Canada Is Underdog ... or Is It the U.S.?

It’s an age-old strategic debate. Blaze the trail or draft behind and save energy before coming on strong at the end?

Except this is women’s ice hockey, not speedskating or auto racing.

And if the topic is women’s ice hockey, the two teams must be the United States and Canada, who will face each other today for the gold medal.

After watching Canada take every women’s world championship since its inception in 1990, the United States won the first time women’s hockey was included in the Olympic Games four years ago. And the Americans won the last eight times they met in pre-Olympic competition.

The Canadians love it. They love that they aren’t the favorites coming into today’s gold-medal matchup.

“The pressure’s on the USA,” Canadian forward Cherie Piper said.

Teammate Tammy Lee Shewchuk used the analogy of a car.

“The way I like to think about it is, when you’re behind, you can see everything in front of you,” she said. “When you’re in front, you only have a little space in the rearview mirror to see what’s coming at you. There are blind spots, there are things that can happen. The position that we’re in right now, we can see clearly, we can see everything ahead of us. We know what’s coming at us. And we’re ready for it.”

If Team USA were a car, it would be a Hummer, hogging the road and prepared to overcome any obstacle off it. The U.S. has outscored its opponents, 31-1, at the Olympics, continuing the theme of dominance they established on their pre-Olympic tour.

Of course, they’ll try to convince you they’re a little Honda Civic on the way to the grocery store.

“You can sway it either way you want,” said Chris Bailey, who plays defense for the U.S. “You can say now the pressure’s on the U.S. because they’re defending, or you can say we haven’t won a world championship in seven tries, so we’re still the underdog. You can write it either way. The way we like to look at it, we focus on the moment and not necessarily try to bear the burden ... of that pressure you let build up over the year.”

The two teams are defined by each other. No other country has beaten them. Turn to the “History and Record Book” section of the Team USA media guide, and the first thing you’ll see is the team’s record against Canada.

“We know they’re a very strong team,” Bailey said. “It’s like looking in the mirror for us.”

Both are equally adept on offense and defense. Both have strong goaltending (U.S. Coach Ben Smith will stick with his rotation and play Sara DeCosta today; Kim St.-Pierre has received most of the playing time for Canada).

The U.S. won its games in the pre-Olympic tour by scores of 4-1, 4-1, 5-2, 4-3, 1-0, 3-1, 7-3 and 3-2.

“Each game had a different identity,” Smith said. “There’s really nothing where we can set it at 375 [degrees] and put it in the oven.”

“They just capitalized on their chances,” Shewchuk said. “That was the big thing for them. Their power play was good. But we’re ready. Heads up [tonight].”

Hayley Wickenheiser has led Team Canada in scoring with six goals and three assists. She preyed on earlier opponents in the tournament by winning two faceoffs and taking the puck to score herself. U.S. linemates Cammi Granato, 30, and Natalie Darwitz, 18, demonstrate how the Americans have blended youth and experience. Granato has six goals and three assists; Darwitz has three goals. But the teen contingent might have to take a back seat to the veterans tonight.

“I know the experience of having played in a gold-medal game will help me,” Granato said. “There’s 14 players who have had that experience.

“Last time, I focused a lot on the outcome and didn’t focus on the 60 minutes of hockey, so I didn’t have the punch I needed for the gold-medal game.”

Don’t expect her to come with anything less than her best today, in what could be her last game in a U.S. jersey.

“It’s definitely hard to come to grips with something like that,” Granato said. “But we don’t want to get caught up in it. We’ve worked so hard to get where we are, we don’t want to lose sight of our goal.”

And they’d better keep an eye on that car in the mirror.