Great Britain head coach Tony Hand names Rod Sarich in squad

Great Britain head coach Tony Hand has named Sheffield defenceman Rod Sarich in his 22-man squad for the Olympic pre-qualifying tournament in Japan.

The Canada-born Steelers player, 31, gets a debut call-up after receiving a British passport this summer.

GB face Romania, Korea and hosts Japan in the four-team competition from 9-11 November in Nikko.

"We can take inspiration from all those gold-medal winners at the Olympics as we begin our path to Sochi," said Hand.

"We have a very competitive squad, even though we are missing some players, and I am convinced we can do well.

"We have a tough challenge ahead, but this squad is capable of great things and the next stage is certainly achievable."

Former Great Britain player Hand took over the side from Paul Thompson last December.

Great Britain squad in full:

Netminders:

Ben Bowns (Hull Stingrays), Stephen Murphy (Belfast Giants)

Defence:

Danny Meyers (Sheffield Steelers), Ben O'Connor (Arlan Kokshetau), Dave Phillips (Belfast Giants), Mark Richardson (Arlan Kokshetau), Rod Sarich (Sheffield Steelers), Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers), Jonathan Weaver (Nottingham Panthers)

Forwards:

David Clarke (Nottingham Panthers), Robert Dowd (Troja-Ljungby), Robert Farmer (Braehead Clan), Mark Garside (Belfast Giants), Jason Hewitt (Sheffield Steelers), Phil Hill (Cardiff Devils), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers), David Longstaff (Guildford Flames), Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers), Craig Peacock (Belfast Giants), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Colin Shields (Sheffield Steelers), Ashley Tait (Sheffield Steelers)