Kuzmenko [53:04] Slepyshev
22-May	18:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	2-5	SWITZERLAND
		Chytil [14:46 PP] Smejkal [54:59 PP]	(1-1, 0-2, 1-2)	[17:09 PP] Hoffman [24:12 PP] Meier [38:19] Scherwey [50:27 PP] Meier [57:08 PP] Hoffman
23-May	10:15	GREAT BRITAIN	1-2	SLOVAKIA	📺
		Liam Kirk [22:03]	(0-1, 1-1, 0-0)	[00:25] Hrivik [24:42] Lantosi
23-May	14:15	SWEDEN	0-1	BELARUS
			(0-0, 0-0, 0-1)	[40:33] Nesterov
23-May	18:15	DENMARK	0-1	SWITZERLAND
			(0-1, 0-0, 0-0)	[13:12] Meier
24-May	14:15	SLOVAKIA	3-1	RUSSIA
		Kelemen [30:00] Gernat [53:19 PP] Daloga [58:59 EN]	(0-0, 1-1, 2-0)	[31:06 PP] Barabanov
24-May	18:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	3-2 OT	BELARUS
		Kovar [29:44] Zadina [33:03 PP] Kubalik [61:23 PP]	(0-0, 2-1, 0-1) (1-0)	[25:52] Sharangovich [51:30] Yeryomenko
25-May	14:15	GREAT BRITAIN	2-3 OT	DENMARK	📺
		Ben O'Connor [02:33] Mike Hammond [56:18]	(1-2, 0-0, 1-0) (0-1)	[10:19] Jakobsen [13:44 PP] Nick Jensen [64:35 PP] Lauridsen
25-May	18:15	SWITZERLAND	0-7	SWEDEN	📺
			(0-2, 0-2, 0-3)	[08:35] Froden [10:00 PP] A Kempe [22:33] Olofsson [30:24] Froden [41:18 PP] Nygren [47:14] Lundkvist [50:46] Tommernes
26-May	14:15	RUSSIA	3-0	DENMARK
		Morozov [39:18 PP] Barabanov [49:41] Voronkov [56:35]	(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
26-May	18:15	BELARUS	3-4	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
		Kodola [29:15] Platt [51:19] Prince [57:43]	(0-1, 1-2, 2-1)	[13:38] Liam Kirk [37:06] Ben Davies [38:35] Liam Kirk [48:41] Mike Hammond
27-May	14:15	SWITZERLAND	8-1	SLOVAKIA
			(1-0, 3-0, 4-1)
27-May	18:15	SWEDEN	2-4	CZECH REPUBLIC	📺
			(2-0, 0-0, 0-4)
28-May	14:15	SWEDEN	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
28-May	18:15	DENMARK	Score	BELARUS
			(Periods)
29-May	10:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
29-May	14:15	SWITZERLAND	Score	RUSSIA
			(Periods)
29-May	18:15	SLOVAKIA	Score	DENMARK
			(Periods)
30-May	14:15	BELARUS	Score	SWITZERLAND
			(Periods)
30-May	18:15	SWEDEN	Score	SLOVAKIA
			(Periods)
31-May	14:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	Score	DENMARK
			(Periods)
31-May	18:15	RUSSIA	Score	SWEDEN	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	10:15	SWITZERLAND	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	14:15	SLOVAKIA	Score	CZECH REPUBLIC	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	18:15	RUSSIA	Score	BELARUS
			(Periods)

Pos	GROUP B	W	OTW	OTL	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	FINLAND	3	0	1	0	11	5	+6	10
2	GERMANY	3	0	0	1	19	9	+10	9
3	UNITED STATES	3	0	0	1	13	5	+8	9
4	KAZAKHSTAN	1	2	0	1	8	8	-	7
5	LATVIA	2	0	1	1	9	7	+2	7
6	CANADA	1	0	0	3	6	12	-6	3
7	NORWAY	1	0	0	3	9	15	-6	3
8	ITALY	0	0	0	3	5	16	-11	0

