Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're rewatching
Speaker 1: Sarah Nurse of the Toronto scepters shorthanded jail break goal.
Speaker 1: It's Monday, December tewod. On today's show, we'll be talking
Speaker 1: to captain for the US national hockey team and the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women's Hockey League, Kendall Coin
Speaker 1: Schofield about getting back out on the ice with Team
Speaker 1: USA year two of the PWHL, her role in getting
Speaker 1: the league up and running and trying to repeat as
Speaker 1: Walter Cup Champs. Plus more college hoops upsets, Boss Nation
Speaker 1: has Regrets and plum Dog Out. It's all coming up
Speaker 1: right after this. Welcome back slices. Hope you had a
Speaker 1: wonderful holiday weekend. Here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 1: The puck dropped on season two of the Professional Women's
Speaker 1: Hockey League with a pair of games. On Saturday, the
Speaker 1: Torontoceptors defeated the Boston Fleet three to one behind the
Speaker 1: first jail break goal the season from Sarah Nurse, a
Speaker 1: late power play goal from Hannah Miller, and an empty
Speaker 1: netter from Ma Malta. Then the Montreal Victoire defeated the
Speaker 1: Ottawa charge four to three, with Canadian superstar Marie Philipouhlen
Speaker 1: scoring the shootout winner for Montreal. Then on Sunday, the
Speaker 1: final two teams in the league faced off Minnesota Frost
Speaker 1: versus New York Sirens. They played to a three to
Speaker 1: three tie in regulation before Alex Carpenter buried her second
Speaker 1: goal of the game nineteen seconds into overtime to hand
Speaker 1: the Sirens a four to three win. Kendell Cooinscofield had
Speaker 1: a goal in the loss for the Frost. Much more
Speaker 1: on the start of this PWHL season with Kendall later
Speaker 1: in the show more Hockey News. Tickets are on sale
Speaker 1: now for the twenty twenty five Women's bean Pot at
Speaker 1: ted Garden on January twenty first. Last year's champs, Northeastern
Speaker 1: will look to defend their title against Boston College, Boston University,
Speaker 1: and Harvard. Last year was the first time in the
Speaker 1: forty five year history of the Women's bean Pot that
Speaker 1: the championship was held at t D Garden, and over
Speaker 1: ten thousand, six hundred fans attended. The men's tournament has
Speaker 1: been played at Boston Garden or its replacement, TED Garden
Speaker 1: since nineteen fifty four. In Soccer News, Seventy eight three
Speaker 1: hundred and forty six fans showed up to watch USA
Speaker 1: VERSUS England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, the fourth largest
Speaker 1: crowd ever in US women's national team history and most
Speaker 1: ever for a friendly. They got a tactical and strategic
Speaker 1: match i e. No goals, Both sides settled for a
Speaker 1: nil nil tie. Ali Sentner of the Utah Royals, who
Speaker 1: won the bronze ball at this year's Under twenty FIFA
Speaker 1: Women's World Cup, made her senior US women's national team
Speaker 1: debut in the game, while keeper a Lissenayor, who announced
Speaker 1: that she'll retire from international play next week, secured a
Speaker 1: tenth clean sheet for twenty twenty four, the most in
Speaker 1: a single year in her US women's national team career.
Speaker 1: Former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, now head coach for the US,
Speaker 1: was denied a victory in her return to England. Next up,
Speaker 1: the US travel to the Netherlands for another friendly on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: More Soccer. After a poorly received name and brand reveal
Speaker 1: that involved the inarguably terrible tagline too Many Balls, the
Speaker 1: folks at Boss Nation, the Boston and WSL expansion side
Speaker 1: have announced that they're going back to the drawing board.
