The Canadian women's hockey team is sticking to the plan for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, even though the rival Americans have ramped up their preparation for the Games.

The two sides play Thursday night in Lake Placid, N.Y., at the Four Nations Cup. Canada romped over Finland 5-0 in their opener, with the U.S. beating Sweden 5-2.

Sixteen American players who have finished their college careers began skating and training together in Blaine, Minn., just outside Minneapolis on Sept. 8 and will do so until April.

The U.S. plays weekly games against men in the Minnesota Wild Adult Hockey League, and also have games against the Minnesota Whitecaps of the Western Women's Hockey League, high-school boys teams and NCAA Division I women's teams.

While the Canadian team will meet every month this winter for a camp or competition, the players invited to try out for the Olympic squad don't gather in Calgary until next August, which gives them just over six months together before the Olympic hockey tournament starts Feb. 13, 2010.

They'll train together at Father David Bauer Arena and play weekly games in the Alberta men's midget triple-A league.

In her four-year plan after coaching Canada to Olympic gold in 2006, Melody Davidson considered getting the players together for two seasons heading into 2010, but felt it was unrealistic to uproot them for so long.

"Nobody is making a living out of playing for their country, so what happens when we take them out of all those settings and we ask them to move across the country?" Davidson explained.

"We thought we could get a lot of things done if they stayed with their club teams and if we got them together once a month, we could maintain what we needed to do."

'We have a very good club system': Wickenheiser

Canada has a women's club hockey system and the U.S. doesn't, so the Americans lacked a competitive environment for players who weren't in college.

Many of Canada's Olympic hopefuls play in the Canadian Women's Hockey League or the Western Women's Hockey League, which gives them a place to develop their skills.

That, along with national team camps and events, keeps them at a level where they can be among the world's elite, said Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser.

"I think we have a very good club system within Canada and players are playing in environments where they should be able to get better," she said. "When we come together, we should be able to put it together.

"I like the way Mel and the coaching staff has designed the next two years — five or six camps this year, bringing people together for five or six days at a time and going back to their club teams."

While Americans have played in the Canadian leagues, they couldn't always afford to move to Canada to play hockey and it was also difficult to pursue their goals outside of hockey after relocating.

"I was almost begging for something because I was training on my own the past two years and it's really difficult to train on your own," U.S. defenceman Angela Ruggiero said.

"This is obviously a better situation for us. I looked at it thinking I can train for one more Olympics. I'd love to win another gold medal … and be able to go to school and get my masters degree and kind of be ready when Vancouver is over to start the next phase of my life."

While she spends her mornings skating and training, Ruggiero can also work on a master's degree in sports management at the University of Minnesota.

Canadians have huge advantage, forward says

Canadian forward Jayna Hefford acknowledges the U.S. has set up a good system for its non-college players, but she's not conceding anything to them in preparation.

"I think we have a huge advantage being able to play against one another in our league system," she said. "It's physical, intense, and we have a lot of great teams and a lot of good competition.

"That's when you get better, when you're in those situations where you're in a tie game with five minutes left and you're playing against the best players in the world."

The round-robin of the Four Nations Cup concludes on Friday, with the gold- and bronze-medal games Sunday.