Ben aims for Olympic glory

The Hull Stingrays netminder, from Swinton, took his place as netminder as Britain opened their four-team final qualyfing campaign in Latvia last night. They also play France and Kazakhstan, tonight and on Sunday respectively in Riga, with the overall winners taking their place in Sochi next year.

Ben, who learned his trade with the Sheffield Steeldogs, says making the Winter Olympics will be "huge" for British ice hockey.

Britain last took part in the Winter Games in 1948 but they were champions in germany in 1936 and took the bronze medal in 1924.

He said: “It would be a huge achievement, it’s a long time since we reached an Olympics.

"The game is on the way up and it's not out of reach for us."