USA Women’s Hockey

The countdown is on to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Thousands of winter athletes from all over the world are gearing up for what should be a exciting two week period. One team hoping to get revenge against their rival country is the usa womens hockey team. The have had to settle for silver medals the past two Olympics. Each loss in the gold medal game was to Canada. Canada and the USA have dominated the sport since it debuted in 1998 in Nagano, Japan.

This year the two teams rivalry is more intense then ever considering Canada is playing on their home turf. The American team is looking to redeem a loss on their soil in Salt Lake City in 2002. That year the team came into the gold medal game on a 35 game winning streak in international competition.

The Americans believe that playing on your home turf can add to the pressure and hope they can play the bad guys in Vancouver. The Canadians know that nothing less than gold would be a huge disappointment. The Canadian women know hockey is their blood and that’s why expectations are so high.

Both teams come into these Olympics with a bunch of new faces. The USA has 15 new players and Canada has over 10 as well. They look forward to putting on the skates and getting familiar with each other. 

Both teams are fairly young since the sport is only its fourth games. Hilary Knight one the young stars of the American team is competing in her first games and is pretty excited.

Another young team that could spark upset of either two favorites is the Swedish team. They upset the Americans back a couple years ago in the world championships and are hoping to do it this time in the Olympics

Altogether the women’s hockey portion of the Olympics should be fun to watch. Many people may be unaware that it is in the Olympics and this year should be its coming out party. At least that is what the Canadians and usa women are hoping for.

Women’s hockey is trying to breach a gap that has existed for so long in Olympic competition. The want to take the hegemonic state that hockey is in and create a new and exciting sport that more people will tune into. So watch February 14 when the action begins.

Let the Games Begin

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic opening ceremony is just around the corner, about twenty days to be exact. It will be interesting to see how the team USA womens hockey will do. 
A sport typically known to be male dominated, like some many other unfortunately, the coach for this Olympic team is Mark Johnson. Johnson is currently in his seventh season as head women’s ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. He has a .802 winning percentage coming into the season and is one of the top active coaches in NCAA Division I.
Returning to the rooster are six veteran players, two of the players Jenny Potter and Angela Ruggiero will be playing in their fourth Olympic games. The team includes 6 Olympians, 19 world champions, 9 NCAA national champions and a long  repertoire of other awards and titles that go along with each of the players on the team. This experienced team will hopefully have the advantage leading to the medal stand, in the past USA womens hockey has been one of the leading forerunners in every tournament, minus the 2006 Winter Olympics having won the bronze medal over Finland.
The preliminary rounds will begin February 13, the rounds are doublie elimination allowing for a small window of chance. Group B in the preliminary rounds will have an interesting Valentine’s day as they duke it out to find out who will continue on to the medal rounds. The U.S. women’s team is in group B, playing game 3, against China. Also scheduled to play that day is Finland versus the Russian Federation. The U.S women’s team is playing game 7 in the preliminary round against Russia on February 16. Their last preliminary game is schdueld for February 18, against Finland. February 20, depending on which countries made it past the preliminary rounds will begin their way toward the medal stand.
Hopefully the women’s team will make it past the preliminary rounds allowing them for a chance to win another medal for the U.S. It is with great hope that these women, along with the skill they have acquired over a long career in ice hockey, will give them the capacity to play and win. Hopefully the country will all tune in and watch the women as they make their way through the preliminary rounds and eventually to the final games leading to the U.S. anthem being played while standing and waving and their fellow Americans.