The British Hockey team coached by Paul Thompson will head to the Division One World Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia next month with seven Giants players in the squad. The tournament takes place between 17 and 23 April and Britain will be in a group with Croatia, Korea, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. The tournament will be preceded by two warm-up games against the Netherlands on 10th and 11th April in Nottingham and Sheffield respectively.

The following are the Giants players who have made the cut: Stephen Murphy, Nathan Craze, Shane Johnson, Kevin Phillips, Graeme Walton, Craig Peacock and Colin Shields.

It’s a strong squad overall and one that must feel somewhat confident about picking up some wins and who knows, maybe even promotion.

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With the usual ‘financial problems’ talks doing the rounds at this time of year the Giants have got conspiracy theorists everywhere jumping at obvious conclusions by signing Davy Phillips’ brother Kevin as his replacement after he left the team to play in the AHL. There is talk that somewhere in some conspiracy safe house somewhere in the outskirts of Belfast people are pointing fingers at Steve Thornton saying he signed Kevin Phillips simply to save the Giants from having to buy a new jersey and crests it with someone else’s name. Kevin Phillips can just wear the one bought for his brother.

Other fans are raising concerns about the Giants’ defensive depth this coming season but I have neither the time nor the energy to get into such a speculative debate just yet. We’re still in mid-July have still a month and a half before the team take to the ice in anger.