World Championships Pool (B) 7th place finish
*Known to be Canadian born players
| Goalie | Bill Morrison | Basingstoke Beavers |
| Goalie | Stephen Foster | Durham Wasps |
| Goalie | Ricky Grubb | Fife Flyers |
| Defence | Lee Saunders | Basingstoke Beavers |
| Defence | *Matt Cote | Bracknell Bees |
| Defence | *Shannon Hope (C) | Cardiff Devils |
| Defence | Paul Dixon | Durham Wasps |
| Defence | *Terry Kurtenbach | Guildford Flames |
| Defence | Rick Strachan | Milton Keynes Kings |
| Defence | *Jeff Lindsay | Peterborough Pirates |
| Defence | *Ian Pound | Solihull Barons |
| Forward | Neil Morgan | Blackburn Hawks |
| Forward | Nicky Chinn | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Ian Cooper | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Damien Smith | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Ian Robertson | Fife Flyers |
| Forward | *Scott Morrison | Humberside Hawks |
| Forward | *Mike Kindred | Milton Keynes Kings |
| Forward | *Ashley Tait | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Anthony Payne | Peterborough Pirates |
| Forward | *Frank Morris | Trafford Metros |
| Forward | David Smith | Trafford Metros |
| Forward | David Longstaff | Whitley Warriors |
| Coach | George Peternousek | |
| Assistants | Mike Blaisdell | Nottingham Panthers |
| Assistants | Jim Lynch | Fife Flyers |
| Assistants | Chic Cottrell | Fife Flyers |
| Manager | Nico Toemen | |
| Team Manager | Andy French |
On 13th June, 1998, GB international Lee Saunders was
tragically killed in Amsterdam.While on a cycling tour through the Dutch
capital, he was hit by a tram and died instantly.
Originally from South Shields, Lee Saunders learnt to play ice hockey in
Canada before returning to Britain. He enjoyed spells with the Lee
Valley Lions, Basingstoke Beavers, Milton Keynes Kings, Guildford Flames
and Peterborough Pirates. He also played in Europe with EC Graz in
Austria and Sterzing in Vipiteno, Italy.
World Championships, Pool B – 1995 in Slovakia.
Venue – Bratislava.
The mistakes of the previous year had clearly not been learned as in 1995, the domestic play-off finals were played across the middle weekend of the World Championship campaign. This meant some players had the unenviable task of jetting back across Europe to fulfil club obligations before once more jumping straight onto a plane to lend a hand with Great Britain’s fight against Pool B relegation. All of this left new national team coach George Peternousek, formerly with the Durham Wasps, the task of juggling a squad around the comings and goings of those players concerned.
Against all the odds that beset them, Peternousek and his coaching team of Jim Lynch, mike Blaisdell and Chic Cottrell inspired their team to stave off the threat of relegation. Great Britain produced surprising like the win over Holland after having appeared to have blown their chances with defeat at the hands of Romania. Inspired by the likes of David Longstaff, who top scored with 6+1 from the seven games, this was a fighting rearguard battle all the way, with many of the squad performing above what could reasonably have been expected.
Great Britain eventually finished in seventh place in the eight-team pool, getting themselves off the hook and surviving to compete in Pool B for another year. The significance of this achievement was not lost on BIHA president Frederick Meredith who noted, “That (world) top twenty is becoming tougher all the time with the emergence of the Soviet Bloc nations. I think it will be more difficult over the course of the next two years, if not three, to get out of Pool C than to stay in Pool B.”
| Tournament Results | ||||
| April 12th | vs | Slovakia | L3-7 | (1-0, 1-4, 1-3) |
| April 13th | vs | Romaia | L0-2 | (0-0, 0-2, 0-0) |
| April 15th | vs | Holland | W 3-2 | (1-1, 0-1, 2-0) |
| April 16th | vs | Denmark | L2-9 | (0-2, 0-3, 2-4) |
| April 18th | vs | Japan | L3-4 | (1-1, 2-2, 0-1) |
| April 19th | vs | Poland | W 4-3 | (2-1, 1-2, 1-0) |
| April 21st | vs | Latvia | L4-8 | (1-3, 0-1, 3-4) |
Compiled by Anthony Beer, using material reported at the time in the Ice Hockey News Review.