Sochi, RU – The first full day in beautiful Sochi began with breakfast at the hotel before choosing a foot tour to practice instead of the shuttle service, 30 degrees celsius at 9:00AM makes that an easy choice.
Once the team arrived at the Shayba Arena, they were escorted to their official team dressing room which they will use for the duration of the event. The team received gift bags from the tournament hosts , which included a sweater, golf shirt, hat, and a few other generous mementos. After snapping some pics of the breathtaking 7000-seat multi-purpose complex, the players met with the coaching staff to go over some fundamentals before getting their dressing into their gear and heading over to the training facility next door.
It was a much smoother practice today as the passes are getting crisper and things are beginning to happen at a quicker pace. The main focus was working on line chemistry, neutral zone transition and 5 on 5 systems, all things that will need to be positives in tomorrows tournament opening game Vs Russian league champion Lokomotiv.
Following practice the team was on the bikes for a cool-down before heading back to the hotel for lunch. The coaching staff then held a video session in the afternoon to go over video from the teams exhibition game in Moscow Vs Krylya Sovetov followed by a team dinner.
The team is on the ice tomorrow at 10:00AM (3:00AM ET) for a morning skate, before a quiet afternoon to rest up for their opening game of the tournament at 7:00PM (12:00PM ET) Vs Lokomotiv.
Please follow our Twitter feed @TheCCHL for live game updates of the game. There will also be a video link posted to watch live.