Speaker 1: Per their release quote, we want to assure you that
Speaker 1: we have heard your feedback and are actively listening. We
Speaker 1: share your high expectations, and together we will build a
Speaker 1: storied club that reflects the essence of the beautiful game
Speaker 1: and the character of our dynamic city. To that end,
Speaker 1: we have launched a deliberate process through which we will
Speaker 1: seek out, listen to, and reflect on input about our
Speaker 1: team name from fans, supporters, and a group of advisors
Speaker 1: assembled to reflect a diverse range of voices and perspectives.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: In college soccer, the semi finals for the NCAA Tournament
Speaker 1: aka the College Cup are set and the ACC has
Speaker 1: become the first league in the tournament's forty three year
Speaker 1: history to send four teams to the national semifinals. Number
Speaker 1: three Stanford will face number two Wake Forest Friday at
Speaker 1: five pm Eastern in the first semi final, and number
Speaker 1: two North Carolina versus number one Duke will follow at
Speaker 1: seven thirty Eastern that day, Both matches on ESPNU. Women's
Speaker 1: college basketball chaos continued this weekend as number three Notre
Speaker 1: Dame suffered back to back losses.
Speaker 2: At the Cayman Islands Classic.
Speaker 1: On Friday, they fell to number seventeen TCU seventy six
Speaker 1: sixty eight, who was the Horned frogs first win over
Speaker 1: an AP Top five opponents since two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: snapping an eighteen game losing streak. TCU center Sedona Prince
Speaker 1: had twenty points, twenty rebounds in eight blocks, while Hailey
Speaker 1: Van Lift added twenty one points and seven assists.
Speaker 2: Then, on Saturday, Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: Took a seventy eight sixty seven loss to unranked Utah
Speaker 1: in the tournament's third place game. Notre Dame star guards
Speaker 1: Hanna Hidalgo and Olivia Miles were held to just twenty
Speaker 1: four points on twenty four shots in the loss. More
Speaker 1: basketball news, Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plumb has announced
Speaker 1: she's pulling out of the Unrivaled Basketball League, posting on
Speaker 1: Instagram quote, I've decided to not take part in the
Speaker 1: inaugural season of Unrivaled in order to take some more
Speaker 1: time for myself this offseason. I appreciate the league understanding
Speaker 1: and being so accommodating. I wish the league and all
Speaker 1: of the players nothing but the best, and I'm excited
Speaker 1: to watch end quote Plumb had been named to the
Speaker 1: roster of the laces. Her departure leaves unrivaled three players
Speaker 1: short of filling out six full rosters. The new three
Speaker 1: on three women's League is set to debut on January seventeenth.
Speaker 1: Finally skiing, Mikayla Schiffrin's bid for a one hundredth World
Speaker 1: Cup win was spoiled by a crash and the giant
Speaker 1: slalom on Saturday in Killington, Vermont. The twenty nine year
Speaker 1: old was leading after her first run, but during her
Speaker 1: second run she caught an edge, hit a gate, somersaulted,
Speaker 1: hit another gate, and ended up in the fencing. She
Speaker 1: was down for a long time and had to be
Speaker 1: taken off the course on a sled, but said afterwards
Speaker 1: she avoided major injury, suffering an abrasion on her left
Speaker 1: hip and something quote unquote stabbed her there. Schiffrin rarely
Speaker 1: crashes out she hasn't recorded it did not finish since
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. Reigning Olympic Giant slalom champion Sarah Hector of
Speaker 1: Sweden ended up winning the race. Schiffrin sat out Sunday's
Speaker 1: slalom competition. Okay, so one more note on Mikayla, who,
Speaker 1: like I said, rarely crashes out. She's recorded it did
Speaker 1: not finish just eighteen times in two hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: four World Cup runs. So despite the rarity of her
Speaker 1: fall and the disappointment of not clinching when number one hundred,
Speaker 1: she was still cheering on her teammates from the hospital
Speaker 1: bed while she was still getting treated. So take a
Speaker 1: listen to this Instagram video. She recorded this as a
Speaker 1: nurse was cleaning up that abrasion and trying to figure
Speaker 1: out what might have stabbed her in the hip.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, Hi guys, not really too much cause
Speaker 3: for concern at this point.
Speaker 2: I just can't move.
Speaker 3: I have a pretty good abrasion and something stabbed me
Speaker 3: under her fingers, so I just can't move.
Speaker 4: I am so sorry to scare everybody.
Speaker 3: And it looks like.
Speaker 2: All spans so far are clear.
Speaker 3: So thank you for the support and concern, and congratulations
Speaker 3: to the winners and to my teammates for incredible performances,
Speaker 3: in particular e Elizabeth.
Speaker 2: First World Cup points I can take as amazing. I'm
Speaker 2: so proud.
