Ben O’Connor speaks of Great Britain’s Olympic success

Great Britain advanced through their Olympic qualifying group last weekend when they topped Group J in Nikko, Japan. Britain suffered a 5-4 overtime loss against Korea in their opening game before picking up regulation time victories over both Romania (3-0) and hosts Japan (2-1). Ben picked up a goal in each of GB’s games during the tournament.

Britain will now travel to Riga, Latvia for the next stage of qualifying which will see Tony Hand’s squad go up against Latvia, France and Kazakshtan for the right to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Great Britain and Arlan Kokshetau defender Ben O'Connor began the interview by speaking of his mindset going into the qualifiers in Japan and how the first game of the tournament against Korea went from a British point of view

“When I first saw the group we had been placed in I thought straight away we had a great chance of progressing. Three good solid teams but as we showed when we play we can produce great hockey. We played good hockey in the first game we just had a spell where we switched off and as we all know at that level you can’t do that! With little preparation for the tournament I personally think the first game was everyone getting the feel for each other again. Yes we were down after the game but in those situations where you play three games in three days you have to move on forget about it and prepare for your next game.”

Ben went onto speak about the other sides in Group J and the top players who took part in the tournament.

“All 3 are very good teams, they are fast and move the puck extremely well. So we had to play good smart hockey for 60 minutes every game. The goalie for Japan has already played games in the NHL and Japan had some great players on their first line that were very skilled and dangerous.”

Following the 3-0 victory against Romania GB knew a win over Japan would see them top the group, Ben spoke about how the squad approached that game bearing in mind that Japan had beaten Britain 5-0 in the World Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia in April.

“I think the team had something to prove that the score line in April 5-0 does not reflect us as a team. We knew before the game it was a must win and the fact we had lost 5-0 in April just made it that much more important I think. Looking at the score bored with 10 seconds to go and counting down (was the most memorable moment for me). Sitting in the room after the game with the guys was great, it was a big step for GB hockey and I personally am proud to be a part of such a great group of guys who work hard every game for each other and the team.”

The Durham born blue liner went onto to speak about how he found Japan as a nation and his admiration for the fans who made the long trip to the far east to follow their country.

“Before I went I really did not know what to expect. But by the end of the trip I was already booking a summer holiday back there, I loved Japan the people where so helpful and friendly. The food was great and the hotel was fantastic. All round a great trip in an amazing country which was topped off with a win I could not have asked for more. At the end of the tournament the GB Supporters Club awarded me player of the tournament which was a great honour. They were amazing every game they were there with a big GB banner and making as much noise as they could. I know from a player’s point of view we all respected that and admired them for coming. They did a great job and just happy we made their trip worthwhile.”

Ben then mentioned how moving to Kazakhstan had helped his overall game and how it felt to be the side’s top points scorer.

“Being on the ice twice a day everyday in Kazakhstan (has definitely helped my game) and the work outs with the old school Russian mentality has helped my game both on and off the ice. Being top point scorer of the team was not something I was aware of until after the tournament when one of the guys mentioned it ,I just want to help the team win and was I lucky enough to chip in with some points.”

GB will now travel to Latvia for the next round of the competition. Ben spoke about how it will be to take on Latvia, France and Kazakhstan bearing in mind that he currently his club hockey in the latter.

“My coach here in Kazakhstan was a former Latvian national team coach and we have 3 Latvian players so myself and Mark Richardson have been getting some stick since we have been back. I played the under 20 world championships in Riga its beautiful city with a great arena, I just hope we do better this time than the last time I was there. It is a big achievement getting through the first stage of qualification but it means nothing if we don’t do anything now we are there. We played Kazakhstan two world championships ago in Ukraine and came up short by one goal so we know we can play with these teams. I know myself it makes me work harder every single day knowing that will be playing against these teams so we just have to sit tight and see what happens in February.”

Thanks to Ben for taking the time out to speak to us and we wish him all the best for the remainder of the domestic season in Kazakhstan and of course for the Olympic qualifiers in February when he will pull on the blue and white shirt of GB once again.

 

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