Britian could do well..........

Great Britisn could do well in the World Championships, this year if...............Byron Dafoe plays for them. Along with Dean Richards, and the two other NHL guys, and probably Colin Shields, they could win the Division 2(I think that's what they're in), and move up to the 1 Division next year.

Great Britisn could do well in the World Championships, this year if...............Byron Dafoe plays for them. Along with Dean Richards, and the two other NHL guys, and probably Colin Shields, they could win the Division 2(I think that's what they're in), and move up to the 1 Division next year.

The GB under 18 and 20's won gold in their respective divisions... this in my opinion underlines the talent we have in this country, but then after juniors the league structure just doesn't cater for the continued development of these players. If these kids were able to get roster spots on the senior sides and be exposed to the better coaching, the senior GB team, without the need for nationalised Canadians would be pretty competitive and would win DII down the line.

Furthermore, a young kid from Hull played in both of the Gold medal winning teams, and scored goals at each age group. He was recently contacted by the Hockey Hall of fame and was asked to contribute his signed stick. Can't remember what particular milestone he had achieved or broken, but an impressive experience in itself i'm sure! I was told by one of his friends he was actually a bit gutted to lose his favorite stick! :handclap:

Great Britisn could do well in the World Championships, this year if...............Byron Dafoe plays for them. Along with Dean Richards, and the two other NHL guys, and probably Colin Shields, they could win the Division 2(I think that's what they're in), and move up to the 1 Division next year.
First, to be pedantic, Great Britain play in Division 1 which is the 2nd tier.

Second, not sure about Dean Richards, but Byron Dafoe doesn't qualify to play for GB. I believe he has dual citizenship (his website certainly claims that he's played for Canada at junior level, so I assume he must have) and therefore must play in a British league for 2 consecutive seasons before he will be allowed to play for Great Britain under IIHF rules.

Third, Colin Shields is in the squad, and has been the past 3 seasons as well.

Fourth, Byron Dafoe is not the difference between GB being promoted or not. Netminding is our strongest area. Along with Mezin (Belarus) and Szuper (Hungary), I believe that Watkins is one of the best goalies in Div 1. Back-ups Cavallin, Lyle and Murphy would be fighting for the number 1 spot in the majority of the other teams. If your team can only score a goal a game, having a goalie that only concedes 1.5 goals a game doesn't really help, though, does it?

Fifth, what happens if we bring in 5 or 6 NHL players and get promoted to the Championships Group, but those players are all involved in the playoffs next year and so Britain get hammered 9-0 every game in the top flight? Just how much harm would that do to our game?

Bringing in players who have only the loosest of connections to a country is almost always a short-term solution that involves a fairly spectacular crash at the end. What Britain need to do is put the infrastructure in place at league level to provide a depth of talent that can be used at international level. Improve the coaching, which is pretty poor at present. Reduce the number of imports, but raise their quality, so that the British players have someone to learn from and get more ice time to practice and perfect their talent.

Er, think that's it... :D

Graham.

Great Britisn could do well in the World Championships, this year if...............Byron Dafoe plays for them. Along with Dean Richards, and the two other NHL guys, and probably Colin Shields, they could win the Division 2(I think that's what they're in), and move up to the 1 Division next year.
We've had this before. Dafoe said he would play but wasn't picked, which was the right move IMO. Goaltending has been GB's strength for a while now with Watkins, Lyle and Murphy very good back-ups behind that guy who's in Germany and I can't remember his name. Colin Shields will be participating in his 3rd World Championships with Britain, Steve Thomas was invited to play for Britain and turned them, Owen Nolan is a regular for Canada and I don't think Max Taylor (University of St. Lawrence) considers himself British. Who is Dean Richards btw, the only one I can think of is an ex-Whitley player from about 10 years ago.

GB's main problem will be, as it always is, is the lack of time the team gets to prepare. Our coach isn't even employed in Britain.

Totally agree with you there Graham, about Dafoe as well as the point about promotion and loosing NHL guys due to playoffs!!



We've had this before. Dafoe said he would play but wasn't picked, which was the right move IMO. Goaltending has been GB's strength for a while now with Watkins, Lyle and Murphy very good back-ups behind that guy who's in Germany and I can't remember his name. Colin Shields will be participating in his 3rd World Championships with Britain, Steve Thomas was invited to play for Britain and turned them, Owen Nolan is a regular for Canada and I don't think Max Taylor (University of St. Lawrence) considers himself British. Who is Dean Richards btw, the only one I can think of is an ex-Whitley player from about 10 years ago.

GB's main problem will be, as it always is, is the lack of time the team gets to prepare. Our coach isn't even employed in Britain.

I beleive that Steve Thomas is not able to play for the same reason as Dafoe (not played domestically for two consecutive seasons) as well as the fact that he has played for Team Canada, against Britain i believe!

Link to Steve Thomas career, look at stats (played for Canada) (http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=11625)

I beleive that Steve Thomas is not able to play for the same reason as Dafoe (not played domestically for two consecutive seasons) as well as the fact that he has played for Team Canada, against Britain i believe!
Steve Thomas could play for GB, but would need to play 4 consecutive seasons in GB because he has already played for Canada. He would need to state his intention at the start of those 4 years, and once he'd changed, he wouldn't be allowed to change again.

