Speaker 1: Welcome to a good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're
Speaker 1: calculating overnight shipping costs on a freezer with an ice
Speaker 1: packed ACL. I don't need mind, Juju, I'm washed. Take
Speaker 1: it please. It's Wednesday, March twenty sixth. Then on today's show,
Speaker 1: we'll be talking to Hailey Salvia and a hockey writer
Speaker 1: for The Athletic and a co host of the Athletic
Speaker 1: Hockey Podcast, about why it's still anyone's game as the
Speaker 1: PWHL nears the postseason, the secret behind Marie Filipulen and
Speaker 1: Hillary Knight's successes, and her early predictions for expansion. Plus
Speaker 1: we'll get into that Juju injury. We'll talk about the
Speaker 1: rest of the women's hoop Sweet sixteen field, the US
Speaker 1: women's national team gears up for an Olympic gold medal
Speaker 1: game rematch and use slices and us some colorful language.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, y'all.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today in college hoops.
Speaker 1: Will catch you up on the late games from Monday
Speaker 1: night and the biggest news by far, not just of Monday,
Speaker 1: but the tournament. USC's Juju Watkins, sophomore sensation and probable
Speaker 1: pick for Naismith Player of the Year suffered a knee
Speaker 1: injury with four forty three left to play in the
Speaker 1: first quarter of the Trojans matchup with number nine Mississippi State.
Speaker 1: Watkins was carried off the court taken for testing, and
Speaker 1: it's been reported that she tore her acl. She's out
Speaker 1: for the remainder of the tournament and will undergo surgery
Speaker 1: to repair it. It was so hard to watch her
Speaker 1: go down, and we're sending so much love to her
Speaker 1: and the rest of the Trojans team and community. This
Speaker 1: no doubt changes the entire vibe of the tournament this year,
Speaker 1: and we wish Juju a thorough recovery. After her injury.
Speaker 1: Number one USC gathered themselves and took care of business
Speaker 1: against Mississippi State, winning ninety six fifty nine to punch
Speaker 1: a ticket to the Sweet sixteen. Kiki Eriefen led the
Speaker 1: Trojans with a dominant thirty six points, the most ever
Speaker 1: by a USC player in NCAA tournament game, and added
Speaker 1: nine rebus and two assists as well. Us He moves
Speaker 1: on to Phase number five Kansas State in the Sweet
Speaker 1: sixteen up in Connecticut. Number two Yukon beat number ten
Speaker 1: South Dakota State ninety one fifty seven in Paige Becker's
Speaker 1: last home game at Yukon. The fifth year senior dropped
Speaker 1: a blistering thirty four points in just twenty nine minutes
Speaker 1: a game action, tying her career high for points. Almost
Speaker 1: more impressive. In the postgame press conference, Beckers had head
Speaker 1: coach Gino Orimo holding back tears as she got up
Speaker 1: to leave. Gino joked with us on our show, telling
Speaker 1: us she never listens to him, but it's so obvious
Speaker 1: he knows what a special kid she is. It was
Speaker 1: a really sweet moment watching him try to hold back
Speaker 1: those tears. We'll link to the video in our show notes. Also,
Speaker 1: while this might have been Becker's last home game in
Speaker 1: a Yukon jersey, it wasn't azy fuds. The senior told
Speaker 1: Friend of the show Alexa Philip Who and ESPN on
Speaker 1: Tuesday that she will return to college next season and
Speaker 1: for go entering the twenty twenty five WNBA draft. The
Speaker 1: Huskies move on to play number three Oklahoma in the
Speaker 1: Sweet sixteen, and number three North Carolina picked up a
Speaker 1: fifty eight to forty sive and dub against number six
Speaker 1: West Virginia. Behind twenty one points from their fifth year
Speaker 1: senior alyssa Ustby, the tar Heels now advanced to the
Speaker 1: Sweet sixteen for the first time since twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: and they'll face acc rival Duke for the first time
Speaker 1: ever in the NCAA tournament. Those teams saw each other
Speaker 1: twice during the regular season, each winning a game on
Speaker 1: their home court. UNC versus Duke. No matter the sport,
Speaker 1: you know you want to have your popcorn ready for
Speaker 1: that one. We'll post a link to the full schedule
Speaker 1: for the Sweet sixteen matchups in our show notes in
Speaker 1: Pro Soccer News, The NWSL, Orlando Pride, GOTHAMFC, and the
Speaker 1: league's players Association all released statements on Monday condemning the
Speaker 1: use of hateful language toward Pride forward Barbara Banda during
Speaker 1: Sunday's match at Gotham's Sports Illustrated Stadium. Per the NWSL's statement,
Speaker 1: the league and Gotham FC are working together to investigate
Speaker 1: the incident and dole out consequences as defined through the
Speaker 1: NWSL's Fan Code of Conduct. Per Gotham's statement, stadium security
Speaker 1: directly addressed the individual responsible for the language and monitored
Speaker 1: the situation for the rest of the match. Also, club
Speaker 1: leader reached out to the Orlando Pride on Monday to
Speaker 1: apologize for the incident and reiterate its support of Banda.
Speaker 1: This isn't the first time that Banda, a cisgender woman,
Speaker 1: has been on the receiving end of abusive comments. In November,
Speaker 1: after helping Orlando win the NWSL title and being named
Speaker 1: World Footballer of the Year by the BBC, she received
Speaker 1: transphobic attacks from author JK. Rowling, among others. The league
Speaker 1: didn't issue a statement at that time, and in an
Speaker 1: interview with NPR's All Things Considered earlier this month, Commissioner
Speaker 1: Jessica Berman said the league learned from that and is
Speaker 1: committed to doing more to support Banda and other players
Speaker 1: moving forward. In international soccer news, the US women's national
Speaker 1: team released its twenty four player roster for the team's
Speaker 1: two April Olympic final rematches against the Brazilian national team.
Speaker 1: Biggest takeaway from the roster, one third of Triple Espresso
Speaker 1: is back Trinity Rodman, back in the fold after missing
Speaker 1: the last four training camps resting injuries. She rejoins the
Speaker 1: squad for the first time since the Olympic gold medal
Speaker 1: game in August of twenty four. Also of note, Houston
Speaker 1: dash defender Avery Patterson has earned and her first senior
Speaker 1: US women's national team call up, and among the other
Speaker 1: players called into the team goalkeepers Jane Campbell, Mandy McGlenn,
Speaker 1: and Fallon Tullis Joyce, all vying to become Emma Hay's
Speaker 1: new go to after the national team retirement of Alyssinare.
Speaker 1: They'll be joined by one more keeper, training camp player,
Speaker 1: Angelina Anderson of angel City FC. The US women's national
Speaker 1: team faces Brazil on April fifth and eighth, just outside
Speaker 1: of Los Angeles and San Jose, California, respectively. We got
Speaker 1: to take a quick break. When we come back, we're
Speaker 1: dropping the puck with Haley Salvian joining us now. She's
Speaker 1: a staff writer for The Athletic covering women's hockey and
Speaker 1: the NHL, and she's one of the hosts of the
Speaker 1: Athletic Hockey Podcast. She has the cutest little pop bono,
Speaker 1: and she likes to eat ribs on the ice. She's
Speaker 1: a Canadian and frankly, we're jealous. It's Hailey Salvian. What's up? Haley?
Speaker 2: Why what happened. What do you mean just you know,
Speaker 2: we'll get to it. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: I first want you to explain what exactly is up
Speaker 1: with you and Julia Tosherry who was a co host
Speaker 1: of Jackson Jill who we had on the show, and
Speaker 1: the ribs. I was clearly creeping your instagram. There were
Speaker 1: lots of comments about ribs on the ice and now
Speaker 1: we need to know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm so glad you brought this up.
Speaker 2: Because we were covering the PWHL playoffs. It was the
Speaker 2: first round Toronto versus Minnesota last year, and we go
Speaker 2: into the media room and there's usually a media meal.
