Over the weekend, the Great Britain national team took on both the Cardiff Devils in a warm up fixture before they head off to the Olympic Qualifiers as they bid for a place at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. However, preparations did not go to plan for Pete Russell and his men as back-to-back losses saw two poor performances for the ageing squad. Having just scored one goal across six periods of hockey, GB really felt the loss of Liam Kirk with the Maltby lad being with his DEL side. After the games, questions have been asked about whether Pete Russell is still the right man for the GB job after his final squad saw some big omissions.
The first of the two friendlies saw a Russell-less GB take on the Cardiff Devils. With Ben Bowns, Josh Batch, Mark Richardson, Evan Mosey, Ben Davies and Coach Pete Russell all representing the Devils on game night, a weakened GB squad took to the ice. This was reflected in the scoreline as Cardiff hammered home the goals past shot-stopper Jackson Whistle. With the game finishing 5-0 to the Devils, mixed emotions must have been going through Pete Russell’s head at the end of play. The Scotsman saw a dominant display from his Devils but at the expense of the Great Britain squad he had left for Chuck Weber and Jonathan Phillips for the night. The game did however see debuts for three players with Archie Hazeldine, Mac Howlett and Bradley Bowering all getting the nod with the absentees.
Throughout the game, GB looked beaten at each end of the ice. For a squad still licking its wounds after relegation from the IIHF’s topflight, missing its main man and key goal scorer was not what was needed. As usual, GB did not take their chances when they came with Cade Neilson being denied by Carruth on two separate breakaways in the second period alone. This is a major issue which saw GB struggle throughout the IIHF World Championships and now into the Olympic qualifiers. A well-timed shot saw Cardiff take the lead through Hunter Shinkaruk early in the first period as he carried on his impressive preseason form. Before Davey Phillips jumps in on a play allowing Reid Duke to carve open the ice and score a simple one on one past Jackson Whistle.
The first period also drew some controversy after a hit by Hunter Sinkaruk on Archie Hazeldine left some fans disgusted. After a review, Shinkaruk was free to go with the hit being considered legal by the officials. However, this did not stop some fans from taking to X to show their disgust towards the Devils forward for the incident. Although it is still preseason for the Devils, it does not mean that the physicality of the game should slow down and Shinkaruk showed this on Saturday night.
In the second period, the same story took place with Cardiff running rings around GB. Goals from MacWilliam and MacDonald doubled the Devils lead going into the second period break. Despite having chances, GB still could not find a way past Mac Carruth with Josh Waller being denied on a breakaway attempt. A stronger performance by Jackson Whistle saw the score line remain at 4-0 despite chances from Olischefski and MacDonald. GB’s defence looked extremely poor for large proportions of the game with the pairings not seeming to work well for Weber and Phillips.
In the third, GB only limited Cardiff to one goal which was a well taken shot from fan favourite Riley Brandt. This rounded off the scoring at 5-0 and sent GB on their way in search of goalscorers when Liam Kirk is not around. The Man of the match awards went to Andrew MacWilliam and Ben O’Connor. The experienced defencemen both offer their sides lots in both attack and defence with MacWilliam scoring on the night. After having a standout World Championships, Ben O’Connor moved away from the Guildford Flames and joined the Dundee Stars. At 35, this is a sensible move and one that will help his and GB’s game massively. O’Connor logged big minutes for the national team on Friday night playing on a top pairing alongside Davey Phillips of the NIHL.
Overall, GB will need to see a massive improvement in front of the net if they are to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2026. Whilst the re-inclusion of Liam Kirk will help to improve that, one man cannot do it all by himself. Players such as Cade Neilson, Brett Perlini and Robert Dowd will need to stand up to ensure GB give themselves the best chance of qualification.
Author: Will Harris
Editor: Calan Yule
All Photos From: James Assinder
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