Ronald Martinez Getty Images <caption> Emily Pfalzer, Haley Skarupa, Amanda Kessel, Kali Flanagan, Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne huddle up before the United States’ opening game against Finland. </caption>
GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Don’t use Sunday’s lid-lifter of the Olympic tournament to make any broad, sweeping statements about the state of women’s hockey. It is tempting, sure, because a tournament in which anything can happen is more intriguing than a tournament in which we know — before we even start — who the participants in the gold medal game will be.
“I think the landscape of women’s hockey has changed a lot,” U.S. forward Hilary Knight said.
That’s the tease, at least, after the Americans opened the PyeongChang Olympics with a taut 3-1 victory over Finland at Kwandong Hockey Centre. The players, they have to think that way, have to act that way, have to believe that way.
“It shouldn’t be easy,” U.S. Coach Robb Stauber said.
The problem is: It almost always has been easy — until Canada. It’s why, until someone alters that reality, the rest of us can live with those thoughts. For us, where women’s hockey is concerned, it’s about Canada now, because it always has been about Canada, and always will be about Canada.
You know what team the Americans didn’t mention — not once — in discussing the victory over Finland? That’s right: Canada.
“We’ve got a lot of great teams in this tournament,” Knight said. “We can’t look all the way to the gold-medal game. It’s every single step that we take. We need to win.”
(Programming note: The Americans’ first game against Canada is Thursday. Mark it down.)
(Oh, yeah. They play the non-banned Russian athletes Tuesday. Kind of a precursor. Don’t sweat if you can’t watch.)
[U.S. women’s hockey team bonded by strike and by storm]
This is a topic the best women’s players from Canada and the U.S. tire of, and understandably. But there’s really no way to avoid it. The women’s Olympic tournament dates from the 1998 Nagano Games. The Americans won gold that year, beating Canada in the final. Beginning with that first tournament, there have been 10 Olympic gold and silver medals issued in the sport. Nine have gone to Canada and the U.S. — with the Canadians taking the past four golds.
“It is a concern,” said Angela Ruggiero, the former U.S. star who now works both with the United States Olympic Committee and as an athlete representative to the International Olympic Committee. “How do we develop women’s hockey globally? The encouraging thing is everyone’s developing. It just might be sort of on a parallel path, so you’re not seeing real big shifts in medals.”
The only shift in the gold and silver medals came in 2006, when Ruggiero and her teammates were upset by Sweden in the semifinals, and settled for bronze. There hasn’t been an Olympic women’s tournament when Canada and the U.S. haven’t both medaled. Look to world championships for some diversity, and you fail. There, the scoreboard looks like this: Canada 10, U.S. 8, the rest of the world 0. Never has another country so much as played for the title.
And so what was this Sunday? The U.S. was — rub your eyes — trailing after one period.
Here’s how you smile and assess that when, in a way, you’re pleading for the rest of the world to catch up.
“I think we would rather have a tight game,” veteran Monique Lamoureux-Morando said. “It’s better for the fans, but it’s even better for us. To go behind in the first period there, [that’s] not a position that we’re used to being in a ton. But it was a really great test for us.”
Lamoureux-Morando helped the Americans pass the test by digging a puck out of scrum in the corner in the second period, skating across the crease, then burying her own rebound behind Finnish goalie Noora Raty, the University of Minnesota product who played up to her reputation as the best goaltender in the tournament. The Americans got the go-ahead goal on a power play from Kendall Coyne, who was set up by Knight, and they locked down the Finns completely, preventing a shot on goal for roughly 19 minutes en route to a 42-24 advantage.
Still, the Americans had to kill a late penalty, and this wasn’t actually over until Dani Cameranesi’s empty-netter in the final seconds.
Phew.
“You want to win every single game of the tournament,” Knight said. “That’s just our level of compete.”
But can the rest of the world, save our neighbors to the north, match that level of compete? This is, of course, a societal issue more than a hockey issue, and not all societies are the same. There are a finite number of nations that are inclined to be good at hockey to begin with. Ecuador and Kenya and Brazil and New Zealand aren’t really among them. Now, take the countries that are cold enough, and analyze whether they support not just female hockey players, but female athletes in general.
[How to watch hockey at the PyeongChang Olympics]
The IOC, through a gender equity project, is starting to “really take a look at everything,” according to Ruggiero, “not just participation in the Games, but funding, which I think is pivotally important. How do we ensure that every country’s athletes, every national federation, is actually supporting their women’s teams as well as their men’s teams?”
The women on the U.S. hockey team who are assembled here in this coastal city have no time for such deep and important thoughts. That’s not their responsibility at the moment. Their responsibility, as they see it, was met Sunday, even if it seemed a bit harrowing. Their next responsibility comes Tuesday against the Olympic Athletes from Russia. Then, they’ll get to Canada.
For now, it’s tempting to say what the U.S. needed to open this tournament was a tight game, which Finland provided. For now, it’s tempting to say that the tight game means the world is getting closer.
But let’s breathe a bit. There’s a lot of history here that says Canada and the United States are unmatched in women’s hockey. One Sunday to open an Olympic tournament — even a Sunday in which the outcome wasn’t determined until the final minute — doesn’t change all that. What would change it is a higher level of commitment, financially and societally, from hockey-playing nations around the world. Until then, pencil in Canada and Team USA for gold a week from Thursday — and don’t be afraid to use pen.
Read more PyeongChang Olympics coverage: Red Gerard wins first U.S. medal of PyeongChang Olympics, a gold in men’s slopestyle Clockwork Orange: Sven Kramer, Dutch speedskating maestro, wins another gold Mexican Olympic ski team’s day of the Dead uniforms will haunt you Figure skater Bradie Tennell keeps U.S. hopes alive in Olympic team event Jerry Brewer: There’s peace in the air at PyeongChang Olympics, but something doesn’t smell right
Read Again Brow https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/breaking-the-us-womens-hockey-team-was-losing-to-someone-besides-canada/2018/02/11/058891ac-0ef5-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.htmlBagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Breaking: The US women's hockey team was losing to someone besides Canada"
Post a Comment