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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're bugging

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Speaker 1: Sue Bird's phone to see if she's putting the full

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Speaker 1: court press on Page Beckers to demand Dallas send her

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Speaker 1: rights to the Seattle Storm. It's Tuesday, January twenty eighth,

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Speaker 1: and on today's show, we'll be talking to CBC Hockey

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Speaker 1: reporter Carissa Duncan about the PWHL's second season, the teams,

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Speaker 1: the players, the traditions and those big rowdy crowds, plus

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Speaker 1: a new entry into the Good Game Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 1: Instant takeaways from Sunday's, a big WNBA trade and a

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Speaker 1: whole lot of shaking going on. It's all coming up

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Speaker 1: right after this Welcome Max slices. Here's what you need

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Speaker 1: to know today. So we briefly mentioned the blockbuster WNBA

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Speaker 1: trade in yesterday's show, but when it comes to the

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Speaker 1: deal's effect on the teams involved and the league as

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Speaker 1: a whole, there's a.

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Speaker 2: Whole lot more to get into.

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Speaker 1: ESPN's Kevin Pelton did a bang up job right and

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Speaker 1: about the trade, including getting into stuff like the nitty

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Speaker 1: gritty details of player usdrate, shot selection and how player

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Speaker 1: salaries will affect roster construction for the teams involved, So

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Speaker 1: you should definitely read his story. We'll link to it

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Speaker 1: in the show notes, but in the meantime, here's what

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Speaker 1: you need to know.

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Speaker 2: First.

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Speaker 1: Most importantly, the trade happened because Jewel Lloyd wanted out

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Speaker 1: of Seattle and reportedly Kelsey Plum wanted out of Las

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Speaker 1: Vegas too.

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Speaker 2: Now, the Aces end of the deal is the most

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Speaker 2: clear cut.

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Speaker 1: They basically replace Plum with Lloyd, not in apples to

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Speaker 1: Apple's trade, but close. Lloyd has played more playoff games

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Speaker 1: against Vegas than any other opponent and played well in them,

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Speaker 1: and she won Olympic gold with Aces players Chelsea Gray,

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Speaker 1: Asia Wilson, and Jackie Young last summer. Also, all four

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Speaker 1: of those players share the same agent, so the Aces

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Speaker 1: feel pretty good about being able to renegotiate with Lloyd

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Speaker 1: to stay in Vegas beyond the one year left on

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Speaker 1: her deal. Now, the Sparks at a superstar and Plum

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Speaker 1: to their subpar backcourt, accelerating their rebuild, but they do

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Speaker 1: give up the number two pick in the draft and

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Speaker 1: with it, the dream of getting Paigebeckers. Now, if you remember,

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Speaker 1: the Yukon Star is expected to be the top pick

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Speaker 1: in the WNBA Draft, but some think she'll threaten to

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Speaker 1: return for a sixth year of college eligibility rather than

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Speaker 1: play for the Dallas Wings, hoping to force Dallas to

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Speaker 1: deal the number one pick. So the dream of Page

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Speaker 1: is over for the Sparks. They no longer have that

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Speaker 1: number two pick to play with, but they do add

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Speaker 1: Plum to All Star Derek a Hamby, All Rookie team

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Speaker 1: member Rakia Jackson, and last year's number two pick Cameron Brink,

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Speaker 1: who will be back from an ACL injury now to

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Speaker 1: the Storm.

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Speaker 2: So they lose.

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Speaker 1: Lloyd and they don't get Plumb, who apparently preferred La

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Speaker 1: over a return to the Pacific Northwest where she started

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Speaker 1: in college.

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Speaker 2: She can't stand the rain could be either way.

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Speaker 1: The Storm instead gets center Lee Yuru and the number

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Speaker 1: two pick from La, and now the Beckers sweepstakes becomes

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Speaker 1: their concern. Storm have a great new practice facility, a

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Speaker 1: winning culture, former Yukon great Sue Bird in the ownership team,

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Speaker 1: and Becker's close friend and former teammate at Yukon, Nika

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Speaker 1: Mule on the roster, so they got a really good

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Speaker 1: case to convince Beckers to push to join Seattle, and

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Speaker 1: the Storm have five first round picks over the next

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Speaker 1: three years to offer the Wings, who, of course, would

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Speaker 1: rather get the second best player in the draft and

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Speaker 1: picks and assets than see Becker's rer to Yukon and

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Speaker 1: get only the second best player in the draft.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Christina Williams, the host of In Case You missed it

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Speaker 1: right here on the iHeart Women's Sports Network, is joining

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Speaker 1: us later this week to do a deep dive into

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Speaker 1: WNBA free agency, So we'll get more into this deal

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Speaker 1: and all the other.

