Barry-born Bayley Harewood, a 16-year-old former Cardiff Devils junior, has been selected for Great Britain’s under-18 ice hockey squad.
Forward Harewood, who has a burning ambition to play NHL hockey in the future, has experience of competing in North America and currently plays senior hockey for Basingstoke Bison.
Bayley’s parents, Craig and Dina, are rightly proud of his achievements so far and his dad said of his GB selection: “It’s an amazing achievement for a young Welsh lad who attended an academy school in Ontario, Canada for two years.
“He also made the GB u-20 as a reserve and will be representing South West at the Sheffield tournament during June.”
Harewood was 14-years-old when he went to the Canadian International Academy, an organisation committed to identifying the next big stars in the sport.
https://twitter.com/bayleyh17/status/1211725903266492418?s=20
He was spotted playing for the Devils and England youth teams. Harewood, who was appointed assistant captain of his team at the academy and was leading scorer at one stage, was first invited to Canada 18 months earlier, but his parents felt he was too young at the time.
The family went to Canada and Craig said: “It really blew us away. Everything is under one roof. He was on the ice first thing in the morning, off to school, back on the ice and then studied before bed.
“As well as giving them the opportunity to develop their skills and earn recognition by the top clubs, the academy teach valuable life skills. The facilities are first class.
Centreman Bayley started playing ice hockey at the age of seven. He represented the South West and England, while he has now achieved GB recognition.
Britain travel to Tallinn, Estonia for their World under-18 Championship challenge to play the hosts plus Korea, Lithuania, Romania and Serbia.
The six-team IIHF tournament will be held in the Tondiraba Ice Hall and runs from March 22 to March 28.
“After our training camp in Dumfries, we all head to Estonia with a strong belief that we can achieve great things,” says head coach Sean Easton.
“Two years ago we won gold in this tournament and we are aiming to repeat that achievement.
“We have a great mix of talent and characters this year.
Bayley isn’t the first Barry-born player with ambitions to play at the top level of ice hockey and the ability needed to progress,
Wilf Cube (born July 4, 1906, died May 5, 1968) was a goaltender from Barry who Played 10 seasons (1930-1941) for Philadelphia Quakers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.
In those years ice hockey goalies did not wear face masks.
Cube’s family relocated from Wales to Winnipeg, Manitoba in search of employment and he started playing ice hockey there.
Other Welsh NHL group members are:
Cy Thomas (August 5, 1926 to January 2, 2009) was a professional ice hockey player from Dowlais, Wales. He played 14 NHL games for Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks.
Jack Evans (April 21, 1928 to November 10, 1996). Born Garnant, Wales. Defenceman. Played for New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks between 1946 and 1972. His family emigrated to Drumheller, Alberta in his youth. Only spoke Welsh when he arrived in Canada and when he learned English spoke with an elongated drawl that earned him the nickname ‘Tex’.
Started playing ice hockey at the age of 14 and quickly became a leading junior league D-man. He was a member of Chicago’s 1961 Stanley Cup winning team and played in the 1962 NHL AllStar game in Toronto.
Nathan Walker (born February 7, 1994). Aged 23. Cardiff-born forward who has played for Australian club Sydney Ice Dogs and HC Vitkovice in the Czech Republic plus North American teams Youngstown Phantoms, Hershey Bears and South Carolina Stingrays. Has played NHL hockey for Washington Capitals, Edmonton Oilers and St Louis Blues.
