Bronze more than consolation prize for U.S.

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They put a lot of time and effort into preparing for these Games. The only time their game gets noticed is during the Olympics. They had won gold in Nagano in the first women’s tournament, then took silver in Salt Lake City. Now they have bronze.

It wasn’t what they wanted, but it was the best they could do playing as hard as they could.

“I have no regrets,” Wendell said. “We did all the preparation, put in all the work. The big thing is that women’s hockey is growing in the United States and getting better.”

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Wendell is one of the pioneers of a sport that still has an uncertain future. It is guaranteed a spot in the Olympics only through the 2010 Games in Vancouver. After that, it will stay if it proves to be a crowd-pleasing, competitive sport.

This year’s Games proved it’s competitive the moment the Swedish team beat the United
States, which, along with Canada, had been helmet and shoulder pads ahead of the rest of the world. The American players could appreciate the significance of their loss to Sweden to the future of their game. And they knew that sooner or later someone else would make the final. They just didn’t want it to be them, didn’t want it to be now.

But they didn’t whine about it, choosing instead to go out with pride. They won a medal, not a consolation prize. They represented their country they best they could.

And now they go back to their real lives, some in real jobs, others back to college. As the players talked with the media after the game, veteran forward Jenny Potter was joined by her 5-year-old daughter, Madison. The girl’s face was painted for the game, but she was otherwise oblivious to the difference between gold and bronze, happy just to be with her mom, who has spent so much time playing for her sport and her country.

“We wanted to come out and show what a special team we are,” goalie Chanda Gunn said. “I think we did that.”

Mike Celizic writes regularly for MSNBC.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.

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