The winds of change brought with them a staggering result at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
The U.S. women's hockey team had to settle for a bronze medal, its worst finish ever at a Winter Games.
"We decided to make some changes," said Dave Ogrean, the executive director of USA Hockey.
Out went the only Olympic coach the U.S. program had ever known, Ben Smith. His controversial decision to cut 34-year-old team captain Cammi Granato from the squad had prompted a festering cloud.
In came Michele Amidon, a former national team member and a successful coach at Bowdoin College, to be the new director of the U.S. women's program.
Joining her as the new Olympic coach was Mark Johnson, a member of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. men's hockey team.
"After 2006, we had a great deal of turnover," said Julie Chu, a two-time Olympian and one of the few holdovers. "We have only six returning Olympians. I think we saw it as a great opportunity to re-create ourselves, to move it in a new direction that, hopefully, will be something special."
Gone is the national team's old training base--the suitcases, mostly--in Lake Placid, N.Y.
In is a five-month residency program in Blaine, Minn. The final Olympic roster will be named Thursday in a ceremony at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Two players still have to be cut.
"It's a long grind and I think it shows a great commitment by our players to live this Olympic dream 24-7," Johnson said.
The makeover since Turin has shown encouraging results. The U.S. women are two-time defending world champions and, until last month, held a two-year winning streak over the Canadian women's team.
"While the most important grade is yet to come in February, our recent results have been impressive," Ogrean said. "We're in a good place today, but the work gets harder now."
The final roster is expected to include two three-time Olympians--defenseman Angela Ruggiero and forward Jenny Potter.
The primary competition, as always, figures to come from Team Canada, which will be playing in Vancouver in front of a home crowd.
The U.S. team defeated the host team to win this year's Canada Cup. The Americans' winning streak over the Canadians was broken in the medal round of the Four Nations Cup in Finland.
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