Wow! What a feeling it is, lifting that trophy above your head as the crowds scream out and all the press photographers flash bulbs shooting your eye. I know it's a team game, but hey, I even scored the game-winning goal as well. I have to admit I was dead proud of myself but even more proud of the team-mates that sat around me.

All year I've told you that we were good enough to win. All year I've wrote in this column that these players were good enough to bring success to Sheffield and I wasn't wrong, was I?

For the Play-off, I played on a line with Ryan Finnerty and Jason Hewitt. I thought we did well in the quarter-finals against Manchester; well in the semi-final against Cardiff, but on Sunday morning coach David Matsos asked us for more and we gave him more. We gave him everything we had, both in terms of effort and sheer bloody-mindedness. We played well. We hit everything that moved and just skated harder and faster than the Coventry players.

When we arrived back in the dressing room after winning, the emotion was just incredible. Our family and friends joined us in the dressing room and we started our three-day drinking binge and I'm not frightened to admit that my head hurts like merry hell three days later.

The Sheffield Steelers have confirmed that I've signed a new contract with the club so I'm back next year, hopefully writing this column but, with due respect and, more importantly, hopefully winning more trophies.

It is an exciting time to be a Sheffield Steeler. How lucky am I to be the captain, to be seen as its leader. I sometimes have to pinch myself, but then again, I've worked hard for this, worked hard for 10 years. Any kids reading this page remember that hard work does pay off.

As I wrote this I'm in Coventry; my celebrations were cut short as I have now joined up with the GB team. We set off for Austria on Saturday and five games in six days. I can't think of the beach for another fortnight!