Should British ice hockey teams like Sheffield Steelers re-think their import quotas?

GB lost 5-2 to 12th seeds Norway on Monday in Prague, their sixth defeat in six games.

They had needed a victory to try and keep their finger-nail grip on Group A.

But sadly it was never on the cards and they are now to be relegated.

They went behind 3-0 in a disastrous first period and could only draw the final two sessions 1-1.

Brett Perlinin and Ollie Betteridge netted the consolations.

The Brits' case wasn't helped by sickness suffered by Maltby's ex Sheffield Steeler Liam Kirk, who didn't feature in the middle period and only contributed seven minutes in total.

Cole Shudra, the 25-year-old Steeler who will have benefitted hugely from this experience, was in the side instead of Sheffield team mate Sam Jones, and had a good chance to score, but the opportunity came and went as Norway confirmed its place in the top league for next year.

Before the players had left the shower room, there were the inevitable calls for changes, from fans, online.

The platform '4000 and Counting' described the tournament as "Heartbreak for GB...Some big decisions are needed before the Olympic qualifiers."

And posters on their thread didn't mince their words.

One wrote: "Ice Hockey UK ( the national governing body) and others who run this sport need to look themselves in the mirror. .. give the lads a chance and invest in proper long-term development across the country."

Another added: "Lack of any plan to develop young players, or hold professional teams accountable for having UK-based talent, continues to haunt hockey."

A third talked of a GB national side "Filled up" with dual nationals.

This prompted another contributor to chip in: "We may as well actually use British players as the current choices aren't keeping us in Group A so let's actually develop some British talent."

The sentiment was again echoed: "Keep filling the Elite (League) with imports is always going to make it challenging."

There was one suggestion of following a German model of reducing the number of imports in the EIHL year on year: "The quality will drop but teams will still be competitive and our Brits will only improve, little steps now will prove to be massive in the future."

The problem with that scenario is not all EIHL fans would welcome that.

Last July, Steelers owner and EIHL chairman Tony Smith told The Star: “Imports are still what people want to watch; imports equal bigger crowds.

“You only have to look at the National League, which started off with two imports and went to three because crowds have continued to improve.

“Nobody can tell me imports don’t make for a better quality because they do. But we also want to develop for the future."

Smith, who at the time was busy trying to buy Sheffield Steeldogs, also said of the top-flight division: "We moved to 15 imports because we could not find 10 more Brits (one per EIHL team) good enough to play in our league."

In short, while there is such an appetite for foreign players from EIHL supporters, notably from north America, the opportunities at the top level for homegrown players like Robert Dowd will remain few and far between.

Great Britain World Championship fix and res:

Saturday 11th May – Great Britain 2-4 Canada – Goals: Liam Kirk, Ben O’ConnorSunday 12th May – Finland 8-0 Great BritainWednesday 15th May – Switzerland 3-0 Great BritainFriday 17th May – Great Britain 3-4 Denmark – Goals: Liam Kirk, Cade Neilson, Nathanael HalbertSaturday 18th May – Czechia 4-1 Great Britain – Goal: Evan MoseyMonday 20th May – Great Britain 2-5 Norway - Goals: Brett Perlini, Ollie Betteridge Tuesday 21st May – Austria v Great Britain – 12:20 (11:20 UK)

Factspot: GB's top points scorers who have played for Steelers during their careers: 1, Tony Hand, 2, Colin Shields, 3, David Longstaff, 4, Robert Dowd 5, Ashley Tait.