NY times raises competition issues

Monday's big story in the NY Times was kind of a good-news bad news media scenario for U.S. women's hockey advocates. The good news was that nearly three weeks prior to puck drop in Vancouver the "Paper of Record" devoted some serious space to women's hockey; the bad news is that reporter Pat Borzi made a very good case that USA is suffering from lack of competition at crunch time, while their arch rivals, Team Canada, is not.

Three weeks earlier, Sports Illustrated hockey reporter Sarah Kwak was making her own inquiries along the same lines on January 3 at a post-game press gathering in Hamden. USA has just stomped the ECAC college All-Stars 8-2, and Kwak asked young U.S. star Hillary Knight about playing competition that wasn't nearly as challenging as Team Canada, while the Canadians were enduring a schedule chock full of boys midget teams.

Knight's response:
“It’s hard to get the amp that we get against Canada, get that high tempo, get the high pace, get the heart rate moving, get that good competition. There really isn’t any other feeling. We’ve got a couple of games against High School boys, and the Quest tour obviously, we’re trying to promote our sport. The growth of women’s hockey, this is important…to have more supporters going into Vancouver…."

Just when USA seemed to have finally caught up to the level of the Team Canada with spirited near misses over New Year's, they find themselves with no more games against them to force up their level of play, while Team Canada continues to strive against challenging male competition. This is not a good sign, and it is no secret to the mainstream media. USA will be facing Finland for a couple of games immediately prior to Vancouver, including a national telecast Feb. 4 on NHL Network. They will face a team, and more importantly, a goalie Nora Raty, who beat them in September at the Hockey Canada Cup in Vancouver. Women's hockey fans can judge USA women's play for themselves on the eve of the Olympics.