Great Britain face one of the biggest netminders World ice hockey when they play Kazakhstan in Budapest on Tuesday.
Stockholm-born Henrik Karlson, a 6ft 6ins former Calgary Flames NHL goalie nicknamed the ‘Swedish Wall’, took up Kazak citizenship this year and switched allegiance to his new nation.
Karlson, 34, played for Sweden in exhibition matches, but not in IIHF tournament fixtures.
He plays for Kontinental League Astana Barys and has committed to the Kazakhstan team.
A number of Russian players also became eligible to play for the Kazaks including defencemen Roman Rachinski and Yegor Shalapov plus forwards Dmitri Gurkov and Yegor Petukhov.
Karlson made his debut in the opening World Championship group match, against hosts Hungary, and kept a shutout in a 3-0 win.
Defenceman Valeri Orekhov, an 18-year-old rookie scored the game-winning goal for Kazakhstan early in the third period and broke Hungarian resistance.
Yevgeni Rymarev scored their other two goals.
“Henrik a machine, a really good goalie,” says Kazakhstan’s Ontario-born D-man Kevin Dallman.
“He is extremely professional, big in the net and helps us a lot.
“It was a tight game against Hungary. They have a lot of fans and played well for the first two periods. Then we had a goal and kept on building momentum.”
GB opened with a 3-1 win against group top seeds Slovenia and Canadian-born forward Brendan Brooks says they will have to be wary of Kazakhstan’s speed when the two sides meet.
“They are a quick team and we will have to watch their speed that’s for certain,” said Braehead Clan forward Brooks.
“Kazakhstan have an impressive roster and I am sure they will do well at this tournament.
“They put in a good performance against Hungary and will be tough opposition.”
GB’s victory over Slovenia, who played at this year’s Winter Olympics in Korea, may have surprised some people from outside the camp, but Brooks says the squad have belief in their own ability.
“We have a great set of lads and although we know we are the underdogs, we are confident we can perform this week,” he said.
“Last season’s World Championship in Belfast was my first year with GB and I was warmly welcomed into the squad.
“This is a close-knit set of lads and we all enjoy each other’s company. There are no little groups or anything like that and the spirit is really good.”
GB against Kazakhstan gets under way at 4pm tomorrow (3pm UK time).
World Championship matches for Britain in Budapest:
Sunday 22 Great Britain 3 Slovenia 1
Tuesday 24 Kazakhstan v Great Britain
Wednesday 25 Great Britain v Poland
Friday 27 Italy v Great Britain
Saturday 28 Hungary v Great Britain
GB’s 23-man squad:
Netminders: Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils), Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants), Thomas Murdy (Cardiff Devils, reserve).
Defence: Dallas Ehrhardt (Manchester Storm), Steve Lee (Nottingham Panthers), Ben O’Connor (Sheffield Steelers), David Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils), Zach Sullivan (Braehead Clan), Paul Swindlehurst (Manchester Storm).
Forwards: Ollie Betteridge (Nottingham Panthers), Brendan Brooks (Braehead Clan), Ben Davies (Guildford Flames), Robert Dowd (Sheffield Steelers), Robert Farmer (Nottingham Panthers), Luke Ferrara (Coventry Blaze), Mike Hammond (Manchester Storm), Liam Kirk (Sheffield Steelers), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers), Matthew Myers (Cardiff Devils), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Brett Perlini (Nottingham Panthers), Colin Shields (Belfast Giants).