As Great Britain heads back to the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in May, the national team has enjoyed a busier year than usual. Two rounds of European Cup of Nations action offered head coach Pete Russell a valuable opportunity to look at some of the emerging talent available to him.

And that has filtered into the roster that will head to Fribourg. The team unveiled in late March features three players – defender Kyle Inglis and forwards Sam Lyne and Jack Hopkins – who made their GB debuts in this season’s Euro events.

Inglis, 27, is the most experienced of the trio after spending nine years in the Elite League with his hometown Dundee Stars. Hopkins, 21, was part of the GB NextGen program last season and made his full international debut in November. The Coventry Blaze forward got his first goal for his country in a 5-4 win over Poland in February. And Lyne, 20, learned his hockey in Chelmsford before crossing the Atlantic to play juniors. He’s heading to Colgate University next season to start his NCAA career.

Investing in youth

Finding potential World Championship players was an unexpected bonus for Russell and his coaching staff. Speaking after February’s tournament in Edinburgh, where GB finished third after an entertaining 5-4 win over Poland on the last evening, he admitted the focus was never on the upcoming test in Switzerland.

“It was always more about the young players,” Russell said. “This was probably the youngest team I’ve ever had, so it wasn’t really any mass preparation for the Worlds. 

“Some of the youngsters really put themselves in the spotlight, and to see them compete against these teams was awesome. We beat two good teams here in Poland and Ukraine and I think they learned a lot.

“It’s about the next generation and the Poland game was great for them. They lost momentum, but it was good to see them stick together. This is a team that battles for sure.”

For Logan Neilson, the youthful roster put him in an unusual position. “It was weird,” he smiled. “I felt like one of the older guys for a change. Normally I’m the youngest on the team every years.

“But this was awesome. We had a bunch of kids who never had the opportunity to play for GB before. New kids, new systems, and I felt like we did a great job.

“I thought a couple of guys stood out and had a great weekend. Probably they gave Pete [Russell] some hard decisions to make.”

Neilson, 23, made his competitive GB debut in last season’s Division IA promotion campaign and found himself in a more prominent role in the European Cup of Nations contests in Sosnowiec and Edinburgh. That put him on the power play, where his shot proved a useful weapon, securing four goals in six games through the two mini-tournaments.

“I would have liked some points from five-on-five as well, but it felt like my best opportunities came on the PP this weekend,” he smiled.

Strength in depth

Meanwhile, Russell also believes that the GB teams that skated in Sosnowiec and Edinburgh this season highlight the robust health of the British game. Far from being limited to the import-heavy Elite League, the class of 2025-26 also drew on the second-tier NIHL.

Of those, forward Sean Norris, 26, now at Milton Keynes, made the World Championship roster, while several more had a positive impact.

Teenage goalie Ben Leach-Clarke backstopped a debut win in that Poland game, coping with adversity as GB blew a 2-0 lead in five frantic minutes at the start of the second period. The 19-year-old is a Belfast Giants prospect but has yet to play in the Elite League and has just nine games in the NIHL to date. Meanwhile, forward Finley Bradon, 20, potted the go-ahead goal to make it 4-3 in that game. He began his career at the Billingham club where current GB captain Robert Dowd learned the game and now a leading scorer for Leeds Knights, last year’s NIHL champion.

“I think we had nine NIHL players in Edinburgh,” said Russell. “They learned a lot, which is good for them, and we got to see how they can play at this pace. They worked hard, they sustained it for the full 60 minutes, three games in three days, which is really awesome.

“And you can see why attendances [at all levels of British hockey] are up. I think people are enjoying hockey right across the country.”