Olympic Games Qualifying
World Championships Pool (B) 4th place finishoverall
*Known to be Canadian born players Olympic squad
| Goalie | Bill Morrison | Baingstoke Bison |
| Goalie | Stephen Foster | Durham Wasps |
| Goalie | Stevie Lyle | Cardiff Devils |
| Defence | Rick Strachan | Baingstoke Bison |
| Defence | Stephen Cooper | Cardiff Devils |
| Defence | Shannon Hope (C) | Cardiff Devils |
| Defence | Paul Dixon | Durham Wasps |
| Defence | Terry Kurtenbach | Guildford Flames |
| Defence | Mike Bishop | Humberside Seahawks |
| Defence | Jeff Lindsay | Manchester Storm |
| Defence | Graham Waghorn | Nottingham Panthers |
| Defence | Matt Cote | Bracknell Bees |
| Defence | Lee Saunders | Milton Keynes Kings |
| Defence | Darren 'Doc' Durdle | Eisbaren Berlin |
| Forward | Richard Little | Basingstoke Bison |
| Forward | Kevin Conway | Basingstoke Bison |
| Forward | Chris Chard | Basingstoke Bison |
| Forward | Scott Morrison | Basingstoke Bison |
| Forward | Doug McEwen (C) | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Ian Cooper | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Steve Moria | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Graham Garden | Deggendorf - Germany |
| Forward | Patrick Scott | Milton Keynes Kings |
| Forward | Simon Hunt | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Paul Adey | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Neil Morgan | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Ashley Tait | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Tim Cranston | Sheffield Steelers |
| Forward | Tommy Plommer | Sheffield Steelers |
| Forward | Rick Brebrant | Durham Wasps |
| Forward | David Longstaff | Newcastle Warriors |
| Coach | Peter Woods | |
| Manager | Nico Toemen |
Doug McEwen and Shannon Hope both wore the captain's C during the qualifying games
# also iced for Newcastle Warriors
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.
Olympic Qualifying Games – 1995/96.
The road to the Winter Olympics of 1998 staged in Nagano Japan began in the autumn of 1995 with the first round of qualifying games and Great Britain were to miss out on progression to the second phase by just one goal and one point.
A period spanning a week short of fourteen months saw the sides selected and iced by national team coach Peter Woods go unbeaten through all eight games they played and incredibly still finish runners-up to Switzerland by virtue of the final game between the two sides being tied 3-3 in Sheffield. Woods was in tears as the final hooter sounded and justifiably so.
Having gotten his charges to the top of the group after five games, Woods knew Great Britain would qualify if they won the remaining three games. Having already tied with the Swiss in Lausanne, confidence was high that the six points needed could be attained. After comfortable victories over Slovenia and Holland, the cause was boosted as the British Olympic Committee contributed with a grant which, enabled Woods to hold Great Britain’s first ever week long training camp in preparation for the final hurdle. Included in the training camp was a challenge match, held in Blackburn, against the touring University of Manitoba hockey team, coincidentally Woods’ old Canadian college side. Great Britain maintained their winning ways beating the collegians 5-3 to send them into that fateful final game in good heart.
Ahead of the game Woods noted, “Victory is very important to us as an ice hockey nation. If we are not successful, I am not sure what direction the national programme might go in. We have put many eggs in one basket and if it goes wrong, some people might say they have had enough.”
The must-win game against the Swiss began badly with Tim Cranston drawing a roughing penalty after only 21 seconds and Celio scoring on the resulting powerplay. Richard Little tied the game up barely 15 seconds after the re-start, but Kessler made it 2-1 to the Swiss at 14:35 with Mike Bishop in the penalty box. Shortly before the first break, Cranston made amends for his earlier indiscretion with a powerplay equaliser of his own. In the second period, Doug McEwen put Great Britain ahead for the first time only for Ivankovich to squeeze a shot between netminder Bill Morrisons’ pads and the post to make it 3-3. Great Britain attacked relentlessly through the final twenty minutes, but the Swiss held out and it was they who celebrated at the final hooter.
Throughout the course of the campaign, he brought together a total of thirty players and they served both him and the national cause superbly. Only with the benefit of hindsight, can people wonder whether Great Britain would have got that extra goal and point if high-scoring forwards Tony Hand and Rick Brebant had made themselves available for selection.
