Great Britain’s professional men’s hockey team will be taking place in the 2019 IIHF World Championship games that are to be played next year in Slovakia, something that many were not expecting.
They managed to finish first in the 2018 Division 1 standings, giving them entrance to the games next year. What makes the feat even more remarkable is the fact that it will be first time they’ve taken part in the World Championships for 25 years.
The game that saw them through was their final match of the season, which they played against Hungary. Although Hungary got ahead with a 2 point lead, the Sheffield Steelers forward Robert Down scored with just nine minutes left in the game. Robert Farmer then managed one more point in the last 15.8 seconds, finalizing their place in the games for the next year.
He later told reporters, “It was rubbish but I just don’t care. I cannot put into words what I am feeling right now. It is so hard to sum it up.” We are now going to play the best teams in the world next year and that is so amazing.”
The last IIHF games that the British attended was as far back as 1994. They finished at the bottom of the pile back then, with a final loss against Austria at 10-0, and they decided to call it quits for the next 25 years.
How far they will go next year will remain to be seen, but many have high hopes.
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