• Nationline
• Washington
• World
• Politics
• Opinion
• Columnists
• Snapshot
• Science
• States
• Weird news
Search
Resources
•
Newspaper
Archives
•
Our site
•
Yellow
Pages
• Index
• Feedback
• What's hot
• About us
• Jobs at USA
TODAY
• USA TODAY Update
• Software
|
07/12/99- Updated 05:06 PM ET |
The Nation's Homepage |
Women's Ice Hockey
| KEY FACTS |
| MEDALS: GOLD : USA; SILVER: Canada; BRONZE: Finland. VENUE: Big Hat, Aqua Wing. 1994 GAMES: Did not have women's competition on the Olympic schedule. |
| NOTEBOOK |
Online photo album, Celebration for USA, Medal games, Tony Granato: A brother's story, Features
POST OLYMPICS
HOMECOMING: A homecoming complete with brass bands greeted seven members of the victorious U.S. women's Olympic hockey team Friday, March 6, at Logan International Airport in Boston. The seven were coming home to New England after a Hawaiian vacation. They were greeted by acting Gov. Paul Cellucci and a high school marching band that played the national anthem. The players stood in a line, hands over their hearts, as the anthem played. ''These women have inspired thousands and thousands of women across America,'' he said. ''They have brought great pride to Massachusetts, to New England and to the United States of America.'' The seven who returned Friday were Colleen Coyne, A.J. Mleckzo, Sandra Whyte, Vicki Mosvessian, Katie King, Tricia Dunn and Shelley Looney.
OVERWHELMING: Coyne spoke on behalf of the players. ''It's quite a warm welcome and a little bit overwhelming,'' she said. ''I just want to say thank you from all of us here.'' Dunn said she was surprised by the size of the group, which included about 200 people, mostly travelers and Massachusetts Port Authority employees. ''It was very unexpected. It's been great for us to see the response,'' Dunn said. ''I don't think any of us had any idea of the magnitude of the way we affected the community.'' High schoolers, many of them wearing stars-and-stripes workout outfits and waving small flags, cheered as the players arrived.
ICE OF THEIR OWN: Just as their basketball and softball counterparts did after the Atlanta Games, women's hockey is striking while the Olympic iron is hot. With interest in women's hockey peaking after the USA took the gold, the four-team Women's Professional Hockey League Inc. (WPHL) is expected to make its debut this fall. Unlike the ABL and WNBA, created after the U.S. women's basketball team won gold, the WPHL's operating budget will be $2.5 million a year and its top players won't make more than $21,000 a season, founder Ed Saunders said.
 |
CAMMI CARRIES THE COLORS: USA team captain Cammi Granato carried the flag for the American delegation in the closing ceremony of the Nagano Winter Games. Granato was picked in a vote by the U.S. team captains of the eight Olympic winter sports. ''I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would receive such an honor,'' said Granato, of Downers Grove, Ill. ''I am really living out all of my dreams, and the whole Olympic experience has been the most amazing thing that has ever happened in my life.'' Granato and her teammates beat Canada, 3-1, to win the first Olympic gold medal in women's hockey. The United States was 6-0 in the tournament. Granato, 26, is the all-time leading scorer in the USA Hockey women's national team program.
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS: General Mills unveiled its pick for the Olympics Wheaties box cover - the U.S. women's hockey team - as the Winter Games drew to a close. One-and-a-half million boxes of the cereal feature most of the 20-member team. ''I never thought, when I was a little girl, that I'd ever be at the Olympics or on a Wheaties box,'' forward Laurie Baker said. ''I hope this is inspiring to young girls who might want to play hockey.'' Five players are not pictured on the box. They're college students and can't participate in commercial promotions, according to NCAA rules. ''It's very upsetting,'' said Sara Decosta, 20, watching her teammates mug for cameras at the Wheaties news conference. ''They're representing our team, but not everyone can be there.'' Figure skater Tara Lipinski and skiier Picabo Street were possible choices. But General Mills chose the U.S. team for ''the most memorable performance of these Winter Games,'' said Bart Reed, Wheaties marketing manager.
