One Number One

Team GB head coach Paul Thompson no longer faces a 50/50 decision.

Instead of having to make the difficult choice between Stevie Lyle and Stephen Murphy, Thompson simply has to pencil in "Lehman, Jody" on his line-up card.

Now that Lehman's followed in the footsteps of Lennox Lewis, Greg Rusedski and Lesley Vainikolo and is prepared to sing along to God Save the Queen, Thompson's decision has been made for him.

Having applied for British citizenship, Canadian-born Lehman is now eligible to play for the national team and Thompson has drafted him into his thirty man roster for the upcoming World Championships.

And after four years on opposing sides, Thompson is thrilled to be reunited with the man he brought into the country seven years ago.

Lehman has been playing in Britain since 2002 when he was signed by Thompson to play for the Coventry Blaze before moving on to play for the Sheffield Steelers in 2005.

After guiding the Steelers to the playoff title in 2007/08, Lehman has now added to his trophy haul by winning the Elite League championship.

“It’ll be a nice thing (to have Jody back on my team),” Thompson said in an exclusive interview with skysports.com.

“He makes us a better team right from the off. Sheffield have been the most consistent team and Jody has won them games this year. Hopefully he can do exactly the same for Great Britain.”

The initial squad of 30 will be reduced to 23 before the World Championships begin on April 11 in Torun, Poland.

But Lehman, who leads the Elite League with a 2.15 Goals-Against-Average and a 92.9 Save Percentage, is a certainty to make the final roster.

“He brings a winning attitude,” Thompson added.

“I know him really well – I brought him into the country and we won the Grand Slam together. He’s one of those guys who if he gets a sniff of success – it’s hard to stop him. They’ve got a great team in Sheffield and they deserve to be where they are.”

While Lehman's arrival makes Team GB better immediately, the only negative side of it is that Murphy and Lyle are now on the outside looking in, essentially competing to be number two. But both goalies could still see some action next month, perhaps against one of the weaker teams in the group or depending how results go.

Results haven't gone so well for Thompson's Coventry Blaze against Lehman this year. Coventry have only beaten Lehman and the Steelers once in six attempts this season and Thompson believes that the All Star goalie is in the form of his life.

“I think he’s been better this year than he was in the Grand Slam year in Coventry,” he said.

“Jody’s making the crucial saves at crucial times. He’s very proud to be a part of the GB set up as it’s something that he’s wanted to for a number of years.”