Game Results
| October 25th | vs | Holland | W 4-1 | (2-0, 2-1, 0-0) | played in Milton Keynes |
| December 13th | vs | Denmark | T 1-1 | (1-0, 0-0, 0-1) | played in Milton Keynes |
| December 20th | vs | Switzerland | T 2-2 | (1-0, 1-1, 0-1) | played in Lausanne |
| January 17th | vs | Slovenia | W 4-5 | (2-1, 0-3, 2-1) | played in Ljubljana |
| February 7th | vs | Denmark | W 2-3 | (1-1, 0-2, 1-0) | played in Copenhagen |
| November 12th | vs | Slovenia | W 5-0 | (3-0, 2-0, 0-0) | played in Sheffield |
| December 12th | vs | Holland | W 2-8 | (1-3, 1-4, 0-1) | played in Heerenveen |
| December 18th | vs | Switzerland | T 3-3 | (2-2, 1-1, 0-0) | played in Sheffield |
| Final Table standings | |||||||
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
| Switzerland | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 42 | 14 | 14 |
| Great Britain | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 51 | 15 | 13 |
| Denmark | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 28 | 7 |
| Slovenia | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 24 | 6 |
| Holland | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 55 | 0 |
Details compiled from the pages of the 1996-97 and 1997-98 Ice Hockey Annuals
World Championship squad
| Goalie | Bill Morrison | Baingstoke Bison |
| Goalie | Stephen Foster | Durham Wasps |
| Goalie | Stevie Lyle | Cardiff Devils |
| Defence | Rick Strachan | Baingstoke Bison |
| Defence | Stephen Cooper | Cardiff Devils |
| Defence | Shannon Hope | Cardiff Devils |
| Defence | Paul Dixon | Durham Wasps |
| Defence | Terry Kurtenbach | Guildford Flames |
| Defence | Mike Bishop | Humberside Seahawks |
| Defence | Jeff Lindsay | Manchester Storm |
| Forward | Kevin Conway | Basingstoke Bison |
| Forward | Merv Priest | Basingstoke Bison |
| Forward | Doug McEwen | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Ian Cooper | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Steve Moria | Cardiff Devils |
| Forward | Graham Garden | Humberside Hawks |
| Forward | Patrick Scott | Milton Keynes Kings |
| Forward | Simon Hunt | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Paul Adey | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Neil Morgan | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Ashley Tait | Nottingham Panthers |
| Forward | Tim Cranston | Sheffield Steelers |
| Forward | David Longstaff | Sheffield Steelers |
| Coach | Peter Woods | Basingstoke Bison |
| Ass Coach | Mike Blaisdell | Nottingham Panthers |
| General Manager | Nico Toemen | |
| Team Manager | Andy French |
World Championships, Pool B – 1996 in Holland.
Venue – Eindhoven.
For the return to the scene of arguably their best ever World Championship campaign, Great Britain had appointed a new national team coach in Peter Woods. Consolidation was what Woods had in mind as the team made their way to Holland and although the eventual fourth place finish from the eight team pool left some observers disappointed, it did represent a first step forward on the road back.
It also represented a sterling recovery from the initial two losses that started the campaign, although arguably the most disappointing result of the tournament was the 3-3 tie against Japan, who failed to win a game, but who did mange ties with both Denmark and Poland. The new coach brought influence as well as reputation and the benefits of an Olympic qualifying tournament (which ran throughout the season) and an 8-day training camp indicated that preparation would not be so overlooked again, indeed it was only the tie with Japan that cost Great Britain the bronze medal place.
Paul Adey and Tim Cranston, who each bagged 4+4 from the seven games played, shared the individual scoring honours.
Reflecting on his first World Championship outing, coach Peter Woods felt that the fourth place was “ a strong finish. We were very well prepared; the players were focused and wanted to be successful. It has been a rewarding competition.”
| Tournament Results | ||||
| April 10th | vs | Latvia | W 5-6 | (1-1, 4-4, 0-1) |
| April 11th | vs | Switzerland | 2-7 | (1-1, 0-3, 1-3) |
| April 13th | vs | Poland | W 4-2 | 2-0, 1-2, 1-0) |
| April 14th | vs | Holland | W 6-2 | (2-0, 3-1, 1-1) |
| April 16th | vs | Japan | T 3-3 | (3-0, 0-3, 0-0) |
| April 19th | vs | Denmark | W 5-1 | (2-1, 2-0, 1-0) |
| April 20th | vs | Belarus | W 4-2 | (2-1, 1-1, 1-0) |
Compiled by Anthony Beer, using material reported at the time in the Ice Hockey News Review