PIONEERS LOOK AHEAD: One will finally go on her honeymoon. Another may travel with her best friend and Olympic rival. The rest will return to the educations or careers they postponed. Whatever they do, now that gold medals hang around their necks, things will never be the same for the U.S. women's hockey team - or for any other girl or woman who loves the game. "After these Olympics, I hope the sport grows times a million,'' U.S. forward Katie King said. "Anyone who watched the (gold medal) game, they're going to want to watch more women's hockey.''
AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT?: After the success of the women's competition in its world-stage debut in the Games, the International Ice Hockey Federation has discussed expanding the field from six teams to eight for the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. ''It would be nice to see it happen,'' says Bob Nicholson, who'll take over as president of Canadian Hockey in July. ''I'm not sure we'll make the next step by 2002. The key is you want to be competitive. You don't just want to add two teams to add two teams.'' Of the six teams in Nagano, only one country - Japan - wasn't competitive.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR COACH?: USA Coach Ben Smith accomplished his mission - winning a gold medal. So what will he do next? No, he's not going to Disney World. He'll probable do some golfing and sailing. But will he continue to coach?
DAY 12
TIME TO CELEBRATE: Online photo album to remember a golden victory for Team USA.
USA BEATS RIVAL CANADA TO ULTIMATE GOAL: When she leaned down to have a gold medal slipped around her neck, Cammi Granato was overcome with emotion. "It's a moment I won't ever forget,'' said Granato, the U.S. captain and inspirational leader. "It means so much. You make so many sacrifices. It's something I've dreamed my whole life.''
- Emotion befits the occasion
- 'Teeter' never tottered
- Power plays were golden
- Players' families share tension, joy
- Sandra Whyte set to join real world
- USA women's Top 10 list on David Letterman
- Gold medal report card
GETTING WELL KNOWN: A day after beating Canada 3-1 to win the women's hockey gold, members of the U.S. team savored both the win and the attention for a sport making its Olympic debut. They showed up with gold medals around their necks at a Nagano hotel reception, then appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman'' to recite the 10 best things about winning a gold medal. It was a far cry from the years of anonymity on ice before women's hockey became an official Olympic sport in Nagano.
LIVING A DREAM: When he was growing up, U.S. women's coach Ben Smith dreamed about playing in the Olympics. His hero was John Mayasich, who helped the U.S. win the gold in the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley. "I've grown up,'' Smith says. "(I know) I'm not going to play in 2002 with the men.'' If your skills aren't high enough to be a player, what's the next best thing? Coaching. Smith accepted responsibility of the U.S. women's national program in June 1996 after nearly 30 years of coaching boys and men. "One of the reasons I took this job was personal and selfish,'' he says. "I wanted to be back (in the Olympics).'' Smith served as an assistant with the men's team in 1988.
FINNS LOOK AHEAD: The bronze medal finish for Finland was no suprise. The Finns have finished in third place behind Canada and USA in the last four world championships. But now, the Finnish hockey team is setting its sights higher. "Bronze was our minimum,'' Finnish forward Hanna-Riikka Nieminen said. "If we didn't win third place, it would be a disaster. We were prepared to play in the final game. I'm disappointed we didn't make it.''
RACE RELATIONS: Soon after arriving in Nagano, the U.S. men's team carved out time to watch the U.S. women's team face off against Finland. "(Before the game) we saw the men's team,'' U.S. defenseman Angela Ruggiero (Harrison Township, Mich.) says. "They sort of gave us high-fives. 'Go get them out there.' It's nice to have the support of the NHL players, who we look up to.'' The Canadian men saw their women's team play, too. "We actually have a very good relationship,'' Canadian coach Shannon Miller says. "It's like a brother/sister relationship. When they arrived at the village, a lot of my players went out to meet them, welcome them and help show them to their rooms. Later, some of us got in snow fights with them.''
