KIEV, UKRAINE – Team GB were agonisingly close to a place in the elite of international ice hockey, but Kazakshtan defeated the Ukraine in overtime to take the gold. Britain’s gold medal dreams came to an end when Kazakhstan and the Ukraine were level after regulation, before Fyodor Polishuk struck in overtime. Britain had earlier beaten Poland to keep their goal medal hopes alive thanks to goals from Jonathan Weaver, Russell Cowley and Ben O’Connor. Team GB coach Paul Thompson said, “This is the proudest moment of my hockey career. “This was the toughest World Championship group we have been in and to beat the four teams we have, has been an amazing achievement.” Britain were seven minutes away from gold after Oleg Tymchenko had given the hosts a 2-1 lead. However, Andreileg Gavrilin equalised to force overtime – ending Brtian’s gold medal chances. GB captain Weaver led his team for points with one goal and seven assists, while David Clarke was Britain’s top scorer with four goals. Stephen Murphy, who made several important saves throughout the tournament to give Britain a chance of a medal was chosen as the best goaltender. The Belfast Giants stopper made 129 saves during the tournament with a save percentage of 93.48 and a goals against average of 1.89. Roman Savchenko of Kazakhstan was chosen as best defencemen of the tournament while best forward went to Olexander Materukhin of the Ukraine. “We are all still pretty low but in a couple of days it will sink in what we achieved,” added Thompson. Kazakshan return to the elite tier of the game at the first attempt after taking the gold, while the Ukraine claimed the bronze medal. Contact the author david.bol@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.