Speaker 2: It's like five bucks, ten bucks, whatever you go when
Speaker 2: you get your food before the game, and it was
Speaker 2: barbecue ribs, and she and I both had this moment.
Speaker 2: It was me, Julia and Christina Rutherford does an amazing
Speaker 2: job at Sportsnet, and we all just kind of sat
Speaker 2: there bibs on, eating the ribs, and Julie and I
Speaker 2: had this moment of like, this is such a safe space,
Speaker 2: Like if this was in the Leafs media meal room,
Speaker 2: like if this was an NHL playoff game, Julie and
Speaker 2: I were like we would have walked in seen the
Speaker 2: barbecue ribs and like walked right out, like it's fine,
Speaker 2: I'll get the press box popcorn for dinner or something.
Speaker 2: But it was just like all women in there, bibs
Speaker 2: on barbecue sauce, everyone on a bone. I feel so
Speaker 2: safe eating these ribs right now that I don't even
Speaker 2: care that there's sauce all over my credential.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 3: It was a real bonding moment for us girls on
Speaker 3: the screen.
Speaker 1: I am just brief aside. I think we've all been here.
Speaker 1: I went to a restaurant by myself in Miami when
Speaker 1: I was there for a work trip, and I ordered
Speaker 1: this side of corn that I expected to be like
Speaker 1: a low tast style off the cob, and instead it
Speaker 1: was like just a full cob. And I sat there
Speaker 1: at a bar across from like a bunch of people
Speaker 1: at a pretty prime like six thirty ish happy hour
Speaker 1: happening spot, just like gnawing on this corn cob alone,
Speaker 1: thinking like, there's got to be a better way this
Speaker 1: is not.
Speaker 3: Was it good at least?
Speaker 1: Oh? I mean it was delicious. Great? Who cares? Then
Speaker 1: you got this? Yeah?
Speaker 2: True, I'm so used to eating alone on the road.
Speaker 2: It's it's fine, everything's fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's corn is a weird one. Eating a
Speaker 1: banana like you have to break it off in your hands.
Speaker 1: You can't just deep throat a banana in public. Certainly
Speaker 1: not Okay. So you're one of the few reporters that
Speaker 1: write about the PWHL. That's why we're having you here
Speaker 1: to impart all of your knowledge. What would you say
Speaker 1: is the biggest challenge of being sort of relatively alone
Speaker 1: on a beat.
Speaker 3: Ooh, that's a good question.
Speaker 2: I think one of the challenges that I have found
Speaker 2: covering this is that and now, like journalistic integrity and
Speaker 2: like making sure your sources are vetted and everything is
Speaker 2: very very important to me, regardless of if I was
Speaker 2: the only person or the tenth person, twentieth person. But
Speaker 2: there is this sense of like, if the athletic is
Speaker 2: chiming in on something, it's going to mean something.
Speaker 3: So you're almost like relishing in.
Speaker 2: The opportunity to drive conversation and push narratives that you
Speaker 2: think are important. But then there's also like a responsibility
Speaker 2: with that. So you have these moments of am I
Speaker 2: making something too big of a deal? Is this the
Speaker 2: right story to be doing? At the right time is
Speaker 2: how is this going to be perceived? So like the
Speaker 2: time of things and like the importance of posting things
Speaker 2: like that's not lost on me, yea, because I've heard
Speaker 2: that from folks of like if you're going to say
Speaker 2: and this is a thing for me, like I have
Speaker 2: the like I don't think of myself that way, Like
Speaker 2: this has just been something that I've been told is
Speaker 2: like if you're going to say it, or the athletics
Speaker 2: going to say it, it's going to matter in a
Speaker 2: different way. And that's like a weird thing for my
Speaker 2: own self esteem to hear. I'm just like, no, that's crazy.
Speaker 2: But that is something that I've had to internalize when
Speaker 2: we're trying to decide like what stories to do and
Speaker 2: how to approach certain things. And it's not so much
Speaker 2: like the sourcing because I would always want to get
Speaker 2: things correct, but there is like almost a responsibility there
Speaker 2: coming from like one of the bigger mainstream media companies
Speaker 2: weighing in on something.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this on the show in the past.
Speaker 1: It's not just are you following sort of journalistic principles
Speaker 1: in terms of asking questions, getting answers and reporting what
Speaker 1: was said, it's how does it operate within the larger
Speaker 1: context and new of the space in which you're working,
Speaker 1: and when you know that you're one of the few
Speaker 1: larger brands and outlets covering something and that what you
Speaker 1: do cover and present is going to have an outsized
Speaker 1: impact on how people see a league, or a player
Speaker 1: or a person Like it's important to think about that
Speaker 1: whether or not that's an extra added pressure for you,
Speaker 1: which it is, that's just sort of the reality of
Speaker 1: the situation right now. How do you balance being fair
Speaker 1: or even critical when it's necessary with a sort of
Speaker 1: understandable desire to help grow the league's fan base and viewers.
Speaker 1: You're covering something that you care about that you want
Speaker 1: more people to care about, both for your business and
Speaker 1: your job and getting paid, but also, you know, because
Speaker 1: you'd like to see it do well. How do you
Speaker 1: balance that desire with I also need to criticize things
Speaker 1: when they aren't right.
Speaker 2: One of the things that I think is so great,
Speaker 2: at least when we're talking about like from a player
Speaker 2: perspective or player performance, team performance. I've actually gotten feedback
Speaker 2: from like coaches, players, gms like if you think I
Speaker 2: made a mistake here, say it like we need to
Speaker 2: get past the point of just like being like everything's great,
Speaker 2: it's great, woohoo, we love this.
Speaker 3: Like I've had a conversation with.
Speaker 2: A GM after the draft which we had on CBC.
Speaker 3: I do some TV work on the panel for CBC.
Speaker 2: Sports, and they had said to me, like, if you
Speaker 2: think I made a bad pick in the second round,
Speaker 2: I want you to feel comfortable going on TV and
Speaker 2: saying GM X made a mistake here. Now, I want
Speaker 2: you to back it up. I want you to have
Speaker 2: a reason for that. I don't want you just saying
Speaker 2: like this GM stinks. Be smart with it. But if
Speaker 2: you feel I did something wrong, say it because we're
Speaker 2: not going to groan and we're not going to move
Speaker 2: forward in the ways we need if everyone's just saying
Speaker 2: like flowers and daisies and rainbows. And I think from
Speaker 2: the league building perspective, you know, being able to be
Speaker 2: like critical of what's happening in the league is going.
Speaker 3: To be a really important piece of this.
Speaker 2: Like it's you know, I always think of the NWSL
Speaker 2: as such a great example when you know, Meg Linihan
Speaker 2: and Katie Strang had their big explosive report on everything
Speaker 2: that was happening in the NWSL for years in terms
Speaker 2: of you know, just harassment and poor treatment of players
Speaker 2: was you know, for so long women's soccer and women's
Speaker 2: sport have felt like, well, we can't speak up because
Speaker 2: we don't want to hurt the league.
Speaker 3: We don't want to hurt the game. We're all trying
Speaker 3: to grow it.
Speaker 2: But I think everyone's kind of knows now that the
Speaker 2: way to grow the league is not to just be
Speaker 2: quiet on matters that need to be spoken on. So
Speaker 2: that's a thing for me, Like, when something big like
Speaker 2: that happens in the PWHL like that is going to
Speaker 2: be on me to and other media members to like
Speaker 2: accurately and fairly report on those instances, because the league's
Speaker 2: not going to grow and get great if we're just
Speaker 2: covering up any kind of misconduct.
Speaker 1: I think, well, I'm just curious because you know, the
Speaker 1: league's single owner format sort of might affect how teams
Speaker 1: or gms or coaches interact with the media. There isn't
Speaker 1: the same like rivalry with other clubs, and perhaps less
Speaker 1: willingness to comment or react to controversy with other clubs
Speaker 1: or stumbles by an opponent when you've all answered to
Speaker 1: the same ownership, and I think in nascent women's sports
Speaker 1: leagues there is more of a feel of a rising
Speaker 1: tide lifts all boats, let's all support each other, which
Speaker 1: is great. At the same time, do you find it
Speaker 1: hard to get honest appraisals about opponents for things other
Speaker 1: than what's on the ice because they're all beholden to
Speaker 1: the same boss.
Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly on the record.
Speaker 2: Like I'm sure there's like gms who have their whispers
Speaker 2: of things that they don't love or things that aren't happening.
Speaker 2: I will say the one thing I heard from like
Speaker 2: every team that I've been able to speak to, is
Speaker 2: that like when Push came to Shove last year, there
Speaker 2: was always a card on the table, like if issues
Speaker 2: popped up, like the owner was putting the money down
Speaker 2: to fix it or scale with it, which was so
Speaker 2: great to hear because that's always been the issue and
Speaker 2: women's like professional hockey is the resources and the pot
Speaker 2: of money just was kind of non existent relative to
Speaker 2: what we're seeing now. But I do think the single
Speaker 2: entity ownership model is really interesting and it's it's I'm
Speaker 2: curious to see how it's going to grow and change.
Speaker 2: If they move away from that, what kind of issues
Speaker 2: do start to crop up because we have things like
Speaker 2: gms making trades or signing players, drafting players. You know,
Speaker 2: the New York Sirens are last in the league.
Speaker 3: Again.
Speaker 2: They have two of the best players in the world
Speaker 2: on their roster, certainly one of the best and the
Speaker 2: number one pick in Sarah Fhilier, and their last in
Speaker 2: the league again. But when you have a single entity owner,
Speaker 2: like that's just going to be the owner deciding is
Speaker 2: that what's best for the league to let a GM
Speaker 2: go or let a coach go? Do we keep them
Speaker 2: in house? It's not the New York owner saying, oh, right,
Speaker 2: that's enough. We need to have in a different direction.
Speaker 2: So I think those are things that are going to
Speaker 2: be interesting in the long run, for sure. I think
Speaker 2: in the early days it's been good because of that
Speaker 2: single pot of money, like everyone just has the resources
Speaker 2: to get started. They didn't have any kind of bureaucracy
Speaker 2: with six different owners when they were trying to start
Speaker 2: a league in six months of owner saying well, no
Speaker 2: I want this or no I want that. That was
Speaker 2: almost required to get this league started as quickly as possible.
Speaker 2: But I think as the league grows and changes. That's
Speaker 2: one of the big things that I'll be tracking in
Speaker 2: the PWHL in the next phase is how that single
Speaker 2: entity ownership model kind of grows or changes and impacts things.
Speaker 1: I want to get to some of the teams, but
Speaker 1: I want to ask quickly what your take is on
Speaker 1: how the league in the media have handled a couple controversies.
Speaker 1: There was, you know, disruption in the front office of
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Frost right after they won, and I think
Speaker 1: maybe more importantly, we haven't heard a lot about Frost
Speaker 1: player Britta Curl's social media activity. Prior to being drafted.
Speaker 1: She issued an apology for liking anti transposts COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: vaccine conspiracy is a post sharing a not guilty verdict
Speaker 1: for Kyle Rittenhouse. We haven't really talked about it much
Speaker 1: since the apology. Do you think the league in the
Speaker 1: media have handled that situation? Well.
Speaker 2: I think this is one of the instances with Brita
Speaker 2: Curl where the league itself is in this space where
Speaker 2: they have obviously decided, like anyone can play in this league, right,
Speaker 2: they didn't take a hard line and say Brita Curl
Speaker 2: is not to be drafted because that's where the owner
Speaker 2: would come in and right, Whereas in different leagues, maybe
Speaker 2: you have an owner in one market saying nope, that
Speaker 2: doesn't jive with what we want, whereas this is a
Speaker 2: single entity owner. And obviously it was decided that she
Speaker 2: was eligible and a team did draft her, and I
Speaker 2: did speak to all teams. I didn't speak to all
Speaker 2: six general managers, but I did speak to all team sources,
Speaker 2: and it was my understanding she was not on any
Speaker 2: teams do not draft list, So Brita Cral was open
Speaker 2: and available to all these teams after that social media
Speaker 2: activity was posted after she had the apology, and you know,
Speaker 2: she's been allowed to play in the league, but she's
Speaker 2: also been booed in every market she's played in. I
Speaker 2: think there's almost been instances of fans watching her get
Speaker 2: like big hits from opponents, like there are people who
Speaker 2: are not fans of what Berta Crole like said, or
Speaker 2: what she liked on social media and some of the
Speaker 2: tweets that she did share herself. But this is something
Speaker 2: where the league, you know, they have to balance this
Speaker 2: like allowing everyone to play in the league with all
Speaker 2: also understanding that they have players and fans who are
Speaker 2: in staff members, who are part of the LGBTQ plus
Speaker 2: community like they have. They just announced last week there
Speaker 2: are pride celebrations. There are unity games across all six markets.
Speaker 2: The Minnesota Frost are going to have a Pride game,
Speaker 2: and how are Minnesota fans gonna respond to that? How
Speaker 2: is the away team, the Toronto Sceptors, if they have
Speaker 2: fans in the building, how are they going to respond
Speaker 2: to that? So do I think that.
Speaker 3: The league and media.
Speaker 2: It's it's interesting you asked this question because these are
Speaker 2: not even things that I've written about. So in that sense,
Speaker 2: like Britta Curl hasn't faced that much scrutiny from the
Speaker 2: league because she was drafted and there's birthday posts and
Speaker 2: she's on the league's marketing and media members like me
Speaker 2: haven't exactly jumped into this and said like, here's what's
Speaker 2: happening with Brita Curl. So it's just a different, a
Speaker 2: different world in women's hockey right now.
Speaker 1: Well, we're seeing it happen across different spaces, and I
Speaker 1: think it's indicative that it is not an easy answer,
Speaker 1: whether that's Hannah Hidalgo and basketball, whether that's Corbin Albert
Speaker 1: in soccer, whether that's Britta Curl in hockey. Like, when
Speaker 1: you have someone existing in a space that is beyond
Speaker 1: just sport and stands for inclusiveness and diversity and all
Speaker 1: these things that are such so at the root and
Speaker 1: center of women's sport, it makes it far more complicated
Speaker 1: than on the men's side. It's not an easy answer
Speaker 1: because you also, I would not agree with saying ban
Speaker 1: them from the league either. I don't think that that's
Speaker 1: I think that's a really slippery slope. We got to
Speaker 1: take a quick break when we come back more with
Speaker 1: Hailey Salvion. You know, I just moderated a panel with
Speaker 1: a couple of PWHL execs out at the Wiser Conference,
Speaker 1: and one of the things we talked about backstage as
Speaker 1: we were talking about promoting the league and the players
Speaker 1: was teams starting to form identities, finding authentic rivalries, establishing
Speaker 1: some tradition and culture. Obviously, just the second year of
Speaker 1: this very young league, so much of falling in love
Speaker 1: with a league and team and players is understanding and
Speaker 1: learning the lore. And there isn't much lore yet, but
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear if there's any team culture or
Speaker 1: tradition or style or attitude that has emerged in this
Speaker 1: second season that really stands out. Not every team, but
Speaker 1: like if there's something that you're like, this is what
Speaker 1: we expect when we go to this place and it's awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say one that does stand out is Minnesota.
Speaker 2: Like that is that's like the state of hockey, and
Speaker 2: they have a lot of local players on that team.
Speaker 2: They're hard to play against. You know, Taylor Highs eleast deckline,
Speaker 2: Kelly Panic. You have like these Minnesota legends playing for
Speaker 2: that team and they have their own very unique identity.
Speaker 2: A lot of US national team players. I think Toronto
Speaker 2: stands out. They have a lot of Team Canada players.