CHECKS BOUNCE WRONG WAY FOR CANADA: The ugliness of the Olympics' first USA-Canada game didn't spill over into the gold medal game, or did it? At 9:37 of the third period, Canada's Danielle Goyette decked Shelley Looney in the neutral zone. Goyette was said to be the target of trash talking in that first contest by U.S. players - including Looney, who denied it. Canada paid for Goyette's penalty when Looney scored a power-play goal on a rebound to give Team USA a 2-0 lead. That goal looked even bigger when Goyette scored about five minutes later. "I don't think they collided,'' Canada coach Shannon Miller said. "I think Danielle Goyette threw a body check and deserved a penalty. And yes, it had an impact on the game.'' Sandra Whyte was the other U.S. player accused of verbally abusing Goyette. They shook hands after the gold medal game. "Stuff happens on the ice, and you leave it there,'' Whyte said. "I thought the whole thing was absurd.''
RHEAUME EARNS USA'S RESPECT: U.S. goalie Sarah Tueting took time from her gold medal revelry to salute her Canadian goaltending rival. “She has done so much for women’s hockey,” Tueting said. “To play on the same ice with her was special. I have a lot of respect for her.” Rheaume made sports history in 1992-93 when she played a preseason game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. She signed with the Atlanta Knights to become the first woman to sign with a pro team. She made 21 saves in the gold medal game, while giving up just two goals. “She’s a great goaltender and she’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Tueting said. “She always says ‘Hi’ and always has something nice to say, which is pretty uncommon, especially between us and Canada.
DAY 11
USA WINS GOLD MEDAL: Gretchen Ulion and Shelley Looney scored power goals as the United
States won the first-ever gold medal in women's hockey with a 3-1 win over Canada. Canada's Danielle Goyotte of Canada
scored with four minutes left in the game to cut the U.S. lead to 2-1, but American Sandra Whyte sealed the win with an
empty-net goal with 8 seconds remaining in regulation. In the bronze medal game, Finland defeated China 4-1.
- Full story
- Tueting comes up big in goal
- U.S. victory: No miracle, just magical
- Box score
- Results/schedule
- Standings
- Scoring leaders
 |
FINLAND WINS BRONZE MEDAL: Finland rebounded from a sluggish first period to beat China 4-1 to win the bronze medal in the first-ever Olympic women's hockey tournament. China jumped out to a 1-0 lead halfway through the first period, with an unassisted goal by Xiuqing Yang. But Finland struck back just over three minutes into the second period, getting the equalizer from Sari Fisk. Johanna Ikonen and Sanna Lankosaari also scored to make it 3-1 after two periods. Then the Olympics' leading goal scorer Hanna-Riikka Nieminen finished things off for Finland with an empty-netter with eight seconds left in the game. Finland finished the tourney with a 4-2 record, with losses coming only to Canada and USA. China ends up at 2-4, in fourth place.
DAY 8
BAD BLOOD BOILING: Make no mistake. Team Canada and Team USA do not like one another. That bad blood boiled onto the ice after the U.S. beat Canada 7-4. Canada's coach Shannon Miller accused a U.S. forward Sandra Whyte of making nasty remarks about the dead father of Canadian player, Danielle Goyette. "It was uncalled for. I was standing there. I heard it,'' Miller said.
DAY 7
USA 7, CANADA 4: Cammi Granato and Laurie Baker scored two goals apiece to lead Team USA to a 7-4 win over Canada in a tune-up for the gold medal game. The United States exploded for six goals in a wild third period that featured nine goals. The game was also hard-hitting as the teams combined for 48 minutes in penalties. Sarah Tueting and Sara DeCosta split time in net for the United States. Tueting played the first half of the game and stopped nine of 10 shots, while DeCosta made 22 saves on 25 shots in a period-and-a-half of work.
SWEDEN 5, JAPAN 0: Riika Nieminen, deprived of her playmaking linemate, scored two unassisted goals as Finland defeated China 6-1 in the final first-round game of Olympic women's ice hockey. Marika Lehtimaeki, moved up to the top line in place of the injured Tiia Reima, also scored twice.
