URL:http://www.canoe.ca/HockeyWomen/mar29_usa.html

March 29, 1997

TEAM USA AIMS TO TOPPLE CANADIAN WOMEN

 LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) -- Ron Wilson didn't pay any attention to the
Canada curse, and neither does Ben Smith.
 As coach of Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey in Montreal last
September, Wilson had the task of trying to find a way to beat Canada
at its own game. He did in a dramatic three-game series, giving the
United States the crown of international hockey superiority.
 The loss sent Canada into mourning. Smith hopes to have the same
effect at the Women's World Championship.
 "We're carving out our niche," said Smith, the new coach of the U.S.
women's team. "We want to have people looking at us for the same type
of reasons."
 The eight-team tournament, which begins Monday in Kitchener, Ontario,
will determine which five teams join Japan at the 1998 Winter Olympics
in Nagano. It is a big deal to the U.S. women.
 "It's a steppingstone for us into the Olympics," U.S. star Cammi
Granato said as the team held its final workouts. "We're really hungry
for a gold medal right now. We haven't achieved our ultimate goal of
winning a gold medal yet, so each time we get a chance it means a
lot."
 The U.S. women have consistently beaten every team at the World
Championship -- every team except Canada.
 In the inaugural tournament in 1990 at Ottawa, the Americans
outscored Switzerland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden by a combined 48-10
to get into the final, then lost 5-2 to Canada. In 1992 and 1994 it
was more of the same: Canada won 8-0 and 6-3.
 Gold, gold, gold for Canada, but silver, silver, silver for the
United States.
 The U.S. team believes it can end the string of frustration.
 The Americans have played Canada three times this year, and each game
was decided by one goal, with Canada winning two.
 "We're accomplishing what we want," said Granato, 26, playing on her
sixth national team. "We're closing the gap with them every time we
play them. Now it's down to who's going to get the goal, who's going
to stay out of the penalty box, and who's got more heart.
 "It was frustrating before when we were five goals away. But now that
we're so close, it's exciting."
 "We're confident in our abilities," said goalie Erin Whitten, the
first woman to record a victory in a professional hockey game. "We've
proven over and over again that we're on par with the Canadians,
getting to be at the same level as them. Right now we're thinking
about our first game of the tournament against Norway."
 Granato was inside the Molson Centre when Tony Amonte led Team USA to
victory in the World Cup. She is not likely to forget that moment.
 "The way they won it is a great example for us," Granato said. "It
doesn't mean that you can't win the gold medal because Canada is
favored."
 And Smith makes sure his team knows that.
 "Everybody on this team knows what happened in the World Cup," he
said. "It kind of sheds new light on it for us. I just wish more of
the girls had been at the game just to see it because that's the track
that we're on. We're on the road for a gold."

_________________________________________________________________


CANOE home
Copyright (c) 1997, Canoe Limited Partnership.
All rights reserved.