Speaker 3: Wait one more thing to add because I'm just actually
Speaker 3: like seeing the results Paul and Nina also with career best.
Speaker 5: It's just.
Speaker 2: Very happy for you guys. Loveya.
Speaker 1: That is a great teammate right there. You're a jem
Speaker 1: MICHAELA heal fast. We're gonna take a quick break when
Speaker 1: we come back. Kendall coin Schofield joined us just a
Speaker 1: few days before the start of the PWHL season.
Speaker 2: You'll hear that interview next.
Speaker 1: She's a captain for the Minnesota Frost of the PWHL
Speaker 1: and for the US national team. A six time world champion,
Speaker 1: an Olympic gold medalist, and two time Olympic silver medalist.
Speaker 1: While at Northeastern University, she was the winner of the
Speaker 1: Patti Cosmier Memorial Award for the top college hockey player
Speaker 1: in the Nation. Mother of Drew, co founder of the
Speaker 1: Kendall and Michael Scofield Family Foundation. Viral sensation for her
Speaker 1: performance in the fastest skater event at the NHL All
Speaker 1: Star Skills Competition, and for doing squads while giving a
Speaker 1: piggyback to her three hundred pound NFL lineman husband.
Speaker 2: It's Kendall Coinscofield.
Speaker 5: What's up.
Speaker 4: Kendall, Hey, Sarah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: I always love chatting with you and there's so much
Speaker 1: to talk about, especially as we get super excited for
Speaker 1: the second season of the PWHL.
Speaker 2: But before we get to that, I want to talk
Speaker 2: a little Team.
Speaker 1: USA, because not long ago you wrapped up the first
Speaker 1: part of this season's rivalry series with Team Canada, and
Speaker 1: I have to ask how it was getting back with
Speaker 1: your USA teammates and facing a familiar foe.
Speaker 4: It was great to be back.
Speaker 5: Anytime you have the opportunity to put that sweater on
Speaker 5: represent your country, it's a moment you don't take for granted.
Speaker 5: And I think our roster was very fifty to fifty
Speaker 5: in terms of college players and pro players, and I
Speaker 5: think that first game you could tell our college players
Speaker 5: have a few more games under their belt than the
Speaker 5: pro players, given the pro players entered training camp. November
Speaker 5: twelfth was the first first day of training camp, so
Speaker 5: you know, it was a good first three games to
Speaker 5: get under our belt. You know, I always compact great
Speaker 5: to go to San Jose, Salt Lake City and Boise.
Speaker 5: Played in San Jose before, but never Salt Lake or Boise,
Speaker 5: so that was pretty cool. And obviously going to Boise.
Speaker 5: You know, Hillary Knight is from Sun Valley Idaho, so
Speaker 5: pretty cool. Welcoming for her there. Obviously, we want to
Speaker 5: win three games. We won one of three and then
Speaker 5: the rivalry series will pick up in February when we'll
Speaker 5: play them in two for two games in Canada.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I just love what the vibes must feel like for you,
Speaker 1: because it's essentially like a friendly kind of right. It's
Speaker 1: not at the international level, it's not for a championship,
Speaker 1: it's not for an Olympic medal, but when you meet Canada,
Speaker 1: there's got to be some part of your body that
Speaker 1: immediately gets retriggered into that mode of like kill kill kill,
Speaker 1: this is the enemy, Like these are the highest stakes
Speaker 1: we could ever face when you step on the ice,
Speaker 1: are you able to tell your body like, hey, this
Speaker 1: is important, but we're not back there again.
Speaker 2: We're gonna be okay.
Speaker 4: I think there was.
Speaker 5: A different energy this year that I felt in different
Speaker 5: in years past. I think it's because we weren't playing
Speaker 5: in these games and not seeing another game for till
Speaker 5: April or till one February. Realistically, that was the landscape
Speaker 5: before the p WHL. As we play these games and
Speaker 5: knowing that we have, you know, thirty games ahead of us,
Speaker 5: and this was these were our first games.
Speaker 4: While yes, like you know, you are all out, you
Speaker 4: empty the.
