To reach gold medal game vs. Canada, US women's hockey team overcame many obstacles
BEIJING — There is a saying within the U.S. women's hockey program that they play 3 ½ years for two months, two months for two weeks, and two weeks for two hours – the final timestamp representing the Olympic gold-medal game.
For the fourth straight Olympic cycle, they have followed that plan. The Americans will face Canada once again (Wednesday, 11:10 p.m. ET) with gold on the line, nine days after a 4-2 loss to their rival in group play.
The journey to reach this point has not been without tribulations brought on by the pandemic and other circumstances.
Here's what Team USA has endured over the past year.
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April: Ex-coach Bob Corkum resigns
While the Olympics takes place every four years, the International Ice Hockey Federation's women's championship is the annual tournament held to crown a world champion. It was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the U.S. had won the previous five tournaments.
The 2021 tournament was scheduled for May 6-16 in Nova Scotia, Canada. Three weeks prior to the scheduled start, coach Bob Corkum resigned, citing Canada's COVID-19 protocols.
Joel Johnson took over as interim coach and was named the Olympic coach in July.
Then, the tournament was canceled once again. Eventually, it was rescheduled to August.
August: U.S. loses to Canada at world championships
Once the world championship games were finally played, the U.S. lost both contests against Canada -- once in group play, and again in the final.
The Canadians throttled the Americans in group play 5-1. Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored the golden-goal game-winner in the final to give her team a 3-2 overtime victory and snatch the first major international tournament title from the U.S. since the 2014 Olympics.
October: Trip to Ireland for Russia exhibitions canceled
Usually, before an Olympics, the U.S. is able to scrimmage teams from across the world to ready themselves for the competition. The pandemic presented challenges to that plan.
Between exhibitions against Canada in late October, the U.S. found out its trip to Ireland to play for a three-game series against Russia was canceled due to COVID-19. Instead, the national team traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for two scrimmages against the New Mexico Ice Wolves, a junior men's club that plays in the North American Hockey League. The team also flew to Chicago for scrimmages against the Chicago Mission's U-18 and U-16 boys teams.
December: 'My Why Tour' canceled
If the U.S. couldn't play other countries, at least it would be able to play Canada several times. The teams faced off in six games as part of a series called the "My Why Tour" that traveled through Canada and the U.S. (Canada won four.)
The schedule, however, called for nine games.
A Canadian player tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 20, and with teammates exposed, the game that night was canceled hours before puck drop – and so were the final two games in Canada on the other side of the new year.
More pressing COVID concerns were about to disrupt the team.
January: U.S. players test positive
Throughout January, the team followed one maxim.
Just get to Beijing.
On Jan. 1, the U.S. announced its roster, complete with an unveiling during the NHL Winter Classic at Target Field in Minneapolis. Within a week, five players and a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
The team began practicing in three different groups: players who were negative and not exposed, exposed teammates and those who were positive but healthy enough to skate.
Eventually, the team regained full health and, more importantly, returned the necessary negative tests. They boarded a charter flight from Minnesota to Los Angeles for Team USA processing and landed in Beijing on Jan. 28.
It turned out that "just getting to Beijing" was the easy part.
February: Missing assistants, Brianna Decker injured
Within the first 20 minutes of action in Beijing, the U.S. lost its emotional leader in assistant captain Brianna Decker, who broke her ankle in the opening game against Finland. (The good news for the U.S. is that she's stayed with the team and offered tactical and motivational support over the last two weeks.)
The U.S. opted not to bring a "taxi squad" with it in the event of injury. But the options back in the States were told to remain on alert if needed. So Britta Curl stayed ready. She, too, tested positive for COVID-19 and could not make the trip, leaving the U.S. shorthanded for the rest of the tournament.
Assistant coach Brian Pothier, due to a family medical emergency, did not travel with the team. Upon arriving in Beijing, goaltending coach Steve Thompson tested positive for the virus. His viral load was so high that he remained in isolation through group play and returned to the bench for the quarterfinals against the Czech Republic.
That was Pothier's first game behind the bench, too. His trip to China lasted roughly 72 hours, as the family medical emergency required him to return home.
A final obstacle to winning a second st gold awaits: Canada.
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.