Liam Stewart named in Great Britain Ice Hockey World Championship squad
Last Updated: 25/03/15 11:36am
Rod Stewart's son Liam has been named in Great Britain's senior squad for the World Ice Hockey Championship.
The 20-year-old centre, who plays in the Western Hockey League for the Spokane Chiefs, has scored 53 points this season and was recently named as the team's player of the year.
He is in his fourth and final season with the Washington-based Chiefs, being an assistant captain for the last two years, after previously impressing for the Los Angeles Junior Kings Under-16s.
Stewart is one of six new caps in coach Pete Russell's 23-man squad, along with Josh Batch (Cardiff Devils), Chris Blight (Dundee Stars), Jonathan Boxill (Nottingham Panthers), Matt Haywood (Braehead Clan) and Jack Prince (University of Alabama-Huntsville).
Experienced duo Russell Cowley (Coventry Blaze) and Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers) earn recalls, the latter a replacement for the injured Stevie Lee (Nottingham Panthers).
But Belfast Giants goaltender Stephen Murphy, who has missed the majority of the season, will not be risked.
The two notable absentees are Coventry Blaze captain Ashley Tait, who is the national team's all-time appearance holder with 102 caps, and Belfast's Craig Peacock, who is named on the reserves list.
Russell said: "We have players returning with good international experience and we have some new blood coming into the fold as well, which is exciting.
"We have a good mix of speed, skill, power and grit. We also have the right mix of offensive-minded talent and more defensive-minded talent.
"For me, this is vital to us while pushing forward to reach our goals for not only this championship but for our future."
After two warm-up matches against Poland, Britain head to Eindhoven for their Division 1B campaign where they will face Holland, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania and South Korea between April 13-19.
Squad:
Goaltenders: Ben Bowns (Cardiff), Stevie Lyle (Swindon), Tom Murdy (Telford)
Defencemen: Josh Batch (Cardiff), Russell Cowley (Coventry), Ben O'Connor (Sheffield), David Phillips (Belfast), Mark Richardson (Cardiff), Paul Swindlehurst (Dundee), Mark Thomas (Sheffield), Jonathan Weaver (Telford)
Forwards: Chris Blight (Dundee), Jonathan Boxill (Nottingham), Robert Dowd (Sheffield), Robert Farmer (Nottingham), Mark Garside (Belfast), Matt Haywood (Braehead), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham), Matt Myers (Cardiff), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield), Jack Prince (University of Alabama-Huntsville), Colin Shields (Belfast), Liam Stewart (Spokane Chiefs).
Reserves: Goaltender: Mike Will (Cardiff); Defencemen: James Griffin (Coventry), Sam McCluskey (Dundee), Sam Oakford (Nottingham); Forwards: Ben Davies (Braehead), Joey Lewis (Bad Tolz), Craig Peacock (Belfast).
