MILAN, Feb 6 : The Italian women’s ice hockey team earned a famous win at the Winter Olympics thanks to their family spirit, coach Eric Bouchard said on Friday, adding that his players are not resting on their laurels and are eager for more success.
Their only previous appearance at the Games came in 2006, losing all four games.
At Milano Cortina, Italy have their first win under their belts and have already scored more goals in one game than in the four matches 20 years ago after Thursday’s 4-1 win over France.
“It’s huge for this country. It’s huge for Hockey Italy. They deserve it,” Bouchard told Reuters.
“They’ve been working their asses off for the past several years. I’ve been with the group for the past three to four months and what I was able to witness is the family concept.
“The way they care for one another is just unbelievable. So to be able to get that win yesterday, to get the tournament started on the right path was very emotional for the group.”
Bouchard took charge in October and took the players to his native Canada for a couple of months at a training camp.
“It’s a key element to our success,” Bouchard said.
“During our time in Montreal, we had a chance to play against really good hockey teams at the youth sports level on the women’s side, but also men’s hockey teams. So we were able to get challenged.
“It was also a great time for us to work on our technical stuff on the ice, the team bonding off the ice as well. I think this is where this group really became stronger.”
Italy showed strength of character in that opening win, not allowing their heads to drop when France scored first.
“The timing of a goal is something that we actually worked on over the past several months,” Bouchard said.
“You get scored on or you score, you got to reset, you got to go back to work, and that’s exactly what we did.”
NOT DONE YET
After pulling off their first win, Italy are far from done at these Games.
“We want more, that’s exactly what I told the group at the meeting before practice,” Bouchard said.
“This is not the end of the road for us. We came here, we’re on a mission, we know we’re the underdogs, that’s perfect.”
Speaking to Reuters before the France game, Bouchard had said that they wanted “to shock the hockey world” and with Sweden up next on Saturday, that is still their intention.
“Oh, definitely. We know our group, we’re family here,” he said.
“We trust that our preparation is not going to change tomorrow. Every game is a game seven mentality for us. That’s our approach. So you got to reset.
“We know Sweden is going to be a tough opponent, but it’s not going to change. We’re going to stick to the script. And at the end of the day, we’re family.”