Speaker 5: Take like you're trying to make a team, You're trying
Speaker 5: to earn a job because you want to be on
Speaker 5: that next roster. That's the reality of of pro hockey
Speaker 5: and the national team. Someone's coming in and taking your spot,
Speaker 5: so you've got to you got to earn it every
Speaker 5: time you step on the ice. But I think it was,
Speaker 5: you know, a lot of us were like, Okay, this
Speaker 5: is our first game in five months. You know, we're
Speaker 5: entering training camp a couple of days after that that
Speaker 5: last game, and so.
Speaker 4: It was it was a little different.
Speaker 5: And I think the other difference too is you know,
Speaker 5: some of us played with the Canadians in college, but
Speaker 5: now in the PWHL we're playing, you know, with the Canadians,
Speaker 5: and you know, it's it's much.
Speaker 2: Harder to hate them.
Speaker 4: Diverse, but it's it's the greatest rivalry in sport.
Speaker 5: Out I will say that, you know, you know, Michael
Speaker 5: will say it's Michigan versus Ohio State.
Speaker 4: I will say it's it's us first Canada.
Speaker 5: But so no matter what it's, the games are still
Speaker 5: incredible and the stakes are high, and it's competitive and
Speaker 5: one of the greatest hockey games you'll see of the year.
Speaker 5: But it's reassuring to know that when we pack up
Speaker 5: our bags during that third game, we aren't going to
Speaker 5: have to wait months and months and months to showcase
Speaker 5: women's hockey again.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Is it safe to say you're planning on playing for
Speaker 1: gold in twenty twenty six?
Speaker 4: I got to make the team.
Speaker 2: Okay, but you're gonna try.
Speaker 4: I hope to be there. Let's go for sure?
Speaker 1: Yes, Okay, good, Yeah, Okay, Let's talk p WHL because
Speaker 1: I do love that you have this to look ahead
Speaker 1: to and that we have this to look ahead to.
Speaker 1: You played a massive role in helping make this league happen.
Speaker 1: What did you think was missing in the previous iterations
Speaker 1: of pro women's hockey and what were your hopes for
Speaker 1: this p WHL league.
Speaker 6: I think what was missing, ultimately was the proper investment,
Speaker 6: and I think the lack of investment that women's hockey
Speaker 6: had kept us siloed in many different ways, because you know,
Speaker 6: there was a.
Speaker 5: Little bit of here, a little bit of there, a
Speaker 5: little bit of here, you know, and nothing was professional.
Speaker 5: And then finally when we came together, we came united.
Speaker 5: We you know, Mark and kimber Walters said yes, we're
Speaker 5: going to do this. You know, thanks to the efforts
Speaker 5: of Billy Jing King and a lot of coss you know,
Speaker 5: in helping secure Mark and Kimbra to wanting to do
Speaker 5: the p WHL. It was the proper investment, the proper
Speaker 5: professionalism and infrastructure that really unlocked what this pro league
Speaker 5: was to become.
Speaker 1: I mean, it feels like anytime you start by going
Speaker 1: to Billy Jean King and being like, we need your help,
Speaker 1: help us figure out how to do this, like you're
Speaker 1: on the right track there because her record of being
Speaker 1: able to help across so many different sports and really
Speaker 1: caring about women across different sports, getting the opportunity to
Speaker 1: experience what it is to be in.
Speaker 2: A professionally run league.
Speaker 1: And you know, you and I survived what I would
Speaker 1: call a very tumultuous tenure as minority owners of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Red Stars women's professional soccer team here in Chicago.
Speaker 1: It ultimately ended when our majority owner was forced to sell,
Speaker 1: taking us minority owners out with them.
Speaker 2: You were in those meetings, you were behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like anything from that experience informed your
Speaker 1: leadership and decision making for the PWHL, and also how
Speaker 1: you wanted to work with owners like Mark Walter to
Speaker 1: make sure that things were run with the players centered.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, I learned a lot, you know, I think I
Speaker 5: learned what I liked and didn't like behind the scenes.
Speaker 5: But I just remember a simple conversation of getting the
Speaker 5: player's boots and but you know, the other conversation quickly
Speaker 5: pivoted to, you know, we need to repair the scoreboard,
Speaker 5: and I'm like, well, there's nothing going to be going
Speaker 5: up on that scoreboard if the players don't have the
Speaker 5: proper quick to put that ball on the net. And
Speaker 5: you know, and it's so it's almost you got to
Speaker 5: take ten steps back to go you know, twenty steps forward.