SWEDEN 5, JAPAN 0: Forward Erika Holst scored twice in leading Sweden to a 5-0 victory over Japan in Olympic women's hockey. The game was strictly for bragging rights. Neither team had won a game, and both were eliminated from medal contention Thursday.
DAY 6
 |
USA 10, JAPAN 0: Team USA was a rude guest, handing host Japan its third straight double-digit loss, 10-0 before 5,015 at Aqua Wing. Going into the game, coach Ben Smith wanted to make sure that his club remained focused against the overmatched Japanese. He needn't have worried. The Americans had the game in hand at the end of one period, leading 5-0. Katie King scored a hat trick and A.J. Mleczko and Shelley Looney each had a pair of goals. Sometimes stats lie, but not in this game. USA outshot Japan 56-4.
CANADA 4, FINLAND 2: Therese Brisson fired in a power-play slapshot and added another goal as Canada defeated Finland 4-2. Finland, after replacing Liisa-Maria Sneck for Tuula Puputti in goal, got on the board midway through the second when Petra Vaarakallio worked the puck loose from the boards and beat Canada goalie Manon Rheaume low on the glove side. Danielle Goyette made it 4-1 with a point-blank shot between Puputti's skates on a power play late in the second. The Finns closed to 4-2 when Karoliina Rantamaki muscled close to Rheaume and fired the puck past her midway through the third. Finland played without one of its best forwards, Tiia Reima, who suffered a separated shoulder.
CHINA 3, SWEDEN 1: Liu Hongmei's pointblank backhander broke a tie and China went on to a 3-1 victory over Sweden for a spot in the Olympic women's ice hockey medal round. China's win means Sweden, which hasn't won a game, is out and China will play for medals with the United States, Canada and Finland. It was a rough game for China's goalie, Guo Hong, who needed medical attention after first hurting her left arm and then getting kneed in the head on a pair of freak plays. She stayed in the game and had 22 saves.
 |
UNITED STATES 4, FINLAND 2: Karyn Bye scored one goal and had two assists as the United States defeated Finland 4-2. Gretchen Ulion, Tara Mounsey and Vicki Movessian also scored for the U.S., which improved to 3-0 in the preliminary round. Riika Nieminen and Kirsi Haenninen scored for Finland (2-1). Tueting had 20 saves on 22 shots.
CHINA 6, JAPAN 1: Guo Wei had three goals and Yang Xiuqing had a hand in three scores within 11/2 minutes as China beat Japan 6-1. Yang had the game's first goal at 12:21 of the second period. Guo made it 2-0 just 14 seconds later, taking Yang's pass at the blue line and skating in to jam it between goalie Yuka Oda's pads. Masako Sato scored Japan's lone goal 2:25 into the third, grabbing the rebound of Maiko Obikawa's slapshot, decoying China goalie Guo Hong.
 |
CANADA 5, SWEDEN 3: Danielle Goyette, Canada's top scorer, had two goals and an assist in a 5-3 win over Sweden. Goyette stole the puck on a faceoff midway through the first period, raced in and deked goalie Charlotte Goethesson out of her net, then shot the puck in the open side. She put Canada up 5-2 just 34 seconds into the third period on a pass from Hayley Wickenheiser, who rushed the puck through the Swedish zone and fed Goyette in front of the crease.
DAY 3
UNITED STATES 7, SWEDEN 1: Karyn Bye scored the tiebreaker and added a shorthanded goal as the United States defeated Sweden 7-1 in Olympic women's ice hockey. Defenseman Sue Merz added a goal and two assists after the U.S. team got over a slow start, giving up its first goal of the tournament midway through the first period. Sweden held the U.S. offense down through the first, although it managed only one shot on goal. For the game, the U.S. outshot Sweden 47-3.
CANADA 2, CHINA 0: Danielle Goyette tipped in Hayley Wickenheiser's shot and Vicki Sunohara added a breakaway goal as Canada defeated China 2-0. Chinese goalie Guo Hong, the closest thing her team has to a star, turned back 38 of 40 shots. After Canada scored twice in the second period, the third was scoreless as well as Guo displayed an array of moves that were sometimes painful to behold, including splits along the length of the goal mouth.
