Published Wednesday, 09 January 2013
Five Belfast Giants players have been named in the extended GB Olympics side. (© Diane Davey Photography)
Mark Garside, Stephen Murphy, Craig Peacock, David Phillips and former Giants captain Colin Shields are all included in the 32-man side.
Team GB head coach Tony Hand will name his final 22-man squad after the players take part in a two-day training camp in Manchester later this month.
"The camp will give us a great start in our preparations for Riga. It will not only give us chance to work on tactics, but will also be a great bonding exercise for the squad," said Hand.
"By naming a 32-man squad, it gives me chance to look at a number of players who weren't in the final squad last time. This is also a great exercise for team morale."
The final team will head to Latvia in February where they will face the home side as well as France and Kazakhstan in the four-team tournament.
It is understood the Belfast side has been bought over by Chris Knight. The 34-year-old took after when previous owner Jim Gillespie sold his stake in the team.