Britain Finally Qualifies In IIHF After 25 Years, Gets First Win

Great Britain’s National men’s ice hockey team will compete at the I.I.H.F. world championship for the first time in 25 years.

“Just because you’re from England, doesn’t mean you have to play football or soccer. We can play hockey too,” defenseman Ben O’Connor said following the win.

Britain is now qualified for the 16-team tournament under some circumstances last year in Budapest. Robert Farmer scored with 16 seconds left to earn Britain the promotion to the top level of international hockey and was able to overcome a 2-0 deficit against Hungary in the Division 1A gold medal game, according to The New York Times.

Germany, Denmark, Canada, the United States, Finland and Slovakia had already won against Britain. Despite that, the Brits still earned their opponents’ respect.

“We’ve been a close team for quite a while now — we like to be underdogs and try to prove people wrong,” said forward Jonathan Phillips, the team captain.

According to Ice Hockey U.K., there are 13,325 registered players in the country and 68 rinks. Ten years ago, there were 5,627 players and 44 rinks.

In addition to this, Britain has just won their first game. Monday's match was a winner-takes-all encounter for survival after six losses to Slovakia. The match was able to produce excellent and terrific entertainment.

Britain is now assured of a place in the 2020 World Championship in Switzerland, thanks to Davies’ goal. Their victory on Monday only means that they will participate at the highest level in successive years for the first time since 1951, BBC Sports reported.

Britain used to rank 22nd in the world and were the lowest-rated side in the competition. The Brits’ campaign started in a difficult situation, with 38 goals conceded in their opening six matches and only five scored. But now, the Brits finally got their first big win.

Now that Britain has already made it after 25 long years, a big question seems to play at the back of every British and ice hockey fan around the world: can Britain keep this momentum and set a winning streak all throughout the competition?

Whatever the answer is, two things are sure at this moment: Britain is in and the British fans are celebrating. The rest of the teams should follow suit in the following days.

IIHF has yet to announce Britain’s next opponent, but the team's next game is expected to generate tons of excitement for ice hockey fans.