Road to Vancouver ends in Poland

Team GB won't be going to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Friday's 2-1 defeat to Japan means that it's all over for head coach Paul Thompson and co.

Of course, even if Team GB had come through the pre-qualification event, they would have had to negotiate an even tougher final round in February in Group E, Group F or Group G.

Reaching Vancouver was always unlikely, but getting through to the final qualification stage in February would have undoubtedly elevated the game's profile in Britain, especially when all things Olympic are in vogue.

Next time, hopefully the game in Britain will be economically stable enough to allow for a schedule break around qualification.

As Thompson told the elite league website:

"It's a crying shame for the guys who have done everything we expected of them. Some of the younger players have really shown their quality, we are down and disappointed today but I'm as sure as I can be that the future with these lads is more promising than it has been in the past."

Still, let's not be too disappointed. When it comes to Olympic dreams being shattered, it could be worse.