Boli's Blog

By Kevin Bolibruck
Sheffield Steelers defenceman

This is going to be the highest level that a lot of the guys have ever played and so I think that everyone is motivated to have a good weekend

Day two of the blog, two days till we leave for France and three days before our first game.

Just finished practice and it went well. We worked on some two-on-ones, driving the net for the forwards and the defenceman. We have some guys with some good speed in Rob Dowd, Jeff Legue, Matt Hubbauer and Jonathan Phillips so we want to use those to our advantage when we are away.

We also worked on the 'trap' today, which I think is going to be vital if we are to have a good weekend. If we are going to break down teams we want them to skate into our 'trap' and then we will counter with speed.

For those who don't know what the 'trap' is, it is how we set up when we don't have the puck. Basically we try and make it as hard as possible for the other team to come forward by blocking up the neutral zone when they try and attack.

The idea is we strangle their space and so they have nowhere to go and then give us the puck back. That is the simple version of it, although in reality it gets a bit more complicated.

LISTEN ONLINE AND LIVE ON BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD

Friday, 15 January, Steelers v Grenoble 1900 GMT (FM)

Saturday, 16 January, Steelers v Salzburg Red Bull 1500 GMT (Online only)

Sunday, 17 January, Steelers v Minsk 1400 GMT (1035AM)

One thing I think about a lot is that we need to make sure that we have possession of the puck if we want to be successful, so the important thing is not give it away too cheaply.

The guys are in good spirits and we are all looking forward to getting away. This is going to be the highest level that a lot of the guys have ever played and so I think that everyone is motivated to have a good weekend.

I think the other thing that will be at the back of the mind is if some players want to go and play in Europe next season this is a great showcase for them.

The most important thing though is that we stick to the game plan and then everybody will look better because we will be sticking to our roles.

I think everyone is looking forward to the Continental Cup, the players, staff and fans. I think we are all in the same boat with regards to the fact we don't really know what to expect.

There will be a lot of fans that will be going to Grenoble and I am sure they will be interested to see what the standard of hockey will be like.

It will be great to see them over there and I hope they make plenty of noise, especially on that first night when we play the home team, because I am told they create a great atmosphere.

Enough hockey talk for now. After the best part of two hours on the ice I have to head back to university and finish up my school work.

I only have two days left and I have papers that need to be in Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week and so, I have plenty of work to do before we leave.

The hardest thing to do is make sure I spend enough time on everything, with hockey, school and family I have a lot of people who want my time.

Tonight I think it will be nice to spend some quality time at home because they won't be coming to France.

Instead they have decided to go back to Canada next month and go and see our family over there.

It is a shame they won't be there, but I know they will be rooting for us back here in Sheffield.

Boli

You can hear all of the games on BBC Radio Sheffield

Friday, 15 January, Steelers v Grenoble 1900 GMT (FM)

Saturday, 16 January, Steelers v Salzburg Red Bull 1500 GMT (Online)

Sunday, 17 January, Steelers v Minsk (1035AM)