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Speaker 2: Deals going on. You won't want to miss it too.

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Speaker 1: Unrivaled the League announced on Monday that Phantom Basketball Club

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Speaker 1: guard Natisha Hideman has been reassigned to the Laces, effective immediately. Heideman,

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Speaker 1: who's a free agent in the WNBA, is one of

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Speaker 1: two injury replacement players signed with Unrivaled, along with Melissa Smith.

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Speaker 1: Hidaman joined the Phantom after Marina Maybry was ruled out

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Speaker 1: for a few weeks with a calf injury. Heideman played

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Speaker 1: three games with the team before her move to the

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Speaker 1: Laces was announced. The Laces are currently without both Alissa

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Speaker 1: Thomas and Jackie Young. Young has yet to make her

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Speaker 1: unrival debut due to injury, while Thomas heard her nee

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Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter of last Friday's win over the

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Speaker 1: Vinyl More Pro Hoops News. Former longtime WNBA Washington Mystics

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Speaker 1: head coach and GM Mike Tebow is the new head

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Speaker 1: coach of the Belgium women's national basketball team. The moves

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Speaker 1: that's upper reunion between Tebow and international star Emma Mesiman.

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Speaker 1: She played seven seasons for him in DC from twenty

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Speaker 1: thirteen to twenty twenty, and the two helped the franchise

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Speaker 1: win its first WNBA championship in twenty nineteen. Mesaman earned

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Speaker 1: MVP honors. It's also going to reunite him with point

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Speaker 1: guard Julie van Lou, who played for the Mystics this

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Speaker 1: past season, which was Tibo's last ride as the team's GM.

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Speaker 1: He's the winningest coach in WNBA history and one Coach

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Speaker 1: of the Year in the.

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Speaker 2: League three times.

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Speaker 1: Tibo also won a gold medals and assisted with the

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Speaker 1: USA women's national team at the Paris Olympics last year.

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Speaker 2: The Belgian Cats.

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Speaker 1: Put the world on notice in last year's Olympic tournament,

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Speaker 1: putting together quite a run before losing to Australia in

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Speaker 1: the bronze medal game, and finishing fourth overall to the NWSL.

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Speaker 1: The Chicago Red Stars sorry the newly rebranded Chicago Color

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Speaker 1: not specified Stars announced on Tuesday that star player Mallory

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Speaker 1: Swanson will not be joining the club for the start

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Speaker 1: of training camp due to personal reasons. In a statement

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Speaker 1: sent out by the team, Swanson said, quote, I'd like

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Speaker 1: to thank the club and the fans for their understanding

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Speaker 1: during this time time. I appreciate the kindness and encouragement

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Speaker 1: from my teammates and all the Stars staff, and hope

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Speaker 1: to be back with the team and playing in front

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Speaker 1: of our fans as soon as I can.

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Speaker 2: End quote.

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Speaker 1: The team said it supports Swanson's decision and are excited

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Speaker 1: to welcome her back whenever she's ready. More NWSL news.

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Speaker 1: The Houston Dash have acquired forward Messiah Bright from Angel

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Speaker 1: City FC. In return, Angel City will receive up to

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Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in intra league transfer funds. Bright,

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Speaker 1: who joined the NWSL in twenty twenty three as a

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Speaker 1: member of the Orlando Pride, played in twenty one matches

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Speaker 1: for Angel City in twenty twenty four. To golf, the

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Speaker 1: LPGA has announced that the fur Hills Serie Pack Championship,

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Speaker 1: scheduled for March, has been dropped from the schedule after

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Speaker 1: the underwriter of the tournament failed to make payments. In

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Speaker 1: a statement, the LPGA said that canceling the event was

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Speaker 1: quote unavoidable due to the event underwriter failing to fulfill

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Speaker 1: any portion of its payment obligations to the LPGA Tour

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Speaker 1: for the twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 2: Events end quote.