Speaker 5: And I think, you know, just having some of those
Speaker 5: conversations from our experience, but then you know, going to
Speaker 5: you know, when we were bargaining the collective bargaining agreement,
Speaker 5: you know, we had some conversations talking about meals, and
Speaker 5: I remember, you know a lot of the Dodgers personnel
Speaker 5: that was sitting across the table looking at us, like
Speaker 5: we had five heads of what do you like.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we get it.
Speaker 5: You get a meal and we're like, no, no, no, what
Speaker 5: you got to define that meal?
Speaker 4: That doesn't mean bananas and peanut butter sandwiches like a meal.
Speaker 2: And they're like, yeah, we got it.
Speaker 4: And so for them it was it was standard.
Speaker 5: For us, it was what we've always the standard, we've
Speaker 5: always earned and deserved, but we've never had. And so
Speaker 5: you know, we're spelling out these things, you know, these
Speaker 5: things in the in the CBA that may seem elementary,
Speaker 5: and they're like, yep, we got it, Yep, we got
Speaker 5: it because everything that they do and the way they
Speaker 5: do it is first class, and so they weren't going
Speaker 5: to look at us any differently. And the you know,
Speaker 5: the the meals is just you know, one example of many.
Speaker 5: I remember having conversations of you know, we can't sit
Speaker 5: with our hockey bags on the bus and they're like, uh, okay,
Speaker 5: we got it. And they're like, wait, that's what you
Speaker 5: used to do and we're like not like used to
Speaker 5: like not like yes.
Speaker 2: Now we're doing that.
Speaker 4: They're like okay.
Speaker 5: It was like there are a lot of those moments,
Speaker 5: and I think it was it was jaw dropping to
Speaker 5: both sides for us to understand you know the standard
Speaker 5: and expectation that, of course we're going to set, and
Speaker 5: then for us to realize the new reality and the
Speaker 5: standard expectation that we are now going to have from
Speaker 5: this day moving forward. Right, it's and it's only going
Speaker 5: to get better. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But you know what's very smart of you is to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's great that you're saying that now, but we need
Speaker 1: to put in writing what we mean by this, because
Speaker 1: we don't want it to become another situation where whatever
Speaker 1: promise we believe you were delivering, we didn't end up
Speaker 1: getting because it's easy to start to wheel out of
Speaker 1: those promises further down the line.
Speaker 2: So it's really smart.
Speaker 1: I remember talking to a WNBA executive committee member who said, yeah,
Speaker 1: they told us we were getting charter flights, but it
Speaker 1: wasn't written down. So it's been a promise that they've
Speaker 1: delivered on this season, but now we need it in
Speaker 1: our CBA so that it is in language, in black
Speaker 1: and white if going forward something changes. And so that's
Speaker 1: really smart for you to do in this case too.
Speaker 1: But I love hearing that the other side shows up
Speaker 1: with an expectation that you'll be treated like professional athletes,
Speaker 1: which is what you are You know you mentioned the CBA.
Speaker 1: I recently interviewed Amy she Er. She's the senior VP
Speaker 1: of business for the PWHL. She mentioned that Mark Walter
Speaker 1: was not willing to invest and fund this league starting
Speaker 1: up without a CBA in place, that he wanted to
Speaker 1: ensure stability. That is great news, especially considering previous iterations
Speaker 1: that didn't always have alignment between ownership and players.
Speaker 2: But eight years is a really long CBA deal.
Speaker 1: Do you know if there are player options during that
Speaker 1: time or are you worried at all about how growth
Speaker 1: or changes within the league might not be caught up
Speaker 1: with on the player side, because that's such a long CBA.
Speaker 5: It's a long CBA, And I think in conversation throughout
Speaker 5: the process, it wasn't about year one, it wasn't about
Speaker 5: year two. It was about year not even year eight,
Speaker 5: but year eighty, Like, how do we ensure sustainability? How
Speaker 5: do we ensure that all the young girls who aren't
Speaker 5: even you know, on this earth yet are going to
Speaker 5: be able to grow up and know that they have
Speaker 5: a place to play, because this isn't about us, Like
Speaker 5: you know, the average salary is fifty five thousand dollars.
