Have Skates, Will Travel

Ideally, Team GB would have flown into Poland last weekend, took a few days to unwind, practice and get ready for Thursday’s opening game against the host country in the pre Olympic qualification tournament.

But with Elite League fixtures and the extra cost of financing an extended stay both factoring in, head coach Paul Thompson and company are travelling today.

In an interview with skysports.com, Andy Buxton, the GM of the men’s senior team, outlined the travel itinerary.

“We leave Coventry at 5:00am for a two hour bus journey to Heathrow,” Buxton said.

“Then we have a flight to Warsaw and then we have an internal flight in Poland. From there we have another hour and a half on the coach to Sanok and then when we arrive we’ll probably just collapse!”

Still, it could be worse. It’s fair to say that Japan, who are also in Group D, have a slightly harder travel itinerary!