Speaker 2: There's six forwards I think from the Toronto Scepters on
Speaker 2: the Team Canada Women's World roster, plus a defender and
Speaker 2: a goalie. So eight players that are going to be
Speaker 2: playing for Team candid Worlds or on the scepters. They're
Speaker 2: head coach, their GM or the head coach and GM
Speaker 2: of Canada. So Toronto is kind of like the Team
Speaker 2: Canada team in curator.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and like.
Speaker 2: You know, they almost have this perception of like if
Speaker 2: you want to be on Team Canada, go sign in Toronto.
Speaker 2: That's been something that is That's one of those criticisms
Speaker 2: that has kind of popped up off the record from
Speaker 2: some gms, like that's a thing that gms don't love
Speaker 2: is like, how are we supposed to compete with that?
Speaker 2: Everyone wants to be on the Olympic team, so everyone's
Speaker 2: going to pick Toronto. I don't necessarily agree with that perception,
Speaker 2: but I get it. I get why people feel that way.
Speaker 2: So Toronto is like the Team Canada hub for sure,
Speaker 2: and that's a really competitive team. They have a ton
Speaker 2: of skill. Troy Ryan is a very very good coach.
Speaker 2: That's a well coached, well put together team. Ottawa is
Speaker 2: one of the interesting ones because I've heard I was
Speaker 2: in Wisconsin doing a big story on the Badgers before
Speaker 2: they won their national championship, and I hadn't really known
Speaker 2: this until I went, but Mark Johnson, the legendary head
Speaker 2: coach the Badgers, has been this mentor for Carla McLeod,
Speaker 2: who's the head coach in Ottawa. So now I'm totally
Speaker 2: seeing and understanding like the style and why they play
Speaker 2: the way they do because Mark Johnson's whole thing is
Speaker 2: like we recruit elite players, go be elite players. He'll
Speaker 2: give them like some roadblocks or ways to play, and
Speaker 2: then they just go and decide what they want to
Speaker 2: do in the moment. And you definitely see that coming
Speaker 2: through with Ottawa. They are definitely more of like a
Speaker 2: free flowing, puck possession team, but Carla also has them
Speaker 2: playing like very very physical, hard brand of hockey. One
Speaker 2: of their players was in the first ever fight in
Speaker 2: the PWHL. She also, like you know, she's one of
Speaker 2: the top scorers in the league and also one of
Speaker 2: the top penalty minutes leaders in the league. So Ottawa's
Speaker 2: definitely has like a very strong identity and brand. I
Speaker 2: also think Ottawa has like almost like the Ottawa Senators
Speaker 2: in the NHL.
Speaker 3: They almost have a bit of the like Little Sister Sin.
Speaker 2: Not to say that like they necessarily feel that way,
Speaker 2: but like they don't get a ton of national TV games.
Speaker 2: They are the third best Canadian team in a six
Speaker 2: team league Montreal as Poulin. The De Scepters are like
Speaker 2: Canada's team. You know, Darryl Watts, their star player, left
Speaker 2: to go sign in Toronto. And so even though Ottawa
Speaker 2: had the best average attendance last season. The Charger almost
Speaker 2: like this quote unquote forgotten team that has really strong
Speaker 2: fan base. So that's one thing Ottawa's very interesting to me.
Speaker 2: And then I would say this New York Sirens are
Speaker 2: just kind of like chaotic. I had mentioned that before.
Speaker 2: They have Sarah Phillier, they have Alex Carpenter, Abby Rocks
Speaker 2: on that team.
Speaker 3: She just scored the first Michigan goal, and yet they're six.
Speaker 3: So there's just like a lot of like chaos to me.
Speaker 1: Okay, we like it. We like to have some of
Speaker 1: these like stories to tell ourselves about the teams as
Speaker 1: we're watching. It helps us kind of frame things. And
Speaker 1: then that can always change. But let's talk about mantra.
Speaker 1: You mentioned with Marie filiep Puhlan leading the way at
Speaker 1: the top of the standings for most of the season,
Speaker 1: what needs to happen or what needs to stay the
Speaker 1: same for them to stay on top and win it all.
Speaker 2: So I've actually started having more concerns about Montreal in
Speaker 2: the last couple weeks than I have all season. They've
Speaker 2: seen their lead in the league standings get a little
Speaker 2: bit smaller as Toronto's playing really well. They're doing their
Speaker 2: annual rise up the standings. They start very poor and
Speaker 2: then they end up being unbelievable when it matters most
Speaker 2: except in the first round last year they ended up
Speaker 2: losing to Minnesota, but in the regular season they end
Speaker 2: up doing really well towards the end.
Speaker 3: In Boston's been one of the hottest teams in the league.
Speaker 2: Montreal, what I liked about them early in the season
Speaker 2: is they had a.
Speaker 3: Lot of depth.
Speaker 2: Some of their new additions were scoring and adding offense
Speaker 2: from the middle of the lineup, and now they're starting
Speaker 2: to turn into the Mary Philip Puhlen and Renee Debien
Speaker 2: show again, which is fine.
Speaker 3: That's great. You have the best player in the world
Speaker 3: playing some of.
Speaker 2: Her best hockey still as I think she's thirty four
Speaker 2: years old, forgive me if I for at the age
Speaker 2: correctly there.
Speaker 3: And then ann Rene de Bien, you have one of the.
Speaker 2: Best goalies in the world who did get hurt two
Speaker 2: weeks ago, which leaves a question mark there for their lineup.
Speaker 2: But their offense has started to stagnate a little bit.
Speaker 2: If it's not Pulen or Laura Stacey or Jen Gardner
Speaker 2: who's been there kind of frequent top line scoring there
Speaker 2: hasn't been that much consistency there.
Speaker 3: So I've actually started to get a little bit worried.
Speaker 2: About Montreal because we know that when the depth offense
Speaker 2: dries up in Montreal, things don't go super well. They
Speaker 2: ended up losing in the first round of Boston last
Speaker 2: year because Poulin and Stacy Snake bitten. There's Snake Bitton,
Speaker 2: who's scoring nobody. They lost in the first round.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Minnesota Frost that you mentioned. They
Speaker 1: struggled during the regular season last year. They finished fourth
Speaker 1: out of six teams, only to turn it on for
Speaker 1: the postseason ended up going on to win the inaugural
Speaker 1: Walter Cup. Is the biggest challenge to Montreal the team
Speaker 1: in second, the Toronto Scepters, or potentially another team that's
Speaker 1: sort of lurking further down the table Frost style.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting because I I wonder if the Minnesota
Speaker 2: Frost are going through what they did last year.
Speaker 3: They started really hot.
Speaker 2: It took until like six, the sixth game of the
Speaker 2: season for them to lose in regulation, and it's been
Speaker 2: quite up and down in the middle of the season
Speaker 2: for them.
Speaker 3: This year, they were just on a very long road trip.
Speaker 2: So I do wonder if now they're going to be
Speaker 2: home at the Xcel Energy Center, are they going to
Speaker 2: start piling wins together and get into the two three spot.
Speaker 3: Again, Ottawa is.
Speaker 2: Only two points back of them, so maybe that like
Speaker 2: pesky team that people love to forget about, it's going
Speaker 2: to make a run and kick the reigning champions out
Speaker 2: of the postseason. They have a game against New York
Speaker 2: on Tuesday night tonight, so we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 2: Will Ottawa get into a playoff spot, will New York
Speaker 2: get eliminated from the postseason. There's gonna be a lot
Speaker 2: going on this week. I think two of the teams
Speaker 2: that I am watching other than Montreal is Toronto. They
Speaker 2: are surging up the standings. They are healthy for the
Speaker 2: first time this season. Their number one goalie, Christin Campbell,
Speaker 2: is starting to get her game back.
Speaker 3: She was the Goalie of the Year last year, had
Speaker 3: a terrible start to the season. Like I'm not going
Speaker 3: to sugarcoat it. It was not great.
Speaker 2: But Natalie Spooner, the MVP of last year's back. She's healthy.
