It is labeled as a "test event," but this week's Four Nations Cup women's hockey tournament will look a lot like the medal round of the Olympics.
It will feature the top four seeds for the 2002 Winter Games tournament, including the gold-, silver- and bronze-medal winners — the United States, Canada and Finland, respectively — from the 1998 Winter Games.
And the players, particularly the 12 Olympic gold-medal winners on the American roster, see it as one of the three most important international competitions in their sport during the next two years. Only the 2001 Women's World Championship, April 2-8 in Minnesota, and the 2002 Winter Games in Utah are viewed as more prominent.
"The energy there is going to be pretty strong just because that's where we're all hoping to be in 15 months," said U.S. forward Tricia Dunn, who scored the game-winner against the Canadians in an Olympic preliminary-round game in Nagano. "And if you don't get up for a game against Canada, you've got a problem. It's very exciting for us. I think we have a lot to prove."
That's because, despite the gold medal, the Americans are considered the second-best women's hockey team in the world and have been since international play began in 1990. Canada has won all six World Championships, and the Americans are just 5-18 against Canada in major international competitions, including two wins in Nagano.
"They're the number one team in the world, so we are constantly trying to evaluate situations that are going to give us a chance to equal or eclipse them," U.S. coach Ben Smith said of his team's training-camp efforts to overcome the Canadians.
So far, ticket sales for the four-day event at the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo have not reflected the significance of the event, but Salt Lake Organizing Committee officials hope there will be a considerable number of walk-up spectators.
"I still don't think people understand that this is Olympic hockey," said Dan Moro, director of ice hockey for SLOC. "We're going to be seeing 90 percent of these athletes back here in 15 months' time."
The United States will play at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Finland, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Canada and 11:30 a.m. Friday against Sweden. The gold- and bronze-medal games are set for Saturday at noon and 3:30 p.m., respectively.
Canada, the United States and Finland are the top three seeds, in that order, by virtue of their finish in last spring's World Championship in Ontario, Canada. Sweden finished fifth in Nagano but earned the fourth seed for 2002 with its fourth-place finish in Ontario.
All four teams have added some younger players to their rosters since the World Championship, and the lineups will change some between now and the 2002 Winter Games.
The Americans are led by tenacious team captain Cammi Granato, who had four goals and four assists in six games in Nagano.
"She always finds a way to put the puck in the back of the net," Dunn said.
Dunn and Granato are two of the six American forwards with Olympic experience on the 22-player Four Nations Cup roster. The others are Alana Blahoski, Karyn Bye, Katie King and Shelley Looney.
Olympic goalies Sara DeCosta and Sarah Tueting are on the roster, along with newcomer Ali Brewer from Brown University. DeCosta will start against Finland on Tuesday, but each keeper is expected to see action this week.
Smith will shake things up a little on defense, due to injuries that have sidelined Olympians Nicki Luongo and Tara Mounsey. But defensemen Sue Merz, A.J. Mleczko, Chris Bailey and Angela Ruggiero also have Olympic experience.
"We really want to be a great passing team, a very thorough team," Dunn said. "We want to be strong in all three zones, and that is what's being stressed."
The U.S. national team assembled in Lake Placid, N.Y., in September and will reside there all season, for the first time in the program's history. The Americans will play about 40 games leading up to the World Championship, mostly against U.S. colleges and semi-pro teams from a Canadian women's league.
The United States is undefeated so far in six games against Canadian women's teams, including three shutouts. Members of the Canadian national team play in that league, but the competition is not near what the United States will face this week.
E-mail: zman@desnews.com