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Speaker 1: The LPGA added its looking to reschedule the event later

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Speaker 1: this year. The twenty twenty five Tours, the LPGA's seventy

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Speaker 1: fifth anniversary season, starts this Thursday with the Hilton Grand

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Speaker 1: Vacations Tournament of Champions in Florida.

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Speaker 2: We got to take a quick break.

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Speaker 1: When we come back, we chat with Carissa Donkin about

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Speaker 1: the past, present and future of the PWHL joining us now.

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Speaker 1: She's an investigative reporter for CBC in Canada, also covering

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Speaker 1: women's hockey in the PWHL for CBC Sports and the

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Speaker 1: author of Breakaway, a book about women's hockey in the

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Speaker 1: PWHL set to release in the fall. She grew up

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Speaker 1: a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and she minored in criminology,

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Speaker 1: so crime pays the bills, but hockey provides the thrills.

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Speaker 2: It's Carissa Donkin.

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Speaker 3: What's up, Chrissa, Hey Sarah. That is a very cool intro.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for that. That was fun.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about that to start, because you

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Speaker 1: were exclusively doing investigative reporting out of college and then

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Speaker 1: you made a pivot during COVID to get yourself around hockey.

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Speaker 2: Can you tell us about that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I've I've kind of had my footnotel lot

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Speaker 3: of different baskets, honestly.

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Speaker 2: So your foot in baskets, yeah, you know.

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Speaker 3: What, that sounded better in my head. You know, I

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Speaker 3: don't usually wear baskets on my feet. Let's say I

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Speaker 3: got good my feet in a number of different shoes,

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Speaker 3: which I there we go. Yeah. So, like when I

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Speaker 3: came out of university, I started working at the Toronto

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Speaker 3: Star and I did basically everything you can imagine there.

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Speaker 3: I did crime as you can expect, I did a

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Speaker 3: little bit of sports. I was an arts reporter for

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Speaker 3: a little bit. I even did some some auto reporting,

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Speaker 3: which I can tell you is not my forte. That's

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Speaker 3: not where I was meant to be, you know. And

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Speaker 3: then I came back to New Brunswick, where I'm from,

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Speaker 3: and I started doing some city hall reporting. I covered

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Speaker 3: our provincial legislature, I did some crime reporting, and then

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Speaker 3: I got into investigative journalism and kind of never looked back.

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Speaker 3: So I'm part of a small but mighty investigative team

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Speaker 3: here in Atlantic Canada on the East Coast, and I've

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Speaker 3: been doing that since twenty sixteen. And then, as you

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Speaker 3: mentioned during COVID, you know, some of the stories, as

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Speaker 3: you can imagine that you do with the investigative unit,

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Speaker 3: they're quite heavy and it's difficult stuff, and I really

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Speaker 3: needed something to do to kind of take my mind

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Speaker 3: off of some of the tough stories, honestly that I

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Speaker 3: was doing. And so I sat there and I thought

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Speaker 3: about what I could do. And you know, I'm not

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Speaker 3: very good at home renovations, so that was out, and

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Speaker 3: I thought, what are my skills? Well, I like to write.

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Speaker 3: If I could write about anything in the world that's

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Speaker 3: not my job, what would I write about? And I

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Speaker 3: settled on women's hockey because I've always loved hockey. It

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Speaker 3: had never been my job, not even close to it,

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Speaker 3: but it's just something I loved. And I thought about

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Speaker 3: what could I create that isn't out there, and I

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Speaker 3: thought about what would I want to read, and that's

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Speaker 3: how I started working on my book. And then I

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Speaker 3: got in touch with the folks at CBC Sports. So

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Speaker 3: this was before the PWAHL even existed that I'm thinking

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Speaker 3: about writing a book about it, So you know, you could,

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Speaker 3: as you can imagine, it took a while to kind

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Speaker 3: of manifesting. Yeah, to get a publisher on board with that,

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Speaker 3: and thank goodness, my publisher believed in it, and the

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Speaker 3: same with CBC Sports. I got in touch with them

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Speaker 3: before the league actually started, and it turns out CBC

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Speaker 3: is one of the broadcasters of the league, so that

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Speaker 3: worked out and it's been a blast. I've been with

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Speaker 3: CBC Sports now since I started just before the draft

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Speaker 3: in twenty twenty three.