#NeverStopGrinding#HereComesHarewood#LetsGoBison https://t.co/EuFHdy0tcx
— Basingstoke Bison (@BisonHockey) January 7, 2020
Great Britain under-18 squad:
Netminders
Lucas Brine – New Hampton Huskies
Harrison Walker Bradford/Blackburn
Defence
Bradley Bowering – Peterborough
Aren Francis – New Hampshire Monarchs
Jordan Griffin – Sheffield Steelers/Steeldogs
Rhodes Mitchell-King – Hill Academy
Ethan Reid – Murrayfield
Liam Steele – Guildford
Liam Stenton – Solway Sharks
Congratulations to all who made the roster but we have to give a special shout out to @bayleyh17 on his inclusion. A reward for a superb debut senior season so far#HereComesHarewood#LetsGoGB https://t.co/Mi9cP0nFLj
— Basingstoke Bison (@BisonHockey) December 30, 2019
Forwards
Jack Brammer – Sheffield Steeldogs
Owen Dell – Invicta
Alex Graham – Sheffield Steelers/Steeldogs
Bayley Harewood – Basingstoke
Ewan Hill – Romford
Jack Hopkins – Nottingham
Finley Howells – Telford
Tommy Huggett – Romford
Jarvis Hunt – Peterborough
Juha Lindgren – Slough
Logan Neilson – West Coast Renegades
James Spence – OHA Canada
Callum Wilkinson – Billingham
Long List Reserves
Henry Adams – Solihull
Massimo Agostini – Telford
Sam Cooper – Guildford
Ben Davies – CIHA
Jack Goodchild – Okanagan UK
Jack Henderson – Dundee City
Dan Hitchings – Romford
Alex Oldale – Sheffield
Fynn Page – OHA Canada
Bradley Windebank – Romford
GB Under-18s World Championship schedule
March 2020
Sunday 22: Estonia v Great Britain (4pm local time, 2pm UK time)
Tuesday 24: Great Britain v Romania (4pm, 2pm)
Wednesday 25: Great Britain v Korea (12.30pm, 10.30am)
Friday 27: Serbia v Great Britain (4pm, 2pm)
Saturday 28: Great Britain v Lithuania (4pm, 2pm)
https://twitter.com/PremierSportsTV/status/1215617958615175169?s=20
Great Britain’s under-20 team are currently in World Championship action at the Pramogu Arena, Vilnius, Lithuania
They are third in the table, one point behind second-placed Lithuania, with one match to play. On Sunday, GB play bottom team Serbia, who have yet to earn a point after four matches (Noon local time, 10am UK time), while Lithuania take on 100 per cent group leaders Japan (7pm local time).
The third group match is Romania v Spain (3.30pm local time) and GB are already guaranteed a top three finish at least.
GB World under-20 Championship group results so far: Spain 3, GB 4 (after penalties); GB 5, Romania 3; Japan 6, GB 3; Lithuania 3, GB 6.
Great Britain stayed in the hunt for medals when they defeated Spain 4-3 after overtime and a penalty shootout in Vilnius.
GB took a three-goal lead, before Spain netted three goals in seven minutes to tie the game going into the final period.
During the penalty shootout, netminder Tyler Perre was not beaten by any of the four attempts on him as GB grabbed the extra point.
Swindon Wildcats’ goalie Perre had a brief loan spell with Cardiff Devils this season, filling the back-up role behind Ben Bowns when Thomas Murdy was missing.
Alex Graham, Zach Milton and Tyler Cooper scored Britain’s goals during regulation time, while Alderson Biddulph and Milton scored in the shootout as GB secured victory.
STANDINGS
| RNK | TEAM | GP | W | OTW | GF:GA | PTS | |
| 1 | Japan | 4 | 4 | 0 | 32:5 | 12 | |
| 2 | Lithuania | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18:12 | 9 | |
| 3 | G Britain | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18:15 | 8 | |
| 4 | Spain | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7:19 | 4 | |
| 5 | Rumania | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11:23 | 3 | |
| 6 | Serbia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9:21 | 0 |
GB
Great Britain under-20 roster
Netminders
Will Kerlin – Sheffield Steelers
Tyler Perre – Swindon Wildcats
Defence
Ed Bradley – Philadelphia HC
Reece Cochrane – Sheffield Steeldogs
Jordan Griffin – Sheffield Steeldogs/Steelers
Joe Hazeldine – Nottingham Panthers
Oliver Lord – Coventry Blaze/Telford
Sam Russell – MK Lightning
Ben Solder – Islanders HC
Liam Stenton – Solway Sharks
Forwards
Mason Biddulph – Berwick Academy
Jordan Buesa – Fife Flyers
Louis Chabot – Nepean Raiders
Tyler Cooper – Northeast Generals
Alex Graham – Sheffield Steeldogs/Steelers
Ethan Hehir – Leeds Chiefs
Patrick Larkin – Nepean Raiders
Zack Milton – Bracknell Bees
Austin Mitchell-King – Hill Academy
Cade Neilson – Aberdeen Wings
Caly Robertson – Bracknell Bees
Finlay Ulrick – Manchester Storm