Speaker 4: Can I sit here and say I wish that was higher, of.
Speaker 5: Course, but I think we all wanted to start, you know,
Speaker 5: in a realistic standpoint, to know that this league was
Speaker 5: going to be around for years and years and years
Speaker 5: to come.
Speaker 4: You know, there's there's benefits that come. The benefit package
Speaker 4: that we have is excellent.
Speaker 5: You know, we receive a housing stipend in market, we
Speaker 5: received two meals you know, every day that we're at
Speaker 5: the rink, and so, you know, we really were methodical about, Okay,
Speaker 5: what salary can we get to where we know that
Speaker 5: this is going to be around forever, but yet surround
Speaker 5: the players with benefits that makes that fifty five thousand,
Speaker 5: you know, go farther great, Yeah, yeah, go farther with
Speaker 5: the housing stipend, with the you know, the health insurance
Speaker 5: benefits and all of those benefits that we were never
Speaker 5: provided because we were never employees.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 5: And I think speaking of Amy Sheer, a few weeks
Speaker 5: ago at the espn W summit, she announced their plans
Speaker 5: to look at expansion and to look to add two
Speaker 5: new teams, and I think all of her.
Speaker 4: Just hit the floor. Okay, let's go. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 4: everyone's like, where are they are?
Speaker 2: Like, I don't know, Like I know.
Speaker 1: I actually interviewed h that was my panel that she
Speaker 1: was on, and I said, Chicago, and I will be
Speaker 1: claiming Kendall quoint Schofield as my first player.
Speaker 2: So I just wanted you to know that I've already
Speaker 2: claimed you. Yeah, yeah, I'm.
Speaker 4: You knew the news before us.
Speaker 2: I did, I did. I should have texted you.
Speaker 4: So it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: It is pretty cool, and we love to see that
Speaker 1: the success of the first season allows them to start
Speaker 1: thinking bigger, are ready just before.
Speaker 2: You've even started season two?
Speaker 1: What was the biggest and I want to move forward,
Speaker 1: but what was the biggest challenge on getting players on
Speaker 1: board and getting the league up and running were Where
Speaker 1: was there any disconnect, particularly maybe for players who are like,
Speaker 1: we're doing this again, We're starting another league. We're trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, be enthusiastic and hopeful, but we've seen this
Speaker 1: happen before. What did you have to ensure other players
Speaker 1: that you know was going to happen and why they
Speaker 1: should buy in on this one.
Speaker 4: The difficulty was the timeline.
Speaker 5: The difficulty was asking players to continue to remain patient,
Speaker 5: a challenge that we encountered was a global pandemic. It
Speaker 5: took us four years to get to this point, and
Speaker 5: you know, we launched the PWHPA in twenty nineteen thanks
Speaker 5: to our incredible pro bono lawyers at ballard'spar who have
Speaker 5: been with us, you know, dating back to the women's
Speaker 5: national team in twenty fifteen, and they were with the
Speaker 5: US women's soccer team dating back to ninety six, and
Speaker 5: so they've been they've been holding our hands in women's
Speaker 5: sports so long. And you know, so we formed the
Speaker 5: association twenty nineteen and a lot of players, you know,
Speaker 5: joined in, But then there were other leagues and some
Speaker 5: players said, you know what, I just want to.
Speaker 4: Play in the league, and that's fine.
Speaker 5: But I think it was hard for a lot of
Speaker 5: the best players in the world to recognize that as
Speaker 5: as a league, given that the standards in which the
Speaker 5: league operated under was not good enough. And so, you know,
Speaker 5: I think it was the difficulty was continuing to have
Speaker 5: players remain united to sacrifice a salary. Here, you know,
Speaker 5: I'm playing under a more formal league structure versus the
Speaker 5: association that had a goal and a vision that was
Speaker 5: to leave this game better than when we entered it
Speaker 5: and it wasn't about us, you know, it took so long.
Speaker 4: There were players who were tired along the way.
Speaker 5: There were players that I can't do this right like,
Speaker 5: But all of those players are part of the success
Speaker 5: of this league.
Speaker 4: They are the fabric of this league.
