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Life Editor

The U.S. Women’s Olympic hockey team forged a number of new beginnings with its nearly two-year long training stay at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine.

USA Hockey, the sport’s national governing body, made a number of critical refinements after a disappointing bronze-medal run by the U.S. four years ago.

There’s been a change in coaches, a national director added and an innovative residency program created to help post-collegiate players remain competitive.

The team’s quest for a gold medal later this month in Vancouver, Canada, had its genesis on a sheet of local ice.

If a long-anticipated showdown with Canada produces a first-place finish during the 2010 Winter Games, Super Rink and National Sports Center (NSC) staff can share a slice of historic hockey success.

“Change is a good thing,” said Michele Amidon, USA Hockey’s first-ever director of women’s hockey.

“From the coaching staff structure, to scheduling and general location, we just wanted to revamp everything. That was a piece of our high-performance plan. The veteran players also needed something different.”

In May 2008, USA Hockey announced the U.S. Women’s National team would make the Schwan Super Rink its home rink.

To kick off the new program, 18 post-collegiate players took the ice in September for their first practice.

The freshly minted residency program had a driving goal: Improving Team USA’s results in major international tournaments, such at the Four Nations Cup, World Championships and the Olympics.

The program delivered on its future promise when the U.S. defeated Canada to win the Four Nations Cup in November 2008.

That title was backed up with another victory against Canada in the World Championships in Finland the following March.

Last August, 41 of the best players in the U.S. gathered at the Super Rink for a week-long final selection camp.

These players formed the roster of the national team that would train together at the Super Rink in preparation of prepare for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games which begin Feb. 12.

A strong group of post-collegiate players were joined by many collegiate stars, At the end of the selection camp, 23 players were selected as members of the national team.

Most of the players from the original residency program earned a spot with the expanded national team, a testament to the quality of that program.

Within a week, this version of Team USA traveled to Vancouver, where squad took the ice in the Canada Cup, a pre-Olympic tournament designed to test the venues that would be used for the Olympic Games.

Facing off against the three other power nations of women’s hockey – Finland, Sweden and Canada – the U.S. team rolled through the tournament, beating Canada twice, and grabbing the championship.

Since the residency program was established at the Super Rink, Team USA has won three of the four major international women’s tournaments.

It was a stunning turnaround for the U.S. and the residency program got much of the credit.

Dec. 17, 2009, USA Hockey announced the final 21-player Olympic roster. That’s when the NSC ceased to be the home of the U.S. National team and became the home of the U.S. women’s team that will take the ice for the first time Feb. 14 against China.

During its multi-year stay in Blaine, the team practiced weekday mornings in Rink 6 and did strength and conditioning work at the Herb Brooks Training Center.

“With the amount of resources that we’ve already put into Blaine, it’s definitely a place that we will want to come back to,” Amidon said, referring to a possible training camp return.  

“It’s been a great start, and people have treated us well. I think all of it has been fantastic.”

According to Amidon, players who relocated two years ago and those from Minnesota have benefited from the facility change.

“It’s obviously been a win-win,” she said. “The Schwan Super Rink facility has been outstanding.”

Barclay Kruse is the NSC’s chief communications officer. He worked directly with USA Hockey officials and players during their Olympic training stay.

“We have not been shy in telling USA Hockey at all levels we want them back,” Kruse said.

“It’s been a real creative and interesting challenge for all of us here to try and create a local brand with this team. The players are great people as well as smart, creative and elite athletes. It was an honor to serve them.”

Pete Carlson, Schwan Super Rink ice arena operations and programs director, concurred with Kruse.

“We feel there’s a part of us heading to Vancouver,” Carlson said, referring to Super Rink and NSC staff involvement with the team.

“We’ll be watching the Olympics a little bit differently this year. It’s kind of like having a family member compete.”



Tim Hennagir is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it