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.”

Thompson: Tough Call

It wasn't easy picking the All Star teams.

If Paul Thompson just had to pick the best players it would probably have been more straightforward, but since he had to fit in 4 players from each team there was always going to be someone left out in the cold.

Thompson had to perform a balancing act to fill the roster spots, and in an interview with skysports.com, he revealed that the competition for places was so great that he could have picked an entirely different team.

“I could have picked a team of different guys and I suppose Dave Matsos could have done the same,” Thompson said.

“It’s tough picking two imports and two imports from each team because there maybe better players, but you’re trying to pick so many defencemen so many forwards.”

The notable absentees from Thompson's squad include Sylvain Deschatelets (23+44, fourth overall in scoring), Dan Tessier (17+44, ninth overall in scoring) and Mike Prpich (24+21, leads Cardiff in points).

Still, it's difficult to argue that any of the imports in their place don't deserve to be there.

Thompson picked from five teams representing the South – Coventry, Cardiff, Hull, Basingstoke and Nottingham – and tried to base his decisions not just on points, but on players’ all round contributions.

“Take a guy like Bruce Richardson from Nottingham (who’s been selected),” Thompson added.

“He’s a guy who I think has been their heartbeat, but he may not be their best player. You try and pick guys who have performed steadily throughout the season for their team and not just in the scoring department."

Blaze: Playing Catch-up

If Paul Thompson guides the Blaze to the league title having just seen the Steelers take a nine-point lead at the top of the table by beating Belfast 2-1 on the road, he's going to need Blake Forsyth and Erik Hjalmarsson to deliver the goods.

With games in hand and fixtures against Sheffield coming up, the Blaze can get right back in it and Thompson's counting on the Canadian defenceman and Swedish forward for a late-season shot of adrenaline.

“Blake Forsyth looks like the real deal,” Thompson said in an interview with skysports.com.

“He’s come in and been solid and steady and I’m happy with his contribution so far. He got the game-winner against Edinburgh this weekend so we can’t be disappointed at all.”

The Blaze don't appear to have fully recovered from losing the core of last year's team, especially defenceman Neal Martin. Corey LeClair had the unenviable task of filling Martin's skates, and made way for Forsyth to come in, although Jon Coleman guested on the blueline for a while. Now with LeClair and Coleman having provided a buffer between him and Martin, maybe Forsyth can help Blaze fans finally forget.

After replacing underperforming forward Scott Kelman with Hjalmarsson, Thompson is pleased to see something in the Swede that he hasn't seen all season in his current squad.

“He’s been out with an injury for three months and is only three games back in,” Thompson added.

“He’s a little short on fitness, but I saw glimpses of things he can do which we don’t currently have on the roster. We’ll work hard with him over the next week to get his fitness levels up.”

With the Blaze playing four of their next six games against top four opposition, it won't take long to figure out just how good they are.

Coming soon on elite hockey today: We hear from Andy French, the EIHL's Director of Hockey, as he discusses discipline, rivalry and the playoffs.

Blaze: Coleman's Mustard

Jon Coleman made an immediate impact in his Blaze debut, helping his new team to a 4-2 win against the Devils.

With Swedish blueliner Matt Soderstrom sidelined with a Stomach injury, the former Detroit Red Wings draft pick was brought in to provide cover during the festive schedule.

And Blaze coach Paul Thompson has been impressed by the incoming D-man.

“He can make a pass and his positioning is very good," Thompson said in an interview with skysports.com.

"What he gives us at the back is that experience because we’re quite young on defence. Soderstrom is our most experience defenceman and our most defensive defenceman and he’s out of the line-up."

Soderstrom will have surgery on Wednesday to repair a hernia and is expected to be out for a month. Coleman’s arrival will ease the pressure on the Swede to return to the active roster, allowing him the time to fully recover.

Coleman, 33, has played in several leagues in Europe and could well return to the continent for the second half of the season.

“He’s only signed a contract here until January,” Thompson added.

“I think he was waiting for a bigger offer to come through from Europe and this gives him an opportunity to start playing again and get into some game shape.”

Thompson compared Coleman to former Blaze defenceman Reid Simonton, who was a key part of the league-winning side in 2006/07.

“He reminds me of Reid because he’s very cool and calm on the puck, very smooth,” Thompson said.

“Coleman brings us that leadership and experience, even in his first game the comments that he was making on the bench were all positive. He was supporting guys and talking to them – he’s a 13 year veteran who has played at the highest levels.”

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.

November to Remember?

Paul Thompson is ready for the busiest month in his career as he begins his mission to take the national side to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

With Olympic qualification on the line, the Blaze competing for their third straight Elite League title and also entering European club competition later this month, Thompson has a hectic November schedule.

And in an interview with skysports.com, Thompson revealed just how busy he is.

“It’s ridiculous – I keep having to look up at the scoreboard to see who we’re playing in all of these different competitions!” Thompson joked.

“It is an awfully busy time and a draining time, but it’s an exciting time and I’m looking forward to our first game.”

Team GB's first game is against Poland, who won the last meeting between the teams at the World Championships in April after a penalty shootout.

“I’ve been speaking to my assistant coaches on a daily basis,” Thompson said.

“For the last couple of weeks we’ve been discussing how we are going to put the lines together and work on our powerplays and penalty killing to get the right balance.”

