Warmups done for U.S., Canada

TURIN, Italy — The early rounds of hockey — long known as "practice" for the U.S. and Canadian women's teams — are over, with both entering semifinal games tonight and likely meeting in the gold-medal game on Monday.

Actually, "practice" no longer really applies to the Olympics' first-round games, as evidenced by Team USA's scary first period against Finland, which at one point led 3-1. The Americans turned on the jets and wound up winning, 7-4.

But the game, America's Angela Ruggiero says, shows how much the gap between the U.S. and Canada and everybody else is shrinking from one Olympics to another.

She said it's when, not if, another nation, likely Finland or Sweden, will rise up and knock off one of the North American titans, who have dominated Olympic women's hockey since the sport was introduced in the Olympics in 1998. The United States won the first gold but coughed it up four years later in Salt Lake City, when Canada swept the men's and women's gold medals.

At this Olympics, you now earn your spot in the medals round, said Ruggiero, a world-class defender whose offense has perked up of late (she scored the winning goal against Finland).

"If you just showed up, you're not going to win that [qualifying] game," she said. "The scores are getting tighter, the games are getting closer. Maybe it's just a mental gap now."

The medal round begins tonight, with the U.S. taking on Sweden and Canada facing the feisty Finns.

The Americans, 2-8 against Canada in pre-Olympic exhibitions, know they're the underdog here.

"We hear it from people: 'You're going to be second,' " she said. "We were seeded No. 2. We realize that."

But the team is using it as motivation, Ruggiero said.

After the scare against Finland, the team is laser-focused on Sweden, even though the Canada medal match likely looms just three days away.

Both teams marched through preliminary play with ease. Canada, drawing some criticism for a 16-goal drubbing of host nation Italy, has outscored its opponents 36-1. The U.S. has been a bit more charitable but has outscored its opponents 18-3.

The U.S. team most Americans likely will see on TV for the first time has a new look from the squad that skated in Salt Lake City. While veteran team anchors such as Ruggiero, Jenny Potter, Tricia Dunn, Julie Chu and Natalie Darwitz remain, longtime star and team captain Cammi Granato is gone — cut by coach Ben Smith at a pre-Olympic training camp this winter.

The controversial move stunned Granato and the team, and Granato, who is in Turin doing commentary for NBC, still hasn't come to grips with it. She has been quoted from Turin as still being angry and confused about being left off the squad.

Picking up the slack is a slate of fresh charges, including Shoreline native Kelly Stephens, a University of Minnesota star who has two assists here.

The young player raising the most eyebrows here is 18-year-old Sarah Parsons of Dover, Mass., a natural goal scorer with the potential to lead the U.S. team into the future.

Parsons, America's top scorer, has four goals and three assists in the Olympic tournament.

Ron Judd: 206-464-8280 or rjudd@seattletimes.com