State of the Nation - Ice Hockey: Mid-season camp would give national team equal footing

Based on the solid foundations laid by former head coach Paul Thompson during his five-year stint in the role, the GB team had often flirted with promotion and gold medals before last year, finally getting their just reward in front of their own fans after years of near-misses.

Naturally, the move up to Division One, Group A will bring with it tougher tests in the shape of Kazakhstan, Poland and hosts Hungary, as well as Italy and Slovenia, both of whom were relegated from the top tier last year, with the latter competing in next month’s Olympics in PyeongChang.

In terms of preparation for the event in Budapest between April 22-28, the first chance Russell will have to get his squad together won’t be until around 10 days before, once the domestic season has concluded.

There will be two warm-up games during that time against Lithuania but that will pale in comparison with the preparations of some of the other teams they will encounter in Budapest. Poland, Italy and Hungary have already played in the host city in a four-team tournament with Japan last November, with another similar tournament scheduled to take place next month.

Once again GB won’t be there and you can’t help but think that – at the very least – a couple of in-season training camps or exhibition games where Russell could bring his players together would only help serve to enhance the talented squad’s development.

Domestically, the demise of the English Premier Ice Hockey League last Spring has produced a bigger gap between the Elite League and the next tier, with the likes of Hull Pirates and Sheffield Steeldogs eventually being moved in to a rejigged version of the National Ice Hockey League.

Given Manchester Phoenix’s demise and the move of Guildford Flames and Milton Keynes Lightning up into the Elite League, it left just seven teams in the EPIHL and, once nobody could be found to plug the gap, ‘option B’ was activated which seems to have eventually seen teams adapt.

In the Elite League, the coveted regular season league title seems to be defending champions Cardiff Devils’ to throw away.

Currently on a 13-match winning streak, Andrew Lord’s team are six points clear having just passed the halfway stage. Once again, it will be down to the likes of Belfast and a resurgent Sheffield Steelers to try and stop them.