21-May	14:15	GERMANY	9-4	ITALY
		Kuehnhackl [15:56] M Mueller [18:44] Rieder [24:23] Tiffels [27:47 PP] Noebels [35:13] Reichel [37:52] Noebels [38:35] Plachta [42:52 SH] Pfoederl [48:41]	(2-2, 5-0, 2-2)	[17:42] Petan [18:07] Frigo [43:22 PP] Bardaro [44:06 PP] Frank
21-May	18:15	CANADA	0-2	LATVIA	📺
			(0-1, 0-1, 0-0)	[19:58] Indrasis [28:39] Batna
22-May	10:15	NORWAY	1-5	GERMANY
		Lilleberg [36:21]	(0-1, 1-3, 0-1)	[19:44] Plachta [23:19 PP] Gewanke [26:04] Pfoederl [30:35] Reichel [44:41] Bergmann
22-May	14:15	FINLAND	2-1	UNITED STATES
		Ohtamaa [26:54] Pakarinen [35:41]	(0-0, 2-1, 0-0)	[38:01 PP] Robertson
22-May	18:15	LATVIA	2-3 GWS	KAZAKHSTAN
		Darzins [27:44] Ri. Bukarts [45:25] [3/8 in shootout]	(0-0, 1-1, 1-1) (0-0) (0-1)	[38:59] Shin [45:37] Blacker [4/8 in shootout]
23-May	10:15	NORWAY	4-1	ITALY
		Trettenes [10:04] Rosseli Olsen [25:12 PP] Trettenes [36:01 PP] Trettenes [40:59]	(1-0, 2-0, 1-1)	[51:55] Frank
23-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	2-1 GWS	FINLAND
		Panyukov [35:56 PP] [3/4 in shootout]	(0-0, 1-1, 0-0) (0-0) (1-0)	[33:24] Lundell [1/4 in shootout]
23-May	18:15	CANADA	1-5	UNITED STATES	📺
		Comtois [51:35]	(0-1, 0-3, 1-1)	[07:42] Robertson [21:19] Clendening [23:27 PP] Moore [38:20] Moore [57:06] Tennyson
24-May	14:15	LATVIA	3-0	ITALY
		Karsums [32:08] Darzins [58:48] Karsums [59:48 EN]	(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
24-May	18:15	GERMANY	3-1	CANADA	📺
		Loibl [10:46] Plachta [11:24] Holzer [57:59 EN]	(2-1, 0-0, 1-0)	[18:19] Paul
25-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	3-0	KAZAKHSTAN
		Clendening [06:57] Moore [21:33 EA] Drury [41:58]	(1-0, 1-0, 1-0)
25-May	18:15	FINLAND	5-2	NORWAY
		Pakarinen [14:24] Lundell [21:40] Nousiainen [25:54] Innala [47:17 PP] Bjorninen [53:25]	(1-1, 2-0, 2-1)	[01:30] M. Olimb [41:13] Lindstrom
26-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	3-2	GERMANY
		Shin [26:39] Starchenko [40:31 PS] Akolzin [55:42]	(0-0, 1-2, 2-0)	[29:38] Kuehnhackl [34:07 PP] Eisenschmidt
26-May	18:15	CANADA	4-2	NORWAY
		Brown [00:22] Henrique [10:23 PP2] Mangiapane [34:41] Henrique [50:14 SH]	(2-0, 1-2, 1-0)	[29:08] Valkvae Olsen [30:28] Rosselli Olsen
27-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	4-2	LATVIA	📺
			(2-2, 2-0, 0-0)
27-May	18:15	FINLAND	3-0	ITALY
			(2-0, 1-0, 0-0)
28-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	Score	CANADA
			(Periods)
28-May	18:15	LATVIA	Score	NORWAY
			(Periods)
29-May	10:15	ITALY	Score	KAZAKHSTAN
			(Periods)
29-May	14:15	NORWAY	Score	UNITED STATES
			(Periods)
29-May	18:15	GERMANY	Score	FINLAND	📺
			(Periods)
30-May	14:15	ITALY	Score	CANADA	📺
			(Periods)
30-May	18:15	FINLAND	Score	LATVIA	📺
			(Periods)
31-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	Score	GERMANY	📺
			(Periods)
31-May	18:15	NORWAY	Score	KAZAKHSTAN
			(Periods)
01-June	10:15	CANADA	Score	FINLAND
			(Periods)
01-June	14:15	ITALY	Score	UNITED STATES
			(Periods)
01-June	18:15	GERMANY	Score	LATVIA
			(Periods)

📺 Live coverage of all seven of Great Britain's matches will be provided by Livesports (Freeview Ch 64, Sky HD Ch 422, Virgin TV Ch 553 and on the Freesports player). Livesports will also have coverage of 18 other games across the tournament.