GB U20 Overcome Lions

A blistering seven-goal first period set the GB U20 on their way to a 10-0 win over Nottingham Lions at the National Ice Centre on Tuesday night.

Peter Russell’s side are in the middle of a two-day camp ahead of their World Championship in Estonia which starts on 7 December.

The GB side were captained on the night by Bobby Chamberlain and started with Jordan Hedley between the pipes. Hedley’s opposite number, Warren Gilfoyle, was beated inside the first minute as Sam Duggan opened the scoring at 0.54.

It set the tone for a remarkable period where the Great Britain side converted six more times before the first interval.

Lewis Hook (PP), Duggan again and Tom Rutkis made it 4-0 before the ten minute mark. Michael Stratford, Bobby Chamberlain and another powerplay effort – this from Ben Nethersell – completed the first period scoring.

Period two saw Tom Hovell take over between the pipes for Nottingham, and the home side adjusted their defensive systems to better cope with the GB pace. The u20 took their first penalty in 26th minute, but that didn’t stop Cameron Wynn from adding to their goal tally with a backhand finish for a short-handed goal at 27.02. Wynn added his second of the night on a delayed penalty at 34.36.

That goal saw Denis Bell replace Jordan Hedley in net for GB for the remainder of the game.
Both sides had chances in an even third period, the only score coming from the stick of Sam Duggan who completed his hat-trick at 50.53 and rounded out the scoring.

Man of the match honours went to Ivan Antonov for GB and Perry Doyle for Lions.

After the match, GB Head Coach Peter Russell said: “The game allowed us to work on things in a game situation and get the younger players some good ice time. It was a worthwhile part of our camp this week and helps us build towards our tournament next month.”

The squad will continue their camp on Wednesday at Ice Sheffield with on and off-ice sessions.

Great Britain’s IIHF World U20 Division 2 Group A in Tallinn runs from December 7-13 and features the hosts Estonia, Korea, Lithuania, Netherlands and Romania.