FINLAND 11, JAPAN 1: There was no home ice advantage for Japan's women's hockey team at the Olympics. Even though they scored their first goal ever in international competition, the Japanese were again overmatched, losing 11-1 to Finland, which got three goals from Kirsi Haenninen. Japan was markedly more aggressive than in its 13-0 loss to Canada or the 10-0 pre-Olympics exhibition defeat to the United States, collecting 40 minutes in penalties overall to Finland's 16.
DAY 2
 |
UNITED STATES 5, CHINA 0: Veteran forward Cammi Granato scored twice as the United States women's hockey team made its Olympic debut with a 5-0 victory over China. Young stars Tara Mounsey and Jennifer Schmigdall, as well as Karyn Bye, each added a goal and an assist in the penalty-filled match. Granato, the team's captain and only member to play in all four Women's World Championships, scored the first-ever Olympics goal for the United States on a power play midway through the first period. China managed only 10 shots on U.S. goalie Sarah Tueting.
CANADA 13, JAPAN 0: World champion Canada outshot Japan 64-3 in skating to a 13-0 victory in the first round of Olympic women's hockey. Danielle Goyette scored three times and Hayley Wickenheiser twice. Goyette, on three of Canada's four gold-medal teams at the Women's World Championship, batted Wickenheiser's rebound past Yuka Oda to open the scoring less than six minutes into the first, made it 4-0 early in the second and added the 12th goal at 16:21 of the third. Judy Diduck, France St. Louis and Fiona Smith also scored in the third as a partisan crowd of 4,597 cheered every Japanese rush and save to the game's end.
FINLAND 6, SWEDEN 0: Johanna Ikonen scored twice and Tiia Reima and Sari Krooks each had a goal and an assist as Finland defeated Sweden 6-0 in the first Olympic women's ice hockey game. Finland, with one of the competition's fastest and most technically skilled teams, dominated despite the Swedes' physical play, outshooting them 28-12 and steering play toward their end even while killing penalties. Petra Vaarakallio scored the first Olympic women's goal 8:35 into the game, picking up a bad clearing attempt by Sweden and firing it through Annica Ahlen's pads.
Day 1
MORE THAN FUN & GAMES: Most athletes at the Winter Games can concentrate solely on their events. For women's hockey, there's a little bit of selling going on, as well as playing hockey. There's also the glare of the spotlight, that many players have never experienced, from the novelty of being a first-time Olympic event.
| REVIEW |
 RED, WHITE AND BLUE: The American women celebrate gold (Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY). | History is made It will be a trivia question one day, "Who won the first-ever Olympic women's ice hockey gold medal?" The answer will be the United States. The second-seeded Americans beat the top-seeded Canadians 3-1 in the title game. The victory gave Team USA a 6-0 record for the Olympic tournament.  Olympic rostersOlympic scheduleWomen's hockey featuresAll-time U.S. women's stats Olympic qualifiers: Seedings: 1. Canada; 2. United States; 3. Finland; 4. China; 5. Sweden; 6. Japan. |
| LATEST NEWS |
COVER GIRLS: General Mills unveiled its pick for the March Wheaties box cover — the U.S. women's hockey team. Beginning March 2, 1.5 million boxes of the cereal will feature most of the 20-member team. ''I never thought, when I was a little girl, that I'd ever be at the Olympics or on a Wheaties box,'' team member Laurie Baker said. ''I hope this is inspiring to young girls who might want to play hockey.'' Speculation about which U.S. gold-medal champion will be picked for the box cover is always a favorite end-of-the-Olympics guessing game. Figure skater Tara Lipinski and skiier Picabo Street were possible choices. General Mills chose the U.S. team for ''the most memorable performance of these Winter Games,'' said Bart Reed, Wheaties marketing manager.
