Players Thrilled To Play Hockey, But Critics Frown
The torch has been lit for women’s ice hockey as an Olympic sport, and now the debutante competitors can only hope they don’t get burned by bad reviews.
The top three seeds in the six-team tournament won by a combined score of 24-0 on the opening day of competition that began Sunday. In the finale, Team USA cruised to a 5-0 victory over China. Earlier, Finland beat Sweden, 6-0, and Canada rudely roughed up host-country Japan, 13-0.
Almost immediately, critics began arguing that the sport was introduced too soon to the Olympics for lack of greater competition, and that the women’s game was less interesting for lack of physical play.
And even American coach Ben Smith agreed that the quality of play was not top-notch.
“Because this was the first day and the first opportunity for these players who have given so much of themselves to the game, I think all the teams were a little nervous,” said Smith, who rated the quality of play at 6 to 6.5 on a scale of 1-10.
“But I’m a little bit like Willie Mays when he said, ‘I don’t rate ‘em. I just catch ‘em.’ And I should be the same way - just coach ‘em.”
The Americans had less than 18 hours to rest for Game 2 today against Sweden. The six teams play a round-robin tournament, with the top two teams playing for the gold medal next Tuesday.
Meantime, players embraced the notion that they were making history by bringing their sport to the Olympic level.
“It was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had,” American forward Allison Mleczko said. “It was so nice to get on the ice, to be where we always dreamed of being… . This is my love, my passion. All the time I’ve put into this wonderful sport - it’s exciting to know it can culminate into something tangible that other people can appreciate.”
Canada coach Shannon Miller agreed, using the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony a day earlier to inspire not only her own players but young girls everywhere to greater heights.
“We talked about the opening ceremonies and that young woman running up those stairs to light the flame,” Miller said. “And we talked about lighting our own flame, our own Olympic torch. We talked about igniting each other and starting a fire that would spread, day by day, like a dry field taking the country by storm.”
During her pre-game speech, Miller allowed her players to talk, too .
“We talked about what we’ve all been through. Everybody told a little tale of ‘remember when. …”’
As in, remember being the only female and having to change into your uniform in the bathroom, or at home? As in, remember the verbal abuse from the people who didn’t want girls playing hockey, the boys you played against, the other teams’ coaches and even the parents from the opposition?
“We talked about people putting up barriers and trying to stop girls from having hockey teams,” Miller said. “But now we have our own dressing rooms and our own stalls. We’ve crashed through barriers and kept trucking.”
And star players such as American captain Cammi Granato, who led her team with two goals, and forward Shelley Looney now get letters from little girls all America who write that because of them, they want to try playing hockey too.
That’s what these Olympic debutantes underscored with their efforts regardless of the lopsided scores of their games.
“We love that,” Looney said. “I think we’re really doing a good thing.”
Miller said they were doing the right thing.
“We talked about what a historic day today is,” she said. “We talked about how we’re not just here representing ourselves, we’re also representing a dream that is now alive and well. The inclusion of women’s hockey in the Olympics - with this many viewers and all the attention given to these games - will open the door for female hockey around the world.”
Smith, conversely, made a conscientious effort to avoid such hyperbole. “It’s something we tried not to play up,” he said, “other than the fact that this was the biggest game of their lives.”
Now their torch has been lit, to burn however brightly.
MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.