Graham.

Steve Thomas could play for GB, but would need to play 4 consecutive seasons in GB because he has already played for Canada. He would need to state his intention at the start of those 4 years, and once he'd changed, he wouldn't be allowed to change again.

Graham.

Ah, I see!

Why is this, this sounds like a strange rule to me!! :dunno:
However i think it is highly unlikely he will ever play even one game over here, let alone 4 seasons! especially since he will be at least 45 by the end of those 4!! :joker:

"Full Name: Byron Jaromir Dafoe" Does anyone know his family backgorund? Jaromir doesnt sound very British to me. Jaromir jagr is czech obviously. Does anyone know if he has czech family (grandad etc)? On the subject I believe we need to implement a grass roots program. Give young kids tons of ice time to practice and have things such as GB summer camps when teams like the under 18's could practice together, developing chemistry and their personal skills.

With a lack of interest and funding this is not going to happen i the forseable future though....

The state of British hockey really frustrates me :banghead:

We've had this before. Dafoe said he would play but wasn't picked, which was the right move IMO. Goaltending has been GB's strength for a while now with Watkins, Lyle and Murphy very good back-ups behind that guy who's in Germany and I can't remember his name. Colin Shields will be participating in his 3rd World Championships with Britain, Steve Thomas was invited to play for Britain and turned them, Owen Nolan is a regular for Canada and I don't think Max Taylor (University of St. Lawrence) considers himself British. Who is Dean Richards btw, the only one I can think of is an ex-Whitley player from about 10 years ago.

GB's main problem will be, as it always is, is the lack of time the team gets to prepare. Our coach isn't even employed in Britain.


Dean Richards was born in Scotland...and plays in the NHL. I saw him in NHL 2003.

Dean Richards was born in Scotland...and plays in the NHL. I saw him in NHL 2003.
Oddly I can find no mention of a Dean Richards in the NHL. Have you ever seen him play anywhere except NHL 2003, because the associate producer of NHL 2004 is an ex-hockey player called Dean Richards. http://www.easports.com/games/nhl2004/prodinterview.jsp

Well spotted GB.. I can confirm programmers / producers like to put themselves into the games they produce :)

Either that or a mistake in the database is quite easy to make on something like his place of birth.

About Dafoe I am certain I read an interview stating he would play for Britain if they asked him to but he has never been invited. Perhaps playing for Canadian juniors does not automatically mean he cant play for another country.. many sports are hazy about whether junior international games count. Even if there is a rule in place now it might not apply to him either.

Yeah he said he would play butwas never invited. I can't remember when exactly, but it was, IIRC, around the time Dafoe wasn't put on the All-Star ballot because they couldn't decide if he belonged on the North American or Rest of the World ballot. I also think GB had a four team tournament around the time (Stevie Lyle was in goal and had a very low GAA, under one 1 think), either for Olympic qualifing or World Championship promotion.

Nice to have you around btw, I hope the testing is going well:)

About Dafoe I am certain I read an interview stating he would play for Britain if they asked him to but he has never been invited. Perhaps playing for Canadian juniors does not automatically mean he cant play for another country.. many sports are hazy about whether junior international games count. Even if there is a rule in place now it might not apply to him either.
The rules are very clear:

1. The first international team you play for in an IIHF recognised event (i.e. World Championships, Olympic Games and Olympic Qualifiers, NOT the World Cup, EHT, EIHC, etc.) after your 18th birthday becomes your country. If you want to change country, see point 3.

2. If you have multiple citizenship, you must have played in a league governed by, or officially recognised by in the case of cross-border leagues, that country's national federation for 2 consecutive seasons before you are allowed represent that country.

3. If you want to change country, then you must have citizenship of the country that you wish to represent. You must state your desire (I believe through an ITC) and then play in a leage goverened by, or offiicially recognised by, the country that you with to represent for 4 years before you will be allowed to represent them. You can only change nationality once in your career.

Byron Dafoe comes under rule 2. Steve Thomas comes under rule 3.

Graham.

The rules are very clear:

1. The first international team you play for in an IIHF recognised event (i.e. World Championships, Olympic Games and Olympic Qualifiers, NOT the World Cup, EHT, EIHC, etc.) after your 18th birthday becomes your country. If you want to change country, see point 3.

2. If you have multiple citizenship, you must have played in a league governed by, or officially recognised by in the case of cross-border leagues, that country's national federation for 2 consecutive seasons before you are allowed represent that country.

3. If you want to change country, then you must have citizenship of the country that you wish to represent. You must state your desire (I believe through an ITC) and then play in a leage goverened by, or offiicially recognised by, the country that you with to represent for 4 years before you will be allowed to represent them. You can only change nationality once in your career.

Byron Dafoe comes under rule 2. Steve Thomas comes under rule 3.

Graham.

Do you think Byron would come over and play for the London Racers :dunno: Might improve the team and then he could play for team GB and we would win all tournaments :banana:





(All sarcasm)