Speaker 2: She's starting to get her feet under her. Sarah Nurse,
Speaker 2: who was on LTR like right when Spooner came back.
Speaker 2: Is awful timing. They get Spooner back and Nurse goes
Speaker 2: on LTR.
Speaker 1: She's back LTIR long term injury reserve.
Speaker 3: Yes, I apologize, yes, long term injured reserve.
Speaker 2: So Sarah Nurse is back, Spooner's getting her feet under
Speaker 2: her scepters are healthy. Kristen Campbell looks like the goalie
Speaker 2: of the year again, so they're a little bit scary.
Speaker 2: But the Boston Fleet, as I mentioned, are the hottest
Speaker 2: team in the league to me right now. Hillary Knight
Speaker 2: is Hillary Knight again. They have arguably the best goalie
Speaker 2: in the league. I think Anne Renee Debien statistically speaking,
Speaker 2: takes that number one spot. Her numbers are unbelievable. But
Speaker 2: Aaron Frankel is like the MVP for the Boston Fleet,
Speaker 2: and she was like the reason they got into the
Speaker 2: postseason into the finals last year. Boston and Toronto. I'm
Speaker 2: tracking more than Minnesota right now, and that surprises me, Sarah,
Speaker 2: because I thought Minnesota came into the season.
Speaker 3: As the favorites to.
Speaker 2: Win it again because they won it last year and
Speaker 2: they got even better adding a player like Britta Curl.
Speaker 3: She's offensive, she's a good two way player.
Speaker 2: They get Claire Thompson, the Olympic record holder for points
Speaker 2: by a defender in a single tournament.
Speaker 3: They got better.
Speaker 2: So that's why what's happening in Minnesota is like a
Speaker 2: little interesting, because I thought they'd be better.
Speaker 3: Than they have been in recent weeks. But like I said,
Speaker 3: maybe that's just because they've been on the road and tired, and.
Speaker 1: It sounds wide open. You're like, who could who challenge Montreal?
Speaker 1: Pretty much almost.
Speaker 3: Everyone, everyone except for New York except for New York.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's fly through some of these. The beginning of
Speaker 1: the month, there was sort of the final third of
Speaker 1: the season, just starting when you did some award predictions,
Speaker 1: including your picks for the Billy ge and King MVP Award.
Speaker 1: At the time you had Marie Feleep pull out of
Speaker 1: the Victoire Kenda, Cooin Schofield of the Frost, and Alex
Speaker 1: Carpenter of the New York Sirens. Are those players still
Speaker 1: leading the way her as someone emerged to take over
Speaker 1: that one of those top three spots.
Speaker 2: I'll still stick with Poolan for the winner, just because
Speaker 2: as she goes, Montreal goes, and I don't know if
Speaker 2: you can find anyone else who's like that in the league,
Speaker 2: maybe other than Frankel in Boston, So I would actually
Speaker 2: I would probably One of the reasons I kept Carpenter
Speaker 2: as a finalist was how New York started playing poorly
Speaker 2: without her, but like they've still been playing poorly, so no,
Speaker 2: but maybe they're still not playing great unfortunately, So I
Speaker 2: would probably give.
Speaker 3: Carpenter the boot.
Speaker 2: One of the Toronto players that I said was an
Speaker 2: honorable mention I believe was Daryl Watts and Hannah Miller
Speaker 2: were not of Fast, Like there's some Toronto options that
Speaker 2: should be in and around that.
Speaker 3: Hannah Miller and.
Speaker 2: Daryl Watts, they're two of the players that made Team
Speaker 2: Canada for Worlds. For the first time they've been a
Speaker 2: dynamic duo together.
Speaker 3: I didn't have.
Speaker 2: Miller as a finalist last time because she has a
Speaker 2: ton of power play products, but Hower play counts too,
Speaker 2: So I would probably put one of Miller or Watts
Speaker 2: in that conversation, maybe even run out of Fast. She's
Speaker 2: one of the best defenders in the world and I
Speaker 2: think I had her for a Defender of the Year. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I would stick with that, but she would probably get
Speaker 2: some MVP looks too, because I think if she was missing,
Speaker 2: I don't know how good Toronto would be.
Speaker 1: Should I be surprised? I have to see Hillary Knight
Speaker 1: on that list you just mentioned. She's back doing Hillary
Speaker 1: Night things, leading the league in points and she had
Speaker 1: her first PWHL hat trick on March fifth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she should be in that conversation now, for sure.
Speaker 2: I think she started like she was already playing better
Speaker 2: when I did that story, But I still felt that
Speaker 2: Aaron Frankel was like the person for the Fleet. But
Speaker 2: now when you look at how many one goal games
Speaker 2: Boston's been in and one and their GM told me
Speaker 2: this when I wrote a story about Hillary, It's just
Speaker 2: like when you have somebody like Hillary Knight scoring the
Speaker 2: way she is, that is the difference maker on so
Speaker 2: many different nights for the Boston Fleet. I think she
Speaker 2: would absolutely be a finalist.
Speaker 3: For either MVP or Forward of the Year.
Speaker 2: The way that she's playing right now, she's been It's
Speaker 2: been nice to see her playing right right anyway.
Speaker 1: I mean, for sure, we know last year that she
Speaker 1: was injured. She wasn't specific, she said it was a
Speaker 1: foot thing, but she played through it, you know, understandably
Speaker 1: didn't want to miss the inaugural season of the p WHL.
Speaker 1: She's been one of the biggest names and greatest players
Speaker 1: in hockey for such a long time. It felt right
Speaker 1: to have her out there, even though she didn't look
Speaker 1: quite right. She had six goals at eleven points all
Speaker 1: of last season. She's already at thirteen goals and twenty
Speaker 1: six points this season with another month plus to go.
Speaker 1: How different does she look? And does she look like
Speaker 1: peek Hillary? Like we shouldn't even worry about her aging
Speaker 1: because she's She's who she was before the injury, I.
Speaker 2: Would say, and she even said this to me, like
Speaker 2: she has not hit her peak on what she can
Speaker 2: do as a pro hockey player yet. And that should
Speaker 2: be so scary for anyone outside of Boston, because this
Speaker 2: is Hillary Night coming in after not being on the
Speaker 2: ice until August. This is Hillary Knight with a short
Speaker 2: off season, like she's healthy, but she didn't really train
Speaker 2: all summer, and that should be scary for you know,
Speaker 2: any other team. That should be scary for Canada with
Speaker 2: the Olympics coming up, Like, if Hillary Knight.
Speaker 3: Stays healthy, she has a full off.
Speaker 2: Season now, then we're going to see her in the
Speaker 2: PWHL and the twenty twenty six Olympics at pure one
Speaker 2: hundred percent, right, I think it's been As a Canadian, I'm.
Speaker 3: A little frightened.
Speaker 2: We do have Mary Fopoolan, I'm all right, but Hillary
Speaker 2: Knight and the biggest moments, like she's scary, especially when
Speaker 2: she's one hundred percent, and I think it's been great
Speaker 2: to see her. She's getting into her spots, she's skating
Speaker 2: better this year, she's getting open. She has linemates who
Speaker 2: can get her the puck in the slot, and we're
Speaker 2: seeing that like quick release and the different ways she
Speaker 2: can score. She's scoring on the rush, from the dots
Speaker 2: on the doorstep. You know, she's always had this natural
Speaker 2: ability to score goals, but she's always worked.
Speaker 3: At that too.
Speaker 2: I think that's one thing that doesn't that always comes
Speaker 2: up when I talk to people about Poolan and Night
Speaker 2: is however much you think they work at their craft,
Speaker 2: it's more yea. And it sounds like a cliche when
Speaker 2: you hear like, oh, they're always doing.
Speaker 3: That extra rep.
Speaker 2: They are, and it's not really a cliche when it
Speaker 2: comes to them, because they're doing the work and that's
Speaker 2: how they're in their mid thirties and still they're number
Speaker 2: one and two in goals in the PWHL right now.
