Telford Tigers duo prepare for GB action

Garbett also represents Solihull and has jetted out with the women's team for the IIHF tournament in Poland that runs from Thursday to January 8

Team GB will take on hosts Poland, Austria, China, Korea and Norway at the Janow Arena in Katowice.

Forward Howells is part of the 22-man squad that will compete for GB at the Under-18 World Championship Division II Group A in Tallinn next March.

Another Telford player, Massimo Agostini, has been named as a long list reserve.

Team GB will come up against hosts Estonia along with 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.

And the men's head coach, Sean Easton, is hoping for gold.

He said: "After our camp in Dumfries, we are all heading to Estonia with a strong belief that we can achieve great things.

"Two years ago in Estonia we won gold and we are aiming to repeat this achievement.

"We have a great mix of talent and characters this year. Building blocks have started in the team prep for the upcoming World Championship.

"We, as a coaching group, are looking forward to seeing what this team can achieve."

And women's head coach Cheryl Smith is also gunning for glory.

She said: “As ever, it was a very difficult squad to name because of the competition for places.

"The young talent in the programme just gets better and better and it is fantastic to see players from all across the country.

"We won a fantastic bronze last year in the World Championship, so we want to build on that. Many of those medal winners return for this season.

"We will take great heart from winning the Four Nations in Dumfries, not just the results but the way we grew as a team the longer the tournament went on."