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By James MacDonald Graduate School Members Of U.S. Women's Team Stay Sharp In Preparation For This Summer's Olympic Camp W hile the NHL labored well into overtime to decide whether their players would participate in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, there was no doubt the best women in the world will be in Sochi next February. One matter left to some chance, however, was just how T eam USA's top post-graduate women would prepare for the challenge. For Olympic hopefuls in college programs, playing at a high level every day 26 April/May. 2013 comes naturally. But if you're a college graduate dreaming of Olympic gold in women's ice hockey, preparation doesn't come by accident. Or easily. And while T eam USA veteran Julie Chu goes to greater lengths than most – driving thousands of miles each winter between her day job as an assistant coach at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., to play games for Montreal in the Canadian Women's Hockey League – USA Hockey is trying to bridge the gap with another bold initiative for the Women's National T eam. Down along a chain of winding roads 20 miles northwest of Boston, this past winter's Wednesdays were reserved for a training camp that might reasonably have been called T eam USA East. Skating at The Edge in Bedford, Mass., the T eam USA oasis gave a dozen or so players on the Olympic radar a place to practice under the guidance of the exceptional coaching and support staff. "USA Hockey is continuing to push the USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM Gigi Marvin, a member of the 2010 U.S. Women's Olympic Team, is looking to earn a roster spot with the 2014 squad. envelope to provide more resources," said Reagan Carey, director of Women's Hockey. "We said to the player pool that we're going to go out there and find who's the best in each field and bring that to the group. And, in return, we're expecting them to bring the best that they have." On a mid-February special weekend session, which USA Hockey occasionally arranged to expand the group, assistant coaches Hilary Witt and Bobby Jay, goalie coach Robb Stauber and skill development coach Kenny McCudden ran practice. An onlooker who couldn't help but notice the U-S-A on the players' jerseys – and the elite skating and puck skills that continue to raise the bar in women's hockey – wondered, with some awe in his voice, just what he was seeing. T some degree, the answer was simple: o The future. From this group will come the next wave of veterans that will lead T eam USA's women into Sochi. Photos By Images on Ice