Sheffield Steelers' Ben O'Connor confident in GB's ability to progress in Italy

Defenceman O’Connor and Sheffield Steelers team-mates Rob Dowd and Jonathan Phillips were among those named in the GB squad to take part in the Olympic Pre-Qualification tournament in Cortina from February 11-14.

Pete Russell’s team will face-off against the Netherlands and Serbia in Group G, but it is the game against hosts Italy that will more than likely determine GB’s fate.

The Italians are ranked five places above Russell’s team in the rankings and will, understandably, go into the tournament on home ice as favourites.

But, by building on the silver medal gained at last year’s World Championships (Division 1B), O’Connor believes GB can spring a surprise.

“I think we’ve got a very good chance of getting through this group,” said 27-year-old O’Connor.

“We’ve done it against the odds before in Japan during the last Olympics qualifcation and I’m sure we can do it once again. We’ve seen before – such as at last year’s World Championships – that anything can happen.

“Italy will be favourites being as they’re on home ice and they are the top seeds as it stands.

“It is always special playing for your country – there’s just something so different about it and I think we’ve got the squad to do it. Last year at the worlds, nobody knew what to expect. We had a young squad, a new coaching team and we got stronger as we went on.”

The winners of Group G in Italy will go through to the final group stages of qualifying in either Belarus, Norway or Latvia, in early September.

Three group winners will then progress to the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea, in February next year, where they will come up against powerhouses of the game such as Canada, Russia and Sweden.

Hull-born Matty Davies and David Phillips, both now at Manchester Storm, also make the squad, as does Rotherham-born goaltender Ben Bowns, now plying his trade at Cardiff Devils.

GB Squad – Netminders: Bowns (Cardiff Devils), Murphy (Belfast Giants).

Defencemen: Batch (Cardiff), Lee (Nottingham Panthers), O’Connor (Sheffield Steelers), D Phillips (Manchester Storm), Richardson (Cardiff), Swindlehurst (Nottingham), Weaver (Telford Tigers).

Forwards: Boxill (Belfast), Clarke (Nottingham), B Davies (Braehead), M Davies (Manchester Storm), Dowd (Sheffield Steelers), Farmer (Nottingham), Haywood (Braehead), Lachowicz (Nottingham), Myers (Nottingham), Peacock (Belfast), J Phillips (Sheffield), Shields (Belfast).