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Four-year wait U.S. likely to face Canada for gold again in TurinPosted: Friday February 22, 2002 4:28 PMWEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) -- The U.S.-Canadian women's hockey rivalry is only getting more intense, with both teams sniping at each other and talking about a rematch just hours after battling for the gold medal. After Canada won a tightly contested final 3-2 to even the Olympic score at one gold medal apiece, the North Americans all but promised to renew the series at the 2006 games in Turin, Italy. It's a virtual cinch that they'll have a rematch there, as they have in two Olympics and every world championship ever played. But that leaves plenty of time for the off-ice trash-talk that began almost as soon as Thursday's game ended. Canadian players were incensed about a rumor that the Americans had stomped on a Canadian flag. The U.S. players universally denied they had done so. Forward Vicky Sunohara even took a swipe at the Star-Spangled Banner. "The anthem was a big thing, not wanting to hear their anthem" at the medal ceremony, she said. "I don't dislike the U.S. anthem, I just don't want to hear that after a game." The winners also complained about the officiating. The International Ice Hockey Federation assigned American Stacey Livingston as the referee for the gold medal game. "We couldn't believed the unfair officiating," Canadian captain Cassie Campbell said. "We played as a team despite the poor officiating." Livingston gave the United States eight consecutive power plays, but she also missed at least one instance when Canada had too many players on the ice. Jayna Hefford may have also been offsides before she made it 3-1 with one second left in the second period. But what really angered the Americans was Hayley Wickenheiser's comment that they cracked under the pressure. "We believed in each other and we stayed calm," she said. "We could see it in our eyes and we could see it in their eyes." That was too much for U.S. coach Ben Smith. "She's a great player, but maybe she's not an optometrist," he said. The North Americans have played each other 49 times -- a familiarity that, as usual, breeds contempt. Twenty-four of the games have been decided by one goal, six have gone to overtime and three to an overtime shootout. Although the United States won eight straight against Canada -- part of a 35-game winning streak -- Canada holds a 28-21 edge overall and has lost only one meaningful game to the Americans: the final in Nagano. Now they've gotten even for that, too. "Being a defending Olympic champion in your own country, when you have won eight games in a row and you've always had success, there is really no where else to go but down in a situation like that," said Wickenheiser, who was the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Though Wickenheiser has been playing on the Canadian national team since the 1994 world championships, she's only 24. Others, like 36-year-old Danielle Goyette, probably won't be back for another Olympics. The U.S. team has four players over 30 and four more will turn 30 by the 2006 Games. That might not seem old -- especially compared to a men's team loaded with NHL veterans -- but Cammi Granato has been on the national team since the first world championships in 1990. Some of the newer players -- including teenagers Natalie Darwitz, Julie Chu and Lyndsay Wall -- are eager for the chance to upgrade their silver medals to gold. Those who already have one are contemplating retirement, though only defenseman Sue Merz was willing to announce it. Part of the problem for those who stay is that the minor tournaments and world championships don't pose the challenge or the thrill of the Olympics, especially since there are really only two superpowers in women's hockey and everything is a buildup to the inevitable final against Canada. "Four years is too long," Merz said.
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