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Speaker 1: There was stuff to cover in women's hockey. Though the

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Speaker 1: PWHL is currently in its second season, but you really

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Speaker 1: were already looking into it when they were creating and

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Speaker 1: shaping the league. You were covering the Professional Women's Hockey

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Speaker 1: Players Association a few years ago. Can you take us

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Speaker 1: back to that time and that organizing group and give

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Speaker 1: us a sense of how women's hockey reached this moment,

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Speaker 1: right now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's really important to mention because there

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Speaker 3: has been a lot to get to where we are now.

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Speaker 3: I mean, this league didn't just sprout out of nowhere, right,

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Speaker 3: And not that people think that, but sometimes I think

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Speaker 3: people forget that there were all kinds of women who

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Speaker 3: played hockey before twenty twenty three. They just maybe didn't

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Speaker 3: do it in a league that was as big and

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Speaker 3: as well funded as the PWHL is. So if we

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Speaker 3: go all the way back to twenty nineteen, so there

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Speaker 3: was a league called the Canadian Women's Hockey League, and

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Speaker 3: that league had a lot of the best players in

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Speaker 3: the world. So Hillary Knight, who people would know, she

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Speaker 3: played for the Montreal team in that league, just as

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Speaker 3: an example. And then there was another league that was

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Speaker 3: called the National Women's Hockey League later rebranded to become

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Speaker 3: the Premier Hockey Federation, and a number of players played

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Speaker 3: in that league as well. A lot of the you know,

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Speaker 3: American national team players at the time were playing in

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Speaker 3: that league. So twenty nineteen, the CWHL folds and so

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Speaker 3: a lot of the best players, particularly in Canada, don't

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Speaker 3: have anywhere to play anymore. So Fink Maddie for the Pulz,

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Speaker 3: Sarah Nurse like, those players had nowhere to play, and

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Speaker 3: they also weren't being compensated for their labor in that league,

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Speaker 3: so they only started paying players a couple of seasons

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Speaker 3: before the league folded, and some players made as little

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Speaker 3: as two thousand dollars a season. So it was professional

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Speaker 3: on the ice, but it was you know, it was

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Speaker 3: professional really in name only. They didn't have professional facilities,

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Speaker 3: they didn't have professional coaches who were compensated the way

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Speaker 3: that they should have been. You know, none of that

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Speaker 3: stuff was in place in that league. And a number

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Speaker 3: of the players in the American team also had issues

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Speaker 3: with the professionalism of what became the PAHF and at

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Speaker 3: the time was the National Women's Hockey League. Lots of

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Speaker 3: acronyms in women's hockeys era. So essentially what happened is

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Speaker 3: the American players, you know, they had been dissatisfied with

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Speaker 3: with you know, the quality in the PHF or the

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Speaker 3: NWHL at the time. The Canadian players had nowhere to play.

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Speaker 3: And the important context here is that some of the

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Speaker 3: American players they had stood up a couple of years

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Speaker 3: earlier and they threatened to not go to the twenty

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Speaker 3: seventeen Women's World Championship on home soil because their federation,

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Speaker 3: they felt, wasn't treating them equally to men. So they

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Speaker 3: weren't getting you know, equal hotel accommodations, they were not

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Speaker 3: getting their championship rings the same way that the men did.

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Speaker 3: And so a number of women, Hillary Knight, Kendall, Quinn

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Speaker 3: Schofield among them stood up and said, Hey, that's not right,

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Speaker 3: and we're not going to play in this World Championship

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Speaker 3: until you, you know, give give us what we deserve essentially,

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Speaker 3: and so they ended up working out a deal, but

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Speaker 3: that sort of stuck with those women that if they

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Speaker 3: can band together, then they can make a difference. And

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Speaker 3: that's a page that they took from Billy Jean King,

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Speaker 3: and it's a page that they took from the American

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Speaker 3: soccer players as well, the ninety nine ers. So all

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Speaker 3: this kind of fits in together. So that's sort of

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Speaker 3: the context of where we're at in twenty nineteen and

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Speaker 3: all these players they're in Finland to play in the

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Speaker 3: World Championship of the national team players and this is

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Speaker 3: just you know, a few days after the CWHL folds

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Speaker 3: and the American players and the Canadian players sit down

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Speaker 3: at a breakfast table together. And so maybe that doesn't

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Speaker 3: sound like much, but for people who watch women's hockey,

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Speaker 3: like these people do not like each other.