With so much administrative work required this month in addition to the actual games, Thompson praised the work of Andy Buxton, who is the general manager of the GB senior men’s team.

“I’m grateful to have a guy like Andy to help me out because he does a lot of work and takes care of many of the problems and issues that come up,” Thompson added.

“While I do a lot of admin work for the Blaze, Andy does a lot of the admin for the national team and it would be very difficult to get it all done without him.”

Buxton believes that allowing Thompson to concentrate on winning games and not have to worry about paperwork will enable the team to perform better in Poland.

“We have a good off-ice team and we try to take away all the worries and concerns from the coaching staff and players,” Buxton told skysports.com.

“If we can do the best job that we can to take care of everything off the ice, all Paul has to worry about is his team and trying to win the game.”

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!

Update: Does Murphy have the upper hand?

Having seen Stephen Murphy's performance in the 6-2 win against Cardiff on Sunday night, it would be big a surprise to see Stevie Lyle start in goal for Team GB on Thursday against Poland. Lyle's only game this weekend was Saturday's 6-3 home defeat against Hull.

Murphy was the number one to finish the World Championships in April and, if anything, he has only improved since. Of course, we won't find out until head coach Paul Thompson confirms it, but if I were a betting man...

Still, it's not exactly an easy decision. And Murphy's Phoenix team-mate Nathan Ward wouldn't like to be the one to choose between them.

"It’s tough to say, but I’m sure whoever gets in there will be deserving," Ward told the Manchester Phoenix game programme.

"Murphy’s a great goalie, he’s proved it this year and he’s given us a chance to win every game."

You can hear more from Ward in next weekend's Phoenix game programme.

Does Murphy have the upper hand?

Continuing elite hockey today's coverage of the build up to next week's Olympic qualification tournament, here's an update on the Team GB goalie battle between Stevie Lyle and Stephen Murphy.

Belfast goalie Lyle might have lost his chance at being the starter after conceding five goals on 24 shots on Saturday as the G-men crashed 6-3 at home against Hull.

Phoenix netminder Murphy allowed the same amount of goals in a 5-4 defeat to the Panthers. However, considering the relative strength of the opposition, looking at the league table, Saturday's results could give Murphy one hand on the starting job.

With the Giants out of action tonight, a good outing from Murphy at the Altrincham Ice Dome, where the Phoenix host the Devils, could help him lock down the position.

At this point, it's fair to say that head coach Paul Thompson is no wiser about who should start, unless he's secretly made up his mind already.

Maybe Murphy will make his decision much easier tonight.

One Love, One Glove

Earlier this week, elite hockey today discovered that Stephen Murphy was in the dark as to who would start for Team GB in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers - himself, or Stevie Lyle?

Murphy's apparently not the only one who doesn't know.

In an interview with skysports.com, head coach Paul Thompson said that he's not made up his mind yet and will be keeping an eye on the two netminders this weekend.

Lyle only has one game (home vs Hull on Saturday), but Murphy has a more difficult challenge ahead (away vs Nottingham on Saturday, home vs Cardiff on Sunday).

Will the tougher schedule hurt or harm Murphy's chances? Or is Thompson just keeping his cards close to his chest?

“We’ve got a weekend of games to go and anything can happen in that time,” Thompson said.

“I’m not a man who is afraid to make a decision and I’d rather have a hard decision to make than an easy one. They’re both playing well and by having that healthy competition it means we have a better national team.”

Murphy is the only Phoenix player in the squad, but Lyle is one of six Giants.

“I’m delighted with the form of both of them,” Thompson added.

“Goaltending is a crucial part of every team and it helps when you have two guys in competition for that number one spot.”

In the World Championships in April it was Murphy who played the majority of minutes, starting the team’s final three games. Lyle played in the shootout defeat against Poland and was pulled in the third period of the 10-5 loss to Austria.

Both goalies have experience of playing in Europe and Thompson has been impressed by Murphy’s development after he iced in Norway last year.

“When Murphy came back halfway through last year in France (at the Mont Blanc Euro Challenge Tournament), I saw a different netminder,” he said.

“He was playing in the Norwegian league on a poor team and doing really well. With him being back in the Elite League and Manchester and near the top of the table it’s great, just as it is for Lyle at Belfast.”

Thompson’s squad travel to Sanok, a town in south-eastern Poland, to play the host country (Nov 6), Japan (Nov 7) and Romania (Nov 9) in Group D of the pre-qualification tournament.

The group winners will advance to the final qualification round in February 2009.

Full Team GB squad here.

Starting Gridlock

With only a week until Team GB travel to Poland for the Pre Olympic Qualification Tournament, head coach Paul Thompson is facing a selection dilemma.

Thompson’s already named his squad for the games against Poland (Nov 6), Japan (Nov 7) and Romania (Nov 9), but he’s yet to name his starting goalie. It comes down to either Belfast's Stevie Lyle or Manchester's Stephen Murphy.

If Thompson has made up his mind, he hasn’t told Murphy yet.

“I’m not sure which way he’s going to go at the moment.” Murphy told the Manchester Phoenix game programme.

“I think it’ll be a tough one for him. For myself, obviously I want to play the games and I’ve played the last three games for the national team going back to the world championships earlier this year.”

Who would you pick?

You can read the entire article in this week's Phoenix game night programme.