Speaker 5: Regardless if they've played in it or not, they know
Speaker 5: they were a part of it and we are successful
Speaker 5: because of them. And so I think that's that's the
Speaker 5: difficult part, knowing, like the four years of grind and
Speaker 5: build and hard and Sarah, I mean, I mean every day,
Speaker 5: it was every day. I remember talking to people on Christmas, Thanksgiving,
Speaker 5: Canadian Thanksgiving right just every day for four and a
Speaker 5: half years to get to this point.
Speaker 4: And it was hard.
Speaker 2: It was hard.
Speaker 5: But there's a lot of people who deserve credit for
Speaker 5: getting us to this point and getting the sport to
Speaker 5: this point. And regardless if they put a p WHL
Speaker 5: jersey on or not, where they work in the league
Speaker 5: or not, there's there's years and years of players who
Speaker 5: deserve credit for being a part of this.
Speaker 1: I think knowing how much work went into it and
Speaker 1: knowing how big of a role you played, it felt
Speaker 1: right that you got to lift the first trophy that
Speaker 1: you got to put baby Drew in the trophy. We
Speaker 1: got to watch all of those celebrations and it was
Speaker 1: really cool to see the immediate response from fans. The
Speaker 1: attendance records broken across the difference basis, I would say
Speaker 1: other than winning it all, which was obviously, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: guess the biggest highlight, what was maybe one of your
Speaker 1: biggest highlights from your.
Speaker 5: One need to give you this answer, but everything, Like
Speaker 5: obviously you know the in pro sports goals to bring
Speaker 5: that championship back to your city, and we accomplished that.
Speaker 5: But I honestly don't think anyone lost last year, like
Speaker 5: we all won. Everyone won, the game won, every team won,
Speaker 5: every player one that future generations won. Like it's it
Speaker 5: was such an iconic year, and you know, it's gonna
Speaker 5: be fun to thirty years for now to look back, like, remember.
Speaker 4: When we are the first Walter Cup.
Speaker 2: Champions, you'll still be playing. I'm gonna look.
Speaker 4: At us like we're crazy.
Speaker 5: The kids, you know playing that, they're gonna be like,
Speaker 5: oh my gosh, you're so old. But I just think,
Speaker 5: like the challenges it took us to get to this point,
Speaker 5: to to put.
Speaker 4: Those jerseys over our head.
Speaker 5: To hoist a trophy over our head was always the
Speaker 5: last thing in the back of our heads, right, Like
Speaker 5: the hockey was the easy part is getting to play hockey,
Speaker 5: But we were always doing everything but that. You know,
Speaker 5: We're on phone calls and AirPods and locker rooms and
Speaker 5: you know, sometimes even on the ice with an AirPod
Speaker 5: and trying to just keep up and emails and so,
Speaker 5: you know, I think the hockey is the reward given
Speaker 5: the fight over these years. But gosh, I hate to
Speaker 5: say everything, but it honestly was like, yeah.
Speaker 6: I love.
Speaker 1: We were at the Women's Sports Foundation Galon. I was
Speaker 1: talking to about like, oh, how many years do you
Speaker 1: have left? And know after you're done, you'll just get
Speaker 1: into the leadership side running things, and You're like, I've
Speaker 1: already been doing that.
Speaker 2: Sarah for years. And I'm like, oh, you're right, you have.
Speaker 1: You basically had to do all the things all the
Speaker 1: same time, which brings us to this second season, which
Speaker 1: is so exciting. I loved hearing Amy talk about some
Speaker 1: of the cool events that are going to be across
Speaker 1: some different cities, so that there are new cities that
Speaker 1: are going to get to experience it. I love the
Speaker 1: idea of the expansion squads and maybe trying out some
Speaker 1: games of different places to see which fan bases really respond,
Speaker 1: which is so cool. You have the job of trying
Speaker 1: to repeat now with a name Minnesota Frost instead of
Speaker 1: just PWHL Minnesota. So we've got the jersey drop, the logos,
Speaker 1: the colors, all the other exciting stuff that helps people
Speaker 1: align with the team and get excited about it. You'll
Speaker 1: probably have a lot of big fans for Minnesota after
Speaker 1: winning it the first time, but you've had a lot
Speaker 1: of changes too from that first season so much success
Speaker 1: and then GM Natalie Darwitz and the team parted ways.
