U.S. Women Gearing Up for Olympics

Among the United States' best hopes for a medal in Vancouver next February is the women's ice hockey team, which has won one of the three gold medals awarded in the sport's brief Olympic history. Host Canada has won the other two, and the United States and Canada will clash in the final tournament before Vancouver 2010 in the Four Nations Cup, which opens today in Finland.

The U.S. is the defending champion in the event, beating Canada 3-2 in the finals last year. The American women have won either gold or silver in the Four Nations Cup every year in which the U.S. has participated, as has Canada.

Three-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero -- who once worried that the sport might lose its Olympic spot for perceived lack of competition -- said that the gap between the top two teams and Sweden and Finland, the two other squads in the Four Nations, is not that great any longer. She pointed out that Finland topped the U.S. 3-2 two months ago, and that last year, Sweden downed Canada for the first time in overtime.

"They're both capable of beating the U.S. and Canada," Ruggiero told FanHouse by phone. "They're kind of on the brink of breaking into the upper echelon."

China is rapidly improving, and Ruggiero believes Germany would have fielded a strong squad except for injuries that kept the team from qualifying.

Still, the Olympics are likely to boil down to the sport's dominant duo, and the United States has been preparing furiously. Ruggiero worked out at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., with some NHL players, like Chris Drury of the Rangers, Richard Park of the Islanders and George Parros of the Ducks, as well as a number of European players

Ruggiero, who will be 30 when the Olympics open, follows the Mark Verstegen workout program as well as yoga, and, she said, "It doesn't matter how old you are, you can still get better. And I feel great."

She also likes the way the U.S. team is shaping up under head coach Mark Johnson.

Johnson is the women's coach at Wisconsin, where his teams have won three NCAA titles in six years, but he might be best known as the leading scorer for the "Miracle on Ice" team - so perhaps it's not so surprising that Ruggiero calls him "very offensive-minded."

Ruggiero, a defenseman, enjoys the aggressive style that Johnson likes to employ. "It's about getting to the net, crashing the net and being able to capitalize on that," she said.

That will be a different look for the U.S. when they take on Canada on Saturday. Plus, the United States is very young and "extremely fast," Ruggiero said, describing the squad as skill-and-speed based.

Some things still need fine-tuning, such as specialty teams and back-checking. There are only six returning Olympians, but most of the other players joined the team in 2007, so there is cohesion and team chemistry even if, as Ruggiero noted, most viewers might not know the names.

Players to look out for include three 20-year-olds, forwards Hilary Knight (from the University of Wisconsin) and the Lamoureux twins, Jocelyne and Monique (Minnesota) along with goaltender Jessie Vetter, 23, (Wisconsin).

"She's clearly demonstrated she's a big-time player," Ruggiero said of Vetter. "She's going to be a difference-maker."

And then there's Canada, looming Saturday and in February.

"They're obviously the big rival," Ruggiero said. "We're both starting to ramp it up, and there are going to be four interesting months left."