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Speaker 2: On the ice, one of the best rivalries in sport.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, And I know a lot of people think, oh,

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Speaker 3: you know, yeah, a lot of these players play together,

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Speaker 3: they go to college together. Whatever, the rivalry is not

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Speaker 3: what it was. That is not true. Like Hillary Knight

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Speaker 3: said it best to me once, she said, sometimes we

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Speaker 3: don't even like to ride in the elevator together at

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Speaker 3: these tournaments. So the fact that they all sat down

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Speaker 3: together is remarkable. And so the wheels kind of were

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Speaker 3: in motion. You know. Obviously they had a World Championship

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Speaker 3: to play, but once they got back, they knew that,

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Speaker 3: you know, they had to ban together. And so what

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Speaker 3: they created was essentially a union, though they didn't have

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Speaker 3: an employer at the time, so it was called the

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Speaker 3: Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, as you said. And then

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Speaker 3: they did a barnstorming tour across North America. Obviously, as

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Speaker 3: we know, there was a pandemic in the middle that

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Speaker 3: kind of slowed things down, but they went all over

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Speaker 3: the place in North America, to kind of showcase their game,

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Speaker 3: and you know, they said, we're not going to play

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Speaker 3: in a league. Of course, the PHF is still operating.

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Speaker 3: They're not going to play in this league until they

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Speaker 3: can create something sustainable that's going to properly compensate them

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Speaker 3: for their labor. And so then they you know, they

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Speaker 3: just needed to find the right investor group and along

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Speaker 3: comes to Mark Wealter Group and Billy Jean King Enterprises

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Speaker 3: and pass forward here we are today.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the willingness to sort of put on hold the

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Speaker 1: professional play as much as it was mostly professional in name,

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Speaker 1: that's still an opportunity to play, and you only get

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Speaker 1: so many years to do that. So to put the

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Speaker 1: long term goals of women's professional hockey as the priority

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Speaker 1: is really impressive. It also, like you said, really did

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Speaker 1: mirror a lot of what the ninety nine ers did,

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Speaker 1: who had to put on their own friendlies after their

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Speaker 1: big World Cup win because US Soccer didn't want to

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Speaker 1: invest in. And then when they started selling them all out,

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Speaker 1: US Soccer came back around and said, wait, we.

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Speaker 2: Want a part of this. And you know you didn't

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Speaker 2: want to do this for us.

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Speaker 1: So the idea that they had to put on these

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Speaker 1: barnstorming games to remind folks like this is a product

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Speaker 1: people want and to help get them the league that

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Speaker 1: they deserve.

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Speaker 2: Is just it's really cool.

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Speaker 1: What sort of strides or evolutions have you seen in

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Speaker 1: the PWHL in this second season, whether that's the hockey

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Speaker 1: player or the business side, Because there was a lot

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Speaker 1: of great coverage of how it came together and that

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Speaker 1: first season last year, Is there anything that's notably different

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Speaker 1: in this second season?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? And I just want to say, Sarah first, you know,

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Speaker 3: when you're talking about how the journey that we saw

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Speaker 3: the female hockey players take, marrying what we saw with

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Speaker 3: the soccer players and mirroring what we saw with Billy

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Speaker 3: Jean Kings, She's really the thread that runs through it, right,

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Speaker 3: I mean, she has been women's hockey's fairy godmother, and

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Speaker 3: she's she's on the league's advisory board as well.

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Speaker 1: As well, and all the way back to Cammi Granado

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Speaker 1: exactly right. I mean Billye, I always say Billy Jan

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Speaker 1: King's basically the fourst Gump of women's sports, Like you

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Speaker 1: could just drop her into any notable historic event and

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Speaker 1: she was probably there, even if it was behind the scenes.

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Speaker 1: Getting the phone call and telling them how to mobilize.

