TORINO, Italy — Michaela Lanzl was blunt when asked whether she expects her German women's hockey team to ever regularly defeat Canada and the United States.
"Oh, no way," the top German forward said. "We keep trying, though."
When the sport's third Olympic tournament opens Saturday at the Torino Olympics, the six European teams who make up the rest of the field know they're almost certainly playing for bronze.
With vast advantages in funding, youth organization and cultural acceptance, Canadians and Americans have dominated their sport since serious international competition began in 1990, never losing to anybody except each other.
Women's hockey is even more stratified than baseball and softball, two other North American team sports recently banished from the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee. No coaches or administrators believe women's hockey faces such a threat, but even Europe's top players believe the sport is a generation away from parity.
"It's definitely become a lot more competitive," said Finnish defenseman Emma Laaksonen, a three-time Olympian. "The rest of the world is much better than in Nagano (in 1998). But it is still a long way to go to catch up to the United States and Canada. I don't know if you can do it."
Canada had won all eight world championships before the Americans' victory in a shootout last year. The nations have both won gold medals, with the U.S. upsetting Canada in Nagano, and the Canadians duplicating the feat in Salt Lake City.
Even the players admit that a historic upset in Torino for Finland, Sweden or Germany would be only an anomaly. The Italian team cobbled together for these games should be entertaining in front of hometown fans, but even coach Markus Sparer is a realist.
"Our goal," he said, "is not to finish last."
So how long will the women's hockey tournament be a two-team affair, with the preliminary round in Torino viewed as little more than a tuneup for the inevitable U.S.-Canada gold-medal match on Feb. 20?
The North American veterans don't believe their dominance will last forever — and they hope it won't, for the sake of their sport.
"Women's hockey is still in its infant stages, and it's growing, but slowly," said three-time U.S. Olympian Angela Ruggiero. "You look at some of these countries that have great men's programs, and I think it's ridiculous that they don't have the same women's teams. That's just a cultural difference."
Believing she wouldn't be able to reach her full potential at home, Lanzl joined an increasing number of Europe's top players in taking a scholarship last year to an American university — a pipeline that reverses the tradition of top U.S. soccer players going to Europe to get elite-level experience.
"I've had two dreams since I was 5 years old," Lanzl said. "The first dream was to play on a national team, and the other dream was to play in North America, because that's where the best hockey in the world is played."
Lanzl was recruited by American colleges for four years before finally accepting a scholarship offer from a Minnesota-Duluth assistant coach at an international tournament. As a 22-year-old freshman, she is among the NCAA leaders in power-play goals and rookie scoring.
Lanzl knows she would not have been able to achieve the same growth as a player back home in Geretsried, Germany.
"We don't have the same support," Lanzl said. "We only could practice maybe three times a week. You have to go to school and work, and then you find spare time to play hockey."
She plays alongside Finnish forward Mari Pehkonen, who's in Italy with two former Bulldogs and another recruit. Two Swedish players and a Swiss star are also former UMD skaters.
Laaksonen, born in the U.S. but raised in Espoo, Finland, played four seasons at Ohio State after falling in love with its big-time sports programs on a visit.