Assistant Coach Corey Neilson believes Great Britain are up for the challenge of facing Finland – the number one team in the world and Olympic champions – in the 2022 IIHF World Championship in Tampere this afternoon.
GB will face the hosts in-front of a sold-out 13,500 crowd at the Nokia Arena.
Neilson said: “When the crowd gets going, they have great momentum in the building.
“It’s going to be a tough ask but I know the guys will be up for the challenge.
“If we could raise our emotional level even another bar, that’s going to be critical.
“When you play against a team like Finland, they are relentless. Not only do they skate better than we do, they’re a big team.”
Finland have not lost in regulation time so far, with wins over Norway (5-0), Latvia (2-1) and USA (4-1), before a penalty-shot defeat by Sweden.
“Our guys need to be willing to go into combative situations as hard as they can,” continued Neilson.
“We need to play simple, have good goaltending and move the puck as efficiently as we can.
“We have watched the games Finland have played and they’re a heck of a team.”
There’s live coverage on FreeSports this afternoon with six-time Olympic broadcaster Aaron Murphy and former GB forward Paul Adey who won 55 caps between 1995 and 2001, scoring 28 goals and contributing 24 assists for 52 points.
FreeSports is available free on Sky Channel 422, Virgin Media Channel 553, on Channel 64 on Freeview and BT and via the FreeSports Player.