Great Britain Roster

1998

Asst

Coach

World Championships, Pool B – 1998 in Slovenia.

Venues – Ljubljana and Jesenice.

Frustrating, not for the first time, would be the most appropriate word to describe the ’98 World Championship campaign.

Given the continued progression of former Soviet republics into Pool B, it was proving a tough environment in which to compete – a fact clearly illustrated as the top three teams, Ukraine, Slovenia and Estonia had finished in exactly the same order the year before in being promoted from Pool C.

Despite increasing their points total on the previous campaign in Poland, Great Britain again had to settle for a sixth place finish in an eight team pool. Such was the tightness of the section, had Great Britain have achieved a tie against Estonia instead of the single goal defeat, the bronze medal place would have been secured and with it a shot at qualification to the ’99 Pool A tournament.

Not surprisingly, the old chestnut of preparation and the difference that good preparation can make was raised and coach Peter Woods, commenting in the Ice Hockey News Review stated, “Great Britain, I think, has the potential to win a medal every time we come to these tournaments. What has hurt us has been our lack of preparation. Every team in this tournament has had preparation games throughout the year, which allowed them to do team building and expose players to the type of system they want to be playing. We haven’t enjoyed these opportunities and I think it’s a factor.”

Neil Morgan emerges as the surprise leading points scorer, netting 6+3 from the seven games played with Paul Adey and Rick Brebant picking up 4+4 and 3+5 respectively.

Compiled by Anthony Beer, using material reported at the time in the Ice Hockey News Review.