Speaker 1: The Athletic reported that there was like a rift between
Speaker 1: Darwitz and your head coach Ken Klee, that you were
Speaker 1: having an allegiance to Clee over Darwitz as a contributing
Speaker 1: factor to that as well. What can you tell us
Speaker 1: about that, because it's pretty unusual for a well regarded
Speaker 1: GM with the kind of history that Natalie had in
Speaker 1: the sport to be ousted right after winning a title.
Speaker 1: That's usually when you'd expect everyone to run it back
Speaker 1: and try to win again.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's important to make it very clear
Speaker 5: that that was a league decision and that I had
Speaker 5: no part in that decision and regardless of what was reported,
Speaker 5: and I can tell you one hundred percent that that's false,
Speaker 5: and I had absolutely nothing to do with the decisions
Speaker 5: that were made from above. I'm a player and my
Speaker 5: job is to play, and that's what I did. That's
Speaker 5: what my teammates did. And you know, I think one
Speaker 5: thing I'm super proud of was, regardless of what was
Speaker 5: reported and the false narratives that are out there, our
Speaker 5: team was such a tight knit group and I don't
Speaker 5: know a group that that can be fractured like one
Speaker 5: that has been depicted in the media and be so
Speaker 5: successful in the way that we were. And so it
Speaker 5: was a special group, a group that you know, I
Speaker 5: think when you when you win your championship with the group,
Speaker 5: it's one that will remain united forever. And you know,
Speaker 5: five years, ten years, fifteen years, you know, talking about
Speaker 5: that championship, hopefully getting together and celebrating it. But you know,
Speaker 5: it was a special group to be part of. And
Speaker 5: I had absolutely no say in any decisions that were
Speaker 5: made from above and from a league standpoint.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And for those who don't know.
Speaker 1: So it's a single entity owner league, meaning, unlike a
Speaker 1: lot of other professional leagues that we might know, there
Speaker 1: isn't an owner of each team. There's an ownership group
Speaker 1: that runs the league from their position. So ultimately, when
Speaker 1: you say it's a league decision, they get to decide
Speaker 1: the kind of thing that potentially, like a single owner
Speaker 1: would decide for a team. It's going to be one
Speaker 1: storyline of many, many, many for season two of the PWHL.
Speaker 1: It's kicking off very soon November thirtieth. What are you
Speaker 1: most looking forward to having a full season under your
Speaker 1: belt and getting to start this new season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think just looking forward to defending our title and.
Speaker 1: Also with a logo and Cresten name and colors and
Speaker 1: all the other exciting merchant like stuff like that. I
Speaker 1: think that's going to be a really cool addition this
Speaker 1: season for fans who want to give themselves that identity
Speaker 1: of a fan of a team, which is awesome. Well,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for giving us time. I know you're
Speaker 1: so busy and we're so looking forward to the start
Speaker 1: of the season.
Speaker 2: So thanks Kendall.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Kendall for joining us. We got to
Speaker 1: go pay the bills. When we come back, we assign
Speaker 1: you some movie watching welcome back slices. We love that
Speaker 1: you're listening, but we want you to get in the
Speaker 1: game every day too, So here's our good game play
Speaker 1: of the day. Just go watch the movie Inside Out Too,
Speaker 1: featuring Kendall voicing a hockey announcer in a handful of
Speaker 1: scenes and fun fact, ever since the very first Pixar movie,
Speaker 1: Toy Story debut in nineteen ninety five, the studio has
Speaker 1: this tradition of listing the names of any babies that
Speaker 1: are born to the staff in the film's credits at
Speaker 1: the very end, under the heading production Babies. While Kendall
Speaker 1: had her son Drew while the movie was being made,
Speaker 1: so his name is one of thirty five in the
Speaker 1: production babies section. Keep an eye out for Drew in
Speaker 1: the credits. We always love to hear from Yes to
Speaker 1: hit us up on email Good game at wondermedianetwork dot
Speaker 1: com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
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Speaker 1: Good game, Kendall, Good game, Mikayla Shiffern's great sportswomanship you
Speaker 1: whatever stabbed Mikayla.
Speaker 2: Good Game with.
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership
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