When the Japan women's ice hockey team makes its first Olympic appearance next month at the Sochi Games since gaining entrance through an automatic berth at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, it will be out to shock the world with a podium finish.
Yuji Iizuka believes his women are a vastly improved squad from the team that suffered the ignominy of losing all five games in its own backyard in Nagano, where Japan gained entry to the first women's Olympic competition by virtue of being the host country.
Defenseman Yoko Kondo, the oldest member of the squad at 34, is the only one left who was there for that embarrassment.