Dowdy speaks from the World Championships – Sheffield Steelers

Watch and listen to the captain of the Steelers

Great Britain’s fifth game at the 2024 IIHF World Championship saw them beaten by hosts Czech Republic in another high-energy performance from Pete Russell.

Sam Jones returned to the 22-man matchday squad, joining captain Robert Dowd, while Cole Shudra was rested, taking a place in the stands.

The hosts took an early lead, scoring two goals in the first five minutes, adding another tally 36 seconds into the second half, but a power play for Great Britain a minute later saw them cut the deficit to one.

Sheffield Steelers and Great Britain captain Robert Dowd said after the game: “It was a good game. Obviously they came out really hard and they’re a very, very obviously talented team.

“They took the lead pretty early, so to bounce back from that and turn it into a pretty good game, I thought those were big steps for us. I thought I grew as the game went on.

After defeats to Finland and Switzerland, scoring against Denmark and the Czech Republic can only be seen as a positive for Great Britain, who have the talent up front to create danger.

“It was huge (for) the power play to grab another one. Obviously, special teams in this tournament is a massive thing and our penalty kill has done a great job for us in this tournament, so the power play to start clicking at the right time is really good,” Dowd said .

The Czech Republic restored their three-goal lead before the end of the second half with a goalless final third to take the game 4-1 to the hosts, but the captain noted the positives to take from the game with Ben Bowns between them. pipes for UK making 41 saves on the night: “I thought we were solid defensively tonight. We were a little slow in the beginning – the first five minutes of the first two periods, but if you take those ten minutes out of the whole game, I thought we were pretty solid.”

The Czech Republic have been involved in some high-scoring matches in this tournament, with a 6-3 win over Norway and a 7-4 win over Denmark, showing just how clinical their attacking outfit is, and thus awarding four goals from 45 shots is something worthy of praise.

“Defensively, as you said, we only conceded four against a team like the Czech Republic, who have scored a lot of goals against very good teams in this tournament, I think we can look at that as a positive,” he said the 35-year-old player. . “In these last two games, if we can keep teams to not that many goals and try to score a few ourselves, we’ve got a good chance.”

There are just two games left for GB at the 2024 World Cup: Norway and Austria. A win against Norway on Monday would ensure their survival in the top flight.

Dowd said: “I think we have to try and put a full 60 together against the last two teams here. If we put the full 60 together like we played the last 20 minutes, I think we have a big chance with both games.”

It would be the perfect end to what has been an incredibly successful season for the right-handed striker from Billingham if Great Britain can retain their place at the highest international level.

Not only did he lift three trophies in his first season as Steelers captain, but in his first year as UK captain, he led the team to the final round of the Olympic qualification games to be played in August in Denmark .

“(It’s) an honor and a privilege to lead these guys in that room. That room is full of leaders, so it’s an easy job for me,” he said. “It’s a real honor for me personally.”

Pete Russell’s side face Norway at 3.20pm UK time on Monday before Tuesday’s final, which sees Austria at 11.20am UK time.