FIVE WILL BE MISSING: It's irksome to five players who won't be pictured on the box. They're college students and can't participate in commercial promotions, according to NCAA rules. ''It's very upsetting,'' said Sara Decosta, 20, watching her teammates mug for cameras at the Wheaties news conference. ''They're representing our team, but not everyone can be there.''
SARAH COMES UP BIG: It could have Sara but this time it was Sarah - that is Sarah Tueting in the Team USA net for the gold medal game, which the Americans won 3-1 versus Team Canada. Sara DeCosta and Tueting shared the netminding duties during the team's pre-Olympic and Olympic tournament games. However, when Tueting got the call for the title game she was ready and came up with 21 saves in the contest to help the Americans to the first-ever women's ice hockey gold medal.
TEAM SPIRIT: Eric Lindros brought several of his hockey teammates to sit on the sideline and cheer the Canadian women's team in a game against Sweden. Lindros, captain of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, was joined by Canada goalies Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur, and players including Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan and Trevor Linden. The group sat patiently in a fenced-off section as Japanese and Canadian fans crowded in to take their pictures during a break. Canada won 5-3 to remain unbeaten.
RIVALRY BETWEEN U.S., CANADA STARTS AT TOP: "I don't want a relationship with him, (and) he doesn't want one with me,'' says Canadian coach Shannon Miller of her icy experiences with her American counterpart Ben Smith. Smith agrees. "She's probably not going to be on my boat, and I'm probably not going to be on hers,'' he says.
EMBITTERED BY SNUB: They were pioneers of women's hockey in the United States. And they still believe they should have been in Nagano with their former teammates, wearing the red, white and blue. Kelly O'Leary, Stephanie O'Sullivan and Erin Whitten were the last players cut. "It ruined my life,'' O'Leary says. "It's changed my whole outlook, my whole faith in people.''
OLYMPIC DEBUT CAPS LONG ROAD TRIP: In their quest for Olympic gold, the U.S. women's hockey team criss-crossed North America, playing almost anyone that would schedule them, in a barnstorming-type tour not commonly seen these days. Their mission: Develop skills, build chemistry, learn how to deal with distractions and promote the women's game, making its Olympic debut in Nagano.
USA OFFICIAL SEES DREAM COME TRUE: Katie King was charging hard to the net. Karyn Bye was digging out a puck in the corner. And Walter Bush was wearing a wide smile. The U.S. women's hockey team was in the Olympics. Bush's dream had come true. "I feel like a father watching his children grow up,'' he says. "I'm really proud.'' Bush, president of USA Hockey, was instrumental in women's hockey becoming an Olympic event in Nagano. "I had people tell me it couldn't happen,'' he says. "Then it was a challenge besides.'' Bush says his office recently received a fax from a fan in Massachusetts who had written to IOC officials in the 1970s, requesting the inclusion of women's hockey. "You must be mistaken,'' the IOC responded. "If you're talking about field hockey, that's a possibility. Women's ice hockey will never be in the Olympics.'' Oh yeah?
WE TRY HARDER: Most of the women hockey players have faced hurdles other athletes never had to face. They've been told their whole lives hockey is for boys. Some even used phony names to play on boys teams. For the women, it's always been about just wanting to play.
GRANATO LIVING A DREAM: She's got a hockey-family name and plays the game a higher level than most other women in the world. Cammi Granato has become to the U.S. women's hockey team what Alexi Lalas was to the U.S. men's World Cup soccer team in 1994. Granato signs all the autographs and does all the interviews, all with the goal of drawing attention to women's hockey. She's happy to accept the burden. But what she really wants is an Olympic gold medal.
TO CHECK OR NOT TO CHECK: Physical play along the boards is a big part of the game of hockey. So why is checking a no-no as women's ice hockey makes its debut in Nagano? "It was mayhem (when it was allowed)," says Bob Allen, chairman of the U.S. women's hockey team. "Fear of injury is why they put the rule in," says Bob Nadin, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. But should checking be a part of the women's game?
©COPYRIGHT 1999 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.