Lucas hails GB men’s ice hockey comeback

Under the new stewardship of Standard Motor Products Europe (SMPE), the Lucas brand is celebrating its partnership with GB Men’s ice hockey team, after its momentous victory at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

In what has been described as one of the year’s greatest sporting comebacks and a potential game-changer for hockey in Great Britain, Team GB’s win over France was made even more dramatic by the nature of the win, after trailing 3-0 and then surviving sudden death. Prior to the relegation decider against France, Britain, ranked just 22nd in the world, lost their opening six matches in the tournament, conceding 38 goals.

Out of nowhere, GB’s comeback took the match to overtime, before Ben Davies fired home an extraordinary GB match winner in overtime, which also saw goalkeeper Ben Bowns making five crucial saves, breaking the record for most saves ever at a World Championships. The underdogs had won 4-3 in a match few would have predicted.

Proud sponsor Lucas hailed the victory as ‘historic’, and its support of Ice Hockey UK could not be better timed as the achievement places both parties on a universal stage and illuminates their global presence.

The victory secures Britain’s place at next year’s World Championship in Switzerland, the first time in 51 years that they will play in the top tier in successive seasons, and it also gives them a better chance of qualifying for the Winter Olympics. With it comes a platform to develop the game’s profile in the UK, something Lucas will continue to work closely with the team on.

Ross Toomey, Standard Motor Products Europe’s managing director, said: “We’re over the moon with what the team has achieved at the recent championship, we’ve no doubt that its historic win will prove to be the catalyst in bringing the sport to a mainstream audience here in the UK.

“Our belief in the team’s potential has already borne fruit and we couldn’t be more excited at the prospect of continuing to support Team GB throughout the rest of the season. This is a golden opportunity for SMPE to grow Lucas’ brand awareness throughout the UK and Europe.”

Ice hockey is now the most watched indoor sport in Britain, with higher visitor attendance at live games and a surge in the number of social media followers.

During the month of the championship alone, European reach for Lucas’ Twitter account significantly increased, with 589,000 Tweet impressions (177 per cent up from the previous month) and more than 6,000 profile visits, a jump of 135 per cent.

Since 1 May, the Lucas engine management brand is now distributed to customers throughout the UK by SMPE, with many customers benefiting from the company’s considerable investment in range re-profiling, packaging and cataloguing. A further 1500 parts have been added to the Lucas engine management programme, resulting in a 65 per cent increase in vehicle parc coverage.