Boli's Blog #4

By Kevin Bolibruck
Sheffield Steelers defenceman

We are treating this like it is the championship game. There is not any room for error and if we are going to win the gold then we must win today

Day two of the championship and I am looking out over the ice from our team bench, it is a nice rink.

Just to catch you up with what has been happening. The travel over here was pretty good but it was long, we didn't get in to our hotel till 6pm after a 5am start so we were all pretty tired.

Grenoble is a nice city, it is a bit grey at the moment, but the mountains are beautiful. The hotel staff have been great though, it's important that when you are away like this you have somewhere good to stay and they have been really helpful.

After a good night's sleep we got up early Friday morning for a pre-game skate to try and get rid of our bus legs and get used to the arena. I know it is only an hour's time difference but I admit that I feel a bit jet lagged so it was good to get moving.

Last night's game against Grenoble was great, the rink was full and the fans were making a lot of noise, it was a great atmosphere. I have to say our fans were amazing, they were really loud and although they were out numbered by the home fans you would never have guessed from the noise levels.

Bolibruck (l) played in Sheffield's 5-2 win over hosts Grenoble

We played a fairly strong game, first period we pretty dominant and we came out with a 2-0 lead. They came out in the second and scored a couple of nice goals to tie it up. It was tense and we ended up getting the next one and then sealed it up in the third to win 5-2.

It was really good to get that first win under our belts and now we have a chance to carry in on the tournament. In a couple of hours we play Salzburg and the arena staff are just putting the nets out and getting the food preparations ready for the fans this afternoon.

Salzburg is going to be a tough a game for us and I have played with a few of their players and I played against Jeremy Rebek in junior so they have a few Canadian imports. The coach Dave Matsos and Mike O'Connor watched Salzburg's first game against Minsk and they have some scouting tips for us.

They are a high level team and it is a massive game for both sides really because whoever wins then has the chance to win it all tomorrow by going through the tournament undefeated. I think all of the players are excited to see what is going to happen. We are treating this like it is the championship game. There is not any room for error and if we are going to win the gold then we must win today.

We are all excited and we like the fact that we are the underdogs in the tournament and I think that we have already surprised everyone with our win last night. I think it is going to help us that we play back to back games because we are used to it and they aren't in Austria because they usually play Friday then again on Sunday. If we are to win it then every single guy on our team needs to have their best game tonight that is crucial. I can't wait, I will blog more later.

Boli

You can hear all of the games on BBC Radio Sheffield

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

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