Speaker 1: Amazing and it mays been so great to see you
Speaker 1: mentioned Canada USA the Olympics. But before that, we're going
Speaker 1: to get the World Championships, and I want to talk
Speaker 1: about that in a minute, but first let's talk the
Speaker 1: aforementioned US Canada relations that that we touched on at
Speaker 1: the top of the show. Given the current political climate,
Speaker 1: and we are sorry, by the way, do you have
Speaker 1: a sense of whether the PWHL expects that the current
Speaker 1: US administration will impact how it can do business, whether
Speaker 1: that's in terms of expansion, whether that's in terms of
Speaker 1: players who are playing in the US from Canada on
Speaker 1: some sort of work visa, being concerned about going back
Speaker 1: and forth.
Speaker 2: I've asked the league about this, and they're kind of
Speaker 2: in the same boat as everyone else, which is like
Speaker 2: we're all kind of just reading and watching and trying
Speaker 2: to see what's going to happen next and what's going on.
Speaker 2: They didn't have any kind of official comment at the
Speaker 2: time that I asked, which was during Four Nations when
Speaker 2: all that, you know, was really at its peak. The
Speaker 2: Four Nations face off, I mean for the men's the
Speaker 2: kind of NHL tournament. So I haven't gotten anything like
Speaker 2: official from the league. In terms of expansion, I always
Speaker 2: kind of assumed that they were going to go to
Speaker 2: two US markets just because the US dollar, and you know,
Speaker 2: because Stan Casten had said to me on the record
Speaker 2: when I did a story looking ahead to year two,
Speaker 2: until we get like a proper TV deal, we're not
Speaker 2: going to really hit our next stride. And I think
Speaker 2: when we talk about a big TV deal, we're usually
Speaker 2: talking about a US TV deal. So how do you
Speaker 2: get on ESPN, T and t NBC whatever That looks
Speaker 2: like it's with big market team. So I did always
Speaker 2: kind of assume that expansion was going to be two
Speaker 2: US teams. We don't totally know where that's going to
Speaker 2: be yet, but that's been where I've been trending. I
Speaker 2: don't know if the political landscape has changed that it's
Speaker 2: more just the dollar in TV markets, But in terms
Speaker 2: of visas and such, I haven't heard anything from league
Speaker 2: officials right now, but I do know that this is
Speaker 2: something that the league has been tracking just like everyone else,
Speaker 2: just like.
Speaker 1: The rest of us, just watching everything. Burn I mentioned
Speaker 1: the World Championships IHF Women's World Championships early April. Team
Speaker 1: USA Team Canada rosters both recently announced. You wrote about
Speaker 1: both of them. Expectation of late is for Canada to win.
Speaker 1: They've won four of the last five major international tournaments,
Speaker 1: including the Olympic Gold in twenty twenty two. Three state
Speaker 1: rivalry series, but Team USA is always their biggest challenge.
Speaker 1: They won this World Championships in twenty twenty three, and
Speaker 1: dating back to nineteen ninety, every single World Championship final
Speaker 1: but one has been Canada versus the US. This is
Speaker 1: a true long standing rivalry. What is Canada's biggest area
Speaker 1: of weakness?
Speaker 2: Oh, right now, I would be concerned about their goaltending
Speaker 2: Emerald smash Meyer, their typical number two goalie is on
Speaker 2: long term injured reserve for the Ottawa Charge, so she's
Speaker 2: not on this roster. And Renee de Bien, as I mentioned,
Speaker 2: did leave a game hurt and there hasn't really been
Speaker 2: any update, and all I've kind of heard is like
Speaker 2: she should be Like the fact that she's on the
Speaker 2: roster tells me that she should be okay for World Championships.
Speaker 3: But if de Bien is not okay, for Worlds.
Speaker 2: That's when I start to get concerned because then we're
Speaker 2: looking at Kristen Campbell, who's typically the number three. She
Speaker 2: has gotten her game back, but she's not really well
Speaker 2: tested in a you know, gold medal game for Team Canada,
Speaker 2: that's always been Debien. She's only ever lost one championship
Speaker 2: game against the Americans as Canada's number one goalie.
Speaker 3: So if de Bien's not healthy, that is my.
Speaker 2: Biggest fear, because then Canada also is bringing, you know,
Speaker 2: a young twenty one year old Eve Gascon, who is
Speaker 2: like potential goalie of the future. You bring her in,
Speaker 2: maybe give her a game against a weaker opponent, or
Speaker 2: just kind of insulate her and show her the rope
Speaker 2: so that when she becomes the new number one, she's
Speaker 2: been there behind Deben.
Speaker 3: Et cetera.
Speaker 2: But like that goalie picture scares me a little bit
Speaker 2: if Anne Renee Debien is hurt, because she's typically been
Speaker 2: the one who takes down the Americans.
Speaker 1: If the US are going to come out on top,
Speaker 1: what do they have to do well?
Speaker 2: Ooh, they need to find some like consistency against Canada.
Speaker 2: I've found one of the big things about Team USA
Speaker 2: is like everyone looks at their roster and quite frankly,
Speaker 2: it is more exciting than Canada's. Canada's roster is usually
Speaker 2: pretty much the same. You've got Poolin at the top.
Speaker 2: You have the great third line with Blair Turnbull, Emily
Speaker 2: Clark and Laura Stacey. They're good at four checking. You
Speaker 2: have a grinded out fourth line. Your dpairs are tough
Speaker 2: like Canada plays, you know, NHL Championship like grind.
Speaker 3: It out good to a hockey.
Speaker 2: Whereas the Americans have all these young stars. You have
Speaker 2: Kirsten Simms, who was the complete stud at the championship
Speaker 2: game right.
Speaker 1: And college championships yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for the University of Wisconsin, you have Leyla Edwards,
Speaker 2: Caroline Harvey, Lacey d and Abby Murphy.
Speaker 3: Like all these young stars from.
Speaker 2: The NCAA who are so fun and exciting to watch
Speaker 2: as individual players, but sometimes so Sometimes they can come
Speaker 2: out and beat Team Canada and they dance around them.
Speaker 2: They look way faster, way more fun, but like when
Speaker 2: it matters, they haven't been able to get it done.
Speaker 1: A machine ends up winning in the end without the
Speaker 1: holes in it versus the splashy but a little bit
Speaker 1: more erratic or less consistent. It's going to be fun
Speaker 1: as always. That is always an incredible rivalry and we
Speaker 1: look forward to that in early April. Do you think
Speaker 1: the mood changes at all at PWTL practice or games
Speaker 1: as the championships approach? Obviously we've talked to players about
Speaker 1: how it's harder to hate their hated rivals when they
Speaker 1: have teammates from that team now in the PWHL it
Speaker 1: used to be so insulated, but now they're around them
Speaker 1: all the time. Is there any chance it gets a
Speaker 1: little bit tenser or people are tighter with what they
Speaker 1: share as we near the championships.
Speaker 2: I feel like the players are good at almost just
Speaker 2: compartmentalizing it, like until you pack your bags and go
Speaker 2: and then you you're in the USA or Canada locker room.
Speaker 2: Then it's like I don't mess with you anymore.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, now you're wearing the wrong shirt. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: now you're the flip.
Speaker 2: They're good at flipping the switch for sure. But then
Speaker 2: when they go back, like I think the Olympics will
Speaker 2: be different because I've talked to players before, because the
Speaker 2: rivalry used to just be like there was so much
Speaker 2: hatred they wouldn't even go in the elevator together because
Speaker 2: they didn't know each other, right, But I almost wonder
Speaker 2: if the way the rivalries changed is harder because in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, you're gonna come back from the Olympics
Speaker 2: and you're gonna like sit in the locker room next
Speaker 2: to somebody.
Speaker 3: Who just like achieved their dream and you didn't.
Speaker 2: Like that is going to be where not that World
Speaker 2: championships don't matter, because they do, but post Olympics is
Speaker 2: going to be where I start to look at the teams.
