By Trevor Stynes
MILAN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Italy's women's ice hockey team come into their home Winter Olympics as underdogs, but coach Eric Bouchard told Reuters on Tuesday that his side wanted to shock the hockey world at Milano Cortina.
Bouchard has only been in the job since late October, but after a training camp in his native Canada, he is confident that he has had enough time with the players.
"The group has been so dialled in for me since my beginning with the team," Bouchard said.
"I like the
response of the group. The leadership group has been phenomenal. And the two and a half months we had in Montreal was really like a step in the right direction for us. And we're looking forward to the first game."
Italy are in Group B alongside Sweden, Germany, Japan and France whom they face in their opening match on Thursday.
"Right now our focus is on game one. The first period of game one," Bouchard said.
"We want to have a good start. We know it's going to be a really good battle between France and our team, and it should be exciting."
Little is expected of a country playing in their second Olympics, and they qualified automatically as hosts on both occasions. Bouchard, however, has more belief than most.
"We know right now people are doubting us, but we don't care about that, we focus on us," he said.
"We want to shock the hockey world. We're confident in our preparation and we know we can compete against anyone. So staying in the moment and going from there."
Bouchard also hopes that his team can help grow the sport of hockey in Italy where it gets barely any exposure.
"I think right now, these women are incredible for the next generation of little girls that are looking up to them," Bouchard said.
"I'm pretty sure this is going to open up some eyes for young girls to start playing hockey and see themselves playing in the Olympic Games eventually. So that's the mindset."
(Reporting by Trevor StynesEditing by Toby Davis)
