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Canada Olympic women’s hockey win was amazing; whither the drive for five?

Team Canada, bless it, put the band back together and won a fourth consecutive Olympic women's hockey gold medal in a 3-2 overtime decision that no one on either side of it will soon forget, for good or I-think-I'm-gonna-be-ill. How much of the three-goal turnarund was Canada having seemingly bottomless resolve and how much of it was an outright choke by Team USA could be debated as much as what the U.S. described as the "bogus call" that gave Canada its decisive power play.

Canada, especially the perhaps departing golden generation of 36-year-old Jayna Hefford and 35-year-old Hayley Wickenheiser, the last two Olympic women's hockey originals, got the result it wanted. As savoury as it was, one shouldn't lose sight of the reality that winning against long odds can create a halo effect, airbrushing out dents and imperfections. Or put another way, it's not too early to talk about what comes next, as the 'drive for five' in 2018 begins.

For starters, one shouldn't downplay that Canada found a way to win the day, to borrow a pet phrase of former national women's basketball team Alison McNeill. At the same time, one shouldn't make too much of it, since a team can only go to that well so often. For the first 56 minutes on Thursday, the "U.S. appeared faster and surer and more determined ... [and] there were eulogies being crafted for an era interrupted." Canada looked "dead in the water." Staying in contact stemmed greatly from Shannon Szabados' constancy in the crease and a young defence that bent plenty, but didn't break. For whatever reason, when Brianne Jenner cut into that 'most dangerous lead in hockey' with 3:26 left and pulled Canada to within 2-1, some self-doubt seeped through the U.S. ranks.

Conversely, though, if a club with Team USA's talent gets enough late leads, eventually it's going to hold on to a few. Thursday was the fourth worlds or Olympics gold-medal game in a row where Canada has trailed in the third period. It also needed an overtime-forcing equalizer in the 2012 championship game in Burlington, Vt.. Caroline Ouellette, following a bungled U.S. line change, scored the golden goal in 4-on-4 overtime that night.

Why some teams have these goof-ups at the most importune times and others don't can't really be understood. It shouldn't go totally unappreciated.

U.S. dominance of NCAA scoring leaders

Point being, even after two 3-2 Canada wins in Sochi, it shouldn't be taken for granted that the Great White North has the brightest prospectus for 2018. Nor should the team's merits be should short. For all the U.S. media hype over a young star such as Amanda Kessel, the University of Minnesota product was not much of a factor in either of the two big games. Canada, with a trio of Olympic rookies on the bluelines in Laura Fortino, Lauriane Rougeau and Tara Watchorn, alumnae of the inaugural national under-18 team from six years ago, managed to somewhat slow down a powerhouse attack.

Finding ways to beat a team with more talent, though, is no reason to wonder about the talent in the pipeline. Up until the great Canadian comeback, it seemed the determining factor was going to be the Americans' speed and youth. There might not be a need for a female hockey summit but it is notable that the U.S., which has 25 per cent fewer female players, produced a greater share of the top scorers in NCAA Division I, the top women's development league. Only six of the top 20 scorers last season — when the likes of Kessel and Jenner were active collegians before being centralized — hailed from Canada. (This season, with all the Olympians gone, Jamie Lee Rattray, of Clarkson University and Kanata, Ont., is college hockey's top point-getter.)

How Canada is able to restock is going to be a challenge and a concern. That goes double when there is no paying women's league for players who have used up their four years in the NCAA or their five in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. It's more convenient for U.S. schools to recruit from their own ever-fecund talent pool. Canadian university women's hockey is growing by leaps and bounds, and a five-year pilot program for scholarships sonds promising. Any pay-off from that endeavour — i.e., seeing a player on the national team with recent CIS experience at a school other than McGill — likely won't filter up to the national team for a while.

As for the team itself, the leadership, with Hefford, Wickenheiser and 34-year-old captain Caroline Ouellette getting up there, will change. That might be the tiniest concern, since experience ought to begat wisdom for the likes or Marie-Philip Poulin or Meghan Agosta-Marciano, who are on course to respectively be third and fourth-time Olympians in '18.

Last, but not least, there is the question of coaching. Airlifting in Kevin Dineen, a between-gigs NHL guy, worked out as brilliantly for Hockey Canada as it did in 2009 with the national junior team when Pat Quinn stepped in as a late replacement and kept a group of young men loose and confident en route to a gold medal. (Canada hasn't won the world men's U20 championship since.)

Former coach Dan Church has his alternate history — "One hundred per cent I could have coached the team to that gold medal" — that might well be valid, but there's no way of testing it. Dineen pulled the right levers over a short tournament. Generally speaking, though, NHL coaches aspire to work in the NHL. Quinn's tour of duty at the world junior was a one-off. That can be ascribed to Dineen.

"I haven't read the manual on where I go from here, Dineen said. "It was a little bit of a left turn to take on this job. Like I told my players before the first game that I sat down and met with them ... I couldn't wait to get on the ice with them. The last two months, I think I've become better at what I've done."

With the world junior, there's often a clamour for Canada to have a full-time coach. Who knows, perhaps Dineen stepping in set a different precedent for the women's program. It's not beyond one's imagination to think there's something to be said for letting a group grow organically during Olympic off-years with coaches steeped in the women's game. Then, when the time comes, turn to a high-level coach who lets the leaders lead and push the right buttons during a short tournament.

Ultimately, the victory on Thursday was enervating. In no way should wondering about the future take anything away from any Canadian's enjoyment from it. While basking in Team Canada's reflected glory, do keep in mind that staying on top might only become more daunting.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.