Speaker 2: You have a lot of Canada and US players and
Speaker 2: be like, what's going to happen here?
Speaker 3: That's going to be challenging.
Speaker 1: The old elevator analogy feels like a good one for life.
Speaker 1: Let's just put a whole bunch of people that are
Speaker 1: really things up right now in an elevator and tell
Speaker 1: them to get to know each other so we can
Speaker 1: stop having these terrible, terrible interactions between our country and
Speaker 1: the rest of the world. Okay, last question for you.
Speaker 1: We just had Nicole Hosey on last week College Hockey Writer,
Speaker 1: and she talked about the lack of centralization for the Olympics,
Speaker 1: potentially to like some national players that are still in
Speaker 1: college maybe declaring early. So do you think there is
Speaker 1: a likely number one pick for the PWHL draft, And
Speaker 1: do you think that any players with eligibility left might
Speaker 1: make a decision that will shake up who the number
Speaker 1: one pick is.
Speaker 2: I actually wonder if players will stay in college because
Speaker 2: there won't be centralization just because they'll be in their
Speaker 2: training facility earlier. Like, we don't know when the PWHL
Speaker 2: season is going to start yet, but if you don't
Speaker 2: get to market and start playing games until November, you're
Speaker 2: already on college campus in August, right, So I almost
Speaker 2: wonder if you're going to see the Lacey Edens and
Speaker 2: Abby Murphy say like, well, I would rather just be
Speaker 2: at Wisconsin or Minnesota for those several months before games.
Speaker 3: That's going to be interesting to see. I think if Abby.
Speaker 2: Murphy declares, she will be the first overall pick, unless
Speaker 2: it's like a Canadian team with a bunch of Canadians
Speaker 2: who are like, I hate her guts, Please don't because
Speaker 2: Abby is the only player right now who brings that
Speaker 2: old school hatred back. Players do not like playing against her.
Speaker 2: Canadians hate her. But I do think a lot of
Speaker 2: coaches and GMS would love to have her. So if
Speaker 2: she declares, I think Murphy would go first. I almost
Speaker 2: wonder if Abby Murphy's just waiting to see who gets
Speaker 2: the first overall pick before she declares, because if she
Speaker 2: doesn't like the location, she's like, I'm going to go
Speaker 2: back to Minnesota. Yeah, that's just me assuming how Murphy's
Speaker 2: going to handle this. If it's not Murphy, it's going
Speaker 2: to be Casey O'Brien, the Patty Cosmier winner. That is
Speaker 2: the player of the year for women's hockey. She had
Speaker 2: a historic season for the Wisconsin bad Way all around center.
Speaker 2: She could be a one see for a team who
Speaker 2: doesn't have one, or an elite kind of two ced
Speaker 2: tandem to have a really great top six. She can
Speaker 2: score goals, great playmaker.
Speaker 3: If Lacey Eden she's on.
Speaker 2: The Badgers as well, if she declares, I don't think
Speaker 2: she would go first overall. But that is a player
Speaker 2: who will be an excellent pro. She's someone who probably
Speaker 2: flies under the radar for Wisconsin because we're always talking
Speaker 2: about Casey O'Brien, Caroline Harvey, Leila Edwards, Kirsten Simms. Those
Speaker 2: are the top of the lineup stars. But Lacey Eden
Speaker 2: is she power She can PK, she can powerplay, she
Speaker 2: can score. Really great two way player who's going to
Speaker 2: translate really well to a more physical pro game.
Speaker 3: She's someone to watch.
Speaker 2: She would be a great later first round pick if
Speaker 2: she declares. But I think if it's not Abby Murphy,
Speaker 2: it's Casey O'Brien. Unless someone really wants to defend her,
Speaker 2: then maybe Haley Win. She led Clarkson in scoring last year.
Speaker 2: But I don't think you should overthink it. Just take
Speaker 2: Casey O'Brien all.
Speaker 1: Right, to decode for those who weren't keeping up. Their
Speaker 1: one seed would be a top line center, so the
Speaker 1: center that plays with your best line, and then a
Speaker 1: two se would be the center for your second line.
Speaker 1: And if it's really great, possibly one seed that's actually
Speaker 1: playing in the second line. Then that just really strengthens
Speaker 1: that second line of players that you're sending out. Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to have you back because you could
Speaker 1: tell us all the things and more things about hockey
Speaker 1: that we don't know yet. But this was so great
Speaker 1: and a really great refresher for us as we're getting
Speaker 1: into the final month or so of the PWHL season.
Speaker 1: So thanks so much. For the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, sorry for I ramble, but thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: I loved it.
Speaker 1: We love a good ramble about hockey. We have to
Speaker 1: take another break when we return. The Yukon Huskies women's
Speaker 1: basketball team makes a move that we could all learn
Speaker 1: a little something from. Welcome back slices. It's time for
Speaker 1: second Chances Week. One of the women's college basketball tournament
Speaker 1: is in the books. How's your bracket looking. Here's some
Speaker 1: good news. DraftKings is giving everyone a second chance to
Speaker 1: win some cash, because sometimes even when things look really
Speaker 1: totally busted, there's still a glimmer of hope. And you
Speaker 1: know who really needs a glimmer of hope. Not to
Speaker 1: mention a second chance Me because my bracket is busted, Nah,
Speaker 1: because my picks suck. Not exactly see what happened was
Speaker 1: my mom asked me for help filling out her women's
Speaker 1: bracket for work, and I told her that I hadn't
Speaker 1: done mine yet, but I know quickly speed through and
Speaker 1: send her screen grabs of my picks for the Elite
Speaker 1: eight on, reserving the right to update and change my
Speaker 1: picks before I lock my bracket in, and then, in
Speaker 1: a flurry of activity around interviews, show recordings, just like life.
Speaker 1: I forgot my brain, just like registered, having done it
Speaker 1: after I sent the picks to my mom. So every
Speaker 1: time I sat on the show, don't forget to get
Speaker 1: your bracket in. It went in one ear and out
Speaker 1: the other. Didn't register at all. You you dummy, Sarah,
Speaker 1: get your picks in. So yeah, I'm not even in
Speaker 1: my own bracket challenge, so don't go looking for me
Speaker 1: in the leaderboard slices. I blew it. But the good
Speaker 1: news is DraftKings is giving everyone a much needed second chance,
Speaker 1: or in my case, kind of a first chance to
Speaker 1: remedy things. And after seeing how some of the top
Speaker 1: teams have played so far and with the Juju injury,
Speaker 1: I see the tournament looking a little different going forward.
Speaker 1: So let's look at just a couple matchups. In the
Speaker 1: next round. Number two Yukon honestly been demolishing everything in
Speaker 1: their path. They take on number three Oklahoma, and they
Speaker 1: should cruise in that one in my opinion. Number one Ucla,
Speaker 1: the story is the same as heading into the tournament
Speaker 1: For me, who can handle Lauren Betts? And I don't
Speaker 1: see an answer to that question. In number five Ole Miss,
Speaker 1: Number four Maryland definitely gonna have a little buzz coming
Speaker 1: off a double overtime thriller against Alabama. But I thought
Speaker 1: they already looked tired in that game, and I think
Speaker 1: they could struggle to sustain effort across four quarters against
Speaker 1: a tough number one in South Carolina squad that's been
Speaker 1: beaten up on the opposition. So I'm taking South Carolina.
