Brits are different

By Kurt Platter from Nottingham

The British lived on an island even before the United Kingdom left the EU. They drive on the wrong side, drink tea instead of coffee, have always held on to their pound sterling, loved their Queen, who died 8 months ago, more than anything, find rainy weather “lovely” and they have power sockets that otherwise only exist in Ireland and Malta in Europe and used in Cyprus. And they also have a lot else to offer.

Like, for example, their rich English breakfast. The most important meal of the day. There's really something else on the plate here: eggs, bacon, beans and sausage, with toast with tons of butter. But you can also argue about tastes. Not only does British food have a bad reputation, but it also takes a lot of getting used to. The players of the Italian national team have also had to realize this in the past few days. You are accommodated in the “Leonardo Hotel” in the center of the city. The name of the four-star establishment sounds Italian, but there is no trace of the much-praised Italian cuisine.

Paul Adey is an icon in Nottingham Paul Adey also remembers this fondly. The almost 60-year-old from Montreal, who has a British passport, is omnipresent in Nottingham. The former striker has gone down in history as a cult player for the Nottingham Panthers and is still the all-time top scorer with 1609 points. Adey spent 11 seasons in the current World Cup city before he played the French championship with HC Milan at the turn of the millennium. The Canadian-British dual citizen also began his coaching career at Nottingham in the 2001/02 season and was in charge of the bench for four years before moving to the then Serie A and becoming a coach at Ritten, Cortina and Val Gardena. After a two-year stint in Switzerland, he was in charge at HC Pustertal before leading the Belfast Giants to the championship title in the 4/2013 season and retiring from coaching for family reasons. Paul Adey in 2006: At that time he was sitting in the coaching bench at Ritten. © Max Pattis

Adey, who can certainly imagine returning to the coaching bench, has remained involved in ice hockey. Since then he has worked as an expert for British television. Currently at the title fights in the “Motorpoint Arena”, where he happened to run into me yesterday. Adey's former jersey with the number 22, which the Panthers will never give out again, also hangs under the roof of the pretty arena. Adey never played in the multi-purpose hall, which was opened by Olympic figure skating champion Jayne Torvill on April 1, 2000, but only experienced the usual loud fans first hand as a coach. These will also provide a great backdrop and goosebumps atmosphere in tomorrow's “final” for the 2nd promotion place alongside Poland between the hosts and Italy.

After that, the British and Italians, who have several parallels, will probably part ways for the time being. Both were promoted to the top division at the World Cup in Budapest in 2018 after a real heart-stopping final and managed to stay in the league a year later in Bratislava. After that there was no relegation for two years before the duo had to take the elevator down again in Finland a year ago. The two nations have repeatedly made use of dual nationals in the recent past. The hosts currently have 2 cracks born, raised and trained far away from the island, while 11 Italians appear in the “Azzurri” squad. That's why the British are no different for once.

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Brits are different

The British are different. I didn't notice that until I was in Nottingham. The British are not real Europeans either. This has not only been known since January 31, 2020 and “Brexit”.

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