Ice Hockey will be huge at the Winter Olympics, it is time for a UK broadcaster to back British Ice Hockey
- GRNDSTND
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
The World's Greatest Winter Sports athletes are descending upon Milan in Northern Italy for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. and over the next nearly three weeks Ice Hockey will emerge as one of the most passionately supported, and exciting sports. Traditionally the sport is confined to North America, with the NHL dominating the airwaves, but the Olympics offers the chance for players from all corners of the globe to showcase their talents. The Olympic Ice Hockey tournaments will also showcase some enormous rivalries both in Ice Hockey, and some relevant to current geo-political tensions.
In 9 days time (10 February) USA will face off against Canada in the Women's Tournament, with the puck dropping at 7.10pm GMT, and 2.10pm ET in Canada and the United States. Four days later in the Men's tournament the USA play Denmark, which given the tensions over Greenland could be ferocious both on and off the ice (8.10pm GMT, 3.10pm ET).
Canada and the United States have always had a rivalry in Ice Hockey, but in truth, it was a friendly one. That was until Donald Trump took office for the second time and we saw at last year's 4 Nations tournament how relations between the two nations have become icy, to say the least. Canadian fans drowned out the USA anthem with boos, and the euphoric reaction to the Canadians winning that match was there for all to see. Imagine what it will be like when you add the Olympic pressure.
22 teams representing USA, Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, Czechia, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Slovakia and Latvia across the Men's and Women's Tournament will be on the ice in Milan. The Women's Tournament features two groups of five teams, with the top 8 in the overall ranking qualifying for the knockout phase, and the Men's Tournament features three groups of four teams, with the top 4 in the overall ranking qualifying for the quarter-finals, and the next 8 teams competing in the playoffs. All 58 games will be broadcast Live across TNT Sports and Discovery+ in the UK, but with the absence of a Great Britain team in either competition it's unlikely you will see much of the tournament on the BBC.
Great Britain's Women finished second in their qualifying group, missing out on a spot in Final Qualification by a point. The British Men progressed to the final qualifying tournament, but missed out with one win and two defeats. Great Britain's Men are currently ranked 17th in the world by IIHF and their women are ranked 18th, but whilst the country has not pulled up any trees on the global stage, Ice Hockey in Great Britain has a proud and long history, but a turbulent one.
The Fife Flyers were formed in 1938, and are the oldest Ice Hockey club in the UK, and have participated in all three generations of modern Ice Hockey leagues in the UK. They competed in the British Ice Hockey League from 1982 to 1996, before joining the British National League in 1996 until that ceased in 2005. The next half dozen years saw them compete in three different competitions across Scotland and Northern Britain, before they accepted the invite to become part of the Elite Ice Hockey League in 2011.
The Elite Ice Hockey League currently features the Fife Flyers, Dundee Stars, Glasgow Clan, Belfast Giants, Cardiff Devils, Coventry Blaze, Guildford Flames, Manchester Storm, Nottingham Panthers, and Sheffield Steelers. The Elite Ice Hockey League features 330 games, a regular season, playoffs and a challenge cup, and attracted more than 1.2million fans through the turnstiles, proving its popularity, and potential.
The sad fact though is that its popularity and potential has not been seen by broadcasters in the UK. In the last three decades it has had a nomadic existence on our screens, with Sky leaving the sport more than 10 years ago, and Premier Sports taking up the reins from them. However, over the last few years coverage has dwindled to next to nothing over the last four seasons, and outside of past broadcast deals the league receives little to no coverage in the National Media.
ITV has acquired media rights to the NHL in the UK, Channel Islands & Isle of Man. The new deal began with the January 17 Wild-Sabres game. Live NHL games will be available via ITV 4 linear channel and ITVX streaming service for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. This is a welcome development for fans of the NHL in the UK, but come on, where is the commitment to and investment in our own league? ITV is perfectly suited to broadcasting all 330 games across ITV X/STV Player and across its regions.
The Elite Ice Hockey League could work with ITV to restructure the fixture calendar, creating must-see moments both nationally and locally, with all matches streamed on ITVX/STV Player. Far too often our FTA Networks whinge about the pay-TV giants Sky, TNT, DAZN and Premier Sports outbidding them, from my perspective the Elite Ice Hockey League and the sport of Ice Hockey is one which is ripe for new investment, and a long-term commitment from a broadcaster. The rights fee would not be in the league of Football, and ITV could build a product which could generate greater rights fees in the future.
Far too often we only see sports at the Olympic Games and never again for the next four years. That does not need to be the case with Ice Hockey.
GRNDSTND, by Matt Hooper
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