Speaker 1: I think number two TCU will give number three Notre
Speaker 1: Dame a run for its money. And while the late
Speaker 1: season losses from the Irish have scared me, I just
Speaker 1: I don't see the combo of Hanna Hidalgo and Olivia
Speaker 1: Miles coming up short. So I've got Notre Dame in
Speaker 1: a tight one on that one. Agree with me? See
Speaker 1: it going differently? Head on over to DraftKings dot com
Speaker 1: slash second Chance and fill out your second Chance bracket
Speaker 1: for free. That's DraftKings dot Com slash second Chance. For
Speaker 1: every entry into the second Chance bracket, DraftKings will donate
Speaker 1: a dollar to the Women's Sports Foundation up to twenty
Speaker 1: five thousand dollars. DraftKings dot com slash second Chance only
Speaker 1: on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Okay, Moving on, and
Speaker 1: I gotta say you, folks, you are hilarious. We asked
Speaker 1: you to give us alternatives to the common phrase balls
Speaker 1: to the wall, and I had a lot of faith
Speaker 1: in tits that the turf as being untoppable, but Slices
Speaker 1: you topped it. You did not disappoint so quick remind
Speaker 1: so I suggested in a previous show that balls to
Speaker 1: the wall might be a phrase reserve for men. And
Speaker 1: though we have since been informed that it's actually about
Speaker 1: an over text engine something about balls hitting the walls
Speaker 1: of a cylinder, we still wanted to hear your female
Speaker 1: and non binary versions of the phrase. And they're just
Speaker 1: they're so good. So Slice Pamela started us off strong,
Speaker 1: emailing gotta be either mound to the ground or foof
Speaker 1: to the roof. Slaice Alyssa chimed in as well with
Speaker 1: Although often associated with men, taint is a colloquial term
Speaker 1: for the perineum, which is the area of skin and
Speaker 1: muscle between the vulva and the anus. So taint to
Speaker 1: the paint and for good measure, hood to the wood.
Speaker 1: Slice Chris said, nips to the nets. And it's inclusive,
Speaker 1: as most of us start with nips. I think most
Speaker 1: of us finish with nips too, but I'm not going
Speaker 1: to get into anyone's personal business. Uh. Slice Andrea said
Speaker 1: this was a great get in the gay. I was
Speaker 1: having so much fun with tits the turf, I decided
Speaker 1: to involve my team for a fun brainstorm. As expected,
Speaker 1: they did not disappoint the results. Kouci to the court,
Speaker 1: Pussy to the pitch. We also asked ai and the
Speaker 1: only one we liked was Fallopian full throttle. First all, Andrea,
Speaker 1: I don't know where you work, but I want to
Speaker 1: work there. If your fun team brainstorm at work is
Speaker 1: helping us with this challenge, then there was sliced Dana. Dana,
Speaker 1: you really took the cake with your list. Listen, I
Speaker 1: gotta read this list in reverse order because it gets
Speaker 1: progressively wilder and less PG if I do it in reverse.
Speaker 1: So Queens to the greens, heels behind the wheels, dirt
Speaker 1: in the skirt, all grit with skirt slits, pigtails on
Speaker 1: the trails, ponytails to the rails, Cat to the mat,
Speaker 1: pussy to the pavement, skirts to the courts, Labia to
Speaker 1: the laminate, and Vulva to the velodrome.
Speaker 3: I can't.
Speaker 1: I can't with vulve to the velodrome. Honestly, we should
Speaker 1: put you in the Good Game Hall of Fame for
Speaker 1: these responses. Dana just absolutely chef's kiss. In fact, your
Speaker 1: list reminded me of one of my all time favorite
Speaker 1: SNL characters, Kate McKinnon's recurring character in the Alien Abduction sketches.
Speaker 1: And she's always like landing out of the spaceship ass
Speaker 1: up and has all sorts of different names for her undercarriage.
Speaker 1: And I googled the list to find some of them,
Speaker 1: and I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to share them.
Speaker 1: My Harry and my Scary Coot and Maprune Shoot Cooter
Speaker 1: and my Tutor Pleaser and my Cheeser please hold on
Speaker 1: my cheese hole Squeeze Master and my cheese Blaster Front
Speaker 1: and my grunt Beard and my weird Smile and my
Speaker 1: vile Stuffer and my puffer please hump It and my
Speaker 1: cheese trumpet fun Bun and my mud gun Lucky I'm
Speaker 1: a Yuckie East and my Beastie Jackpot and my black
Speaker 1: Spot Lady Pocket and my gravy Rocket Pink Pocket and
Speaker 1: my stink Rocket Hog Socket and my log rocket hog
Speaker 1: Taker and my log maker and my grassy Knoll and
Speaker 1: my gassy hole. I hope you guys were driving with
Speaker 1: your kids for that. It's too good. I'm sorry, it's
Speaker 1: too Kate mcannon, by the way, please come on the show.
Speaker 1: We all love you so much. Be our best friend. Please.
Speaker 1: And speaking of best friends, did you guys see that
Speaker 1: Amy Polar has a new podcast called Good Hang Hello.
Speaker 1: The universe is practically begging for a crossover episode Good
Speaker 1: hang In, Good Game, make it happen. People, And by people,
Speaker 1: I guess I mean, do any of you know Amy
Speaker 1: Pohlar in a sup Okay, okay, I digress. Thank you
Speaker 1: to everyone who sent a submission for that. Now we
Speaker 1: got our own little dictionary or at the Sourus or
Speaker 1: whatever of excellent options to choose from. I think I'm
Speaker 1: starting with Volva to the Velodrome. We always love that
Speaker 1: you're listening, but we love it more when you get
Speaker 1: in the game. So here's our good game play of
Speaker 1: the day. Follow Hayley on social media. We're going to
Speaker 1: link to her profiles in the show notes. Read all
Speaker 1: of her work. It's great stuff, and make sure you
Speaker 1: tune into the PWHL. The regular season's inching closer to
Speaker 1: its conclusion, so if you haven't seen or attended a
Speaker 1: game yet, get on it. We'll link to the league's
Speaker 1: full schedule in our show notes, and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 1: Rate and review, y'all, It's really easy. Watch Page Becker's
Speaker 1: and Yukon's women's basketball team holding it down for Jana
Speaker 1: l Alfi during Ramadan, rating five out of five high fives,
Speaker 1: butt slaps and fist bumps. Review. Beckers, who has opened
Speaker 1: about her belief in God and the Bible verses that
Speaker 1: drive her, got up on Sunday before dawn to cook
Speaker 1: breakfast for fellow Husky and practicing Muslim Jana l Alfi,
Speaker 1: so that she could break her fast for folks who
Speaker 1: aren't familiar. During Ramadan, Muslims abstained from food and drink
Speaker 1: during the daylight. So per The Connecticut Insider, Becker's has
Speaker 1: been waking up for her roommate on most mornings for
Speaker 1: the last few weeks since Robadin started on February twenty eighth,
Speaker 1: and Husky teammates Caroline Ducharme and ali 'sabelle have also
Speaker 1: attended El Alfie's early morning breakfast throughout the sacred celebration.
Speaker 1: Sophomore kk Arnold has already signed up to be el
Speaker 1: Alfie's morning mealmate next season. El Alfie told The Insider, quote,
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm blessed and grateful to be surrounded
Speaker 1: with this group. It's a really, really special group. She continued, quote.
Speaker 1: I think I wouldn't have done it or made it
Speaker 1: this far if it wasn't for my teammates. End quote. Now, slices,
Speaker 1: you might have figured out by now that I'm not
Speaker 1: really a religious person, but this, right here, this is
Speaker 1: yet another reminder that no matter what we believe with
Speaker 1: regard to faith, we're all human. We can all support
Speaker 1: each other, respect each other, and look out for each other.
Speaker 1: It's acts of kindness and letting the world around you
Speaker 1: know that you care. I can really make waves in
Speaker 1: this world. So good on ya, Huskies. In order Kainak
Speaker 1: would be rate and review us. Yeah, you knew what
Speaker 1: I was going to say. Thanks for list, Danielle, see tomorrow, Haley,
Speaker 1: good game, yukon Women's soups h you yet again, over
Speaker 1: and over and forever. Acl tears. Good Game with Sarah
Speaker 1: Spain is an iHeart Women's Sports Production in partnership with
Speaker 1: Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie
Speaker 1: and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
Speaker 1: Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutter,
Speaker 1: Britney Martinez, and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy
Speaker 1: Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain