Women's Hockey: A Closer Look at Team USA

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Last week we told you about the men’s roster that will represent Team USA in hockey at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. This week we will take a look at the Women’s team that will be defending its Gold medal that was won at the last winter games. The person responsible for selecting the team is Katie Millian who is Team USA’s general manager. The head coach is Joel Johnson and he will be in charge of taking the 23 person roster and putting the right combination together to give this team the best chance to defend the gold. Team USA has been dominated in women’s hockey since the sport was included in the winter games in 1998. The women have won two gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze. And while it appears that the USA women team is the favorite again, the team to keep an eye on is Canada. They lost to Team USA in a shootout last time and is a program that has always brought a strong team to the tournament.

The roster is a mix of old and new. There are 15 members of the team that have winter Olympic experience. Of those 15, 13 of them were on the ice for the gold medal match with Canada in 2018. There is a lot of big game knowledge returning to be sure, not to mention plenty of options for coach Johnson. The average age of this group is 26 years of age. A wide range to consider. There are a couple of 19-year-old players in Caroline Havery and Abbey Murphy who will be playing in their very first winter games. Then there is 32-year-old Hilary Knight who will be playing in her fourth Olympic games. That wealth of experience does not end with Knight as she will have four teammates in Kendall Coyle Schofield who was named captain of this team, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, and Lee Stecklein who will be playing in their third games. Every member of this team is a product of college hockey at the division one level.

All told, eight will be wearing Red, White, and Blue for the first time in Olympic competition. The veterans on this team will be asked to bring the young players along and show them the ropes of what this is all about. The team has been together for the past three months getting ready for what is ahead. They are going through a tough evaluation process that created this team. The youth, energy, and talent that is on this team the coaching staff hopes will be the difference-maker in trying to repeat as gold medalist. Their first game on the road to the gold medal match will take place on Feb. 3 when Team USA will take on Finland at 9:10 p.m. local time, 8:10 a.m. ET.