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Speaker 1: It's really it's really impressive.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely for sure. But when we're talking about the

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Speaker 3: second season, I mean, I think first of all, we

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Speaker 3: can talk about how it's it's portrayed. I mean, I

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Speaker 3: think in the first season, a lot of the coverage

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Speaker 3: was around first which is fair. It's exciting, you know,

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Speaker 3: brand new league and you know, first championship, all these

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Speaker 3: record breaking games where we saw attendance like we've never

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Speaker 3: seen before in women's hockey. So there were a lot

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Speaker 3: of kind of big moments that we were talking about.

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Speaker 3: And it does feel like we're talking more about the

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Speaker 3: hockey this year, which is really exciting because you know,

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Speaker 3: looking back at women's hockey coverage over the years, which

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Speaker 3: I did when you know, when I was putting together

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Speaker 3: my book, it's you know, so much of it has

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Speaker 3: focused on Okay, there's no league. Oh, there's two leagues.

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Speaker 3: They don't want to play in this league. It's league building,

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Speaker 3: it's it's the rift, it's all of this stuff, and

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Speaker 3: it's so rarely about the hockey. And so the fact

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Speaker 3: that we're talking about the hockey now is really fun

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Speaker 3: and really exciting and you know, we've seen some interesting

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Speaker 3: rules in season two, which I kind of like because

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Speaker 3: you know, the idea is that they don't have to

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Speaker 3: be the NHL. They can try stuff and maybe it'll

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Speaker 3: work and maybe it won't. Like the jailbreak goal, for instance,

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Speaker 3: that so great that was season one, but I mean

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Speaker 3: that's hey, why not right? And people think that just

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Speaker 3: because the NHL does it one way, that's how everybody

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Speaker 3: has to do it.

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Speaker 1: A lot of that is getting to know the players

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Speaker 1: and the teams and getting people who maybe appreciate hockey,

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Speaker 1: mostly at the national team level, for the women to

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Speaker 1: know some of the storylines and then want to get

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Speaker 1: more involved. We're going to get into the hockey and

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Speaker 1: some of those storylines. But I want to ask you

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Speaker 1: one more big picture question about the PWHL and the PA.

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Speaker 1: So last week, the PA announced a new executive director,

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Speaker 1: Maleka Underwood. She's taken the place of Brian Burke. Underwood

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Speaker 1: was a longtime member of the US national women's baseball team,

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Speaker 1: but also has a lot of experience on the business

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Speaker 1: and nil side of things. She previously worked at One

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Speaker 1: Team Partners, including serving as their interim CEO. For those

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Speaker 1: who aren't familiar one team partners, works with players, associations,

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Speaker 1: and athletes in major pro leagues, so she brings all

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Speaker 1: of that experience. Got any interesting thoughts on that hire?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's super surprising. I

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Speaker 3: don't think Brian Burke was meant to be in that

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Speaker 3: role forever. He kind of came in as things were

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Speaker 3: getting started. But I will say I think it's important

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Speaker 3: to have somebody strong in that role because the league

390
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Speaker 3: and the players did sign a a longer term contract,

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Speaker 3: but we can already see there are some things that

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Speaker 3: maybe if they knew how successful the league was going

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Speaker 3: to be, the players would have pushed a little harder

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Speaker 3: for this or that. Like one thing I think that's

395
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Speaker 3: really missing from it is reserve players don't get access

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Speaker 3: to the same benefits as the full time roster players.

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Speaker 3: But they go out there and they practice just as often.

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Speaker 3: They're in the gym just as often, maybe even more,

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Speaker 3: because they're trying to prove that they deserve a roster spot.

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Speaker 3: So those players, it's like impossible to be a reserve

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Speaker 3: player unless you really have another job or some other

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Speaker 3: way to sustain yourself. So that's just one of the

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Speaker 3: things that I think, you know, they'll have to address

404
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Speaker 3: when when the time comes, and to have somebody like

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Speaker 3: her on board, somebody who can you know, represent the

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Speaker 3: players strongly. I think that's what they were looking for there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we've asked about that of a couple p WHL

408
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Speaker 1: folks and even the players about potential opt outs in

409
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Speaker 1: that deal. Because while it's great to have the security

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Speaker 1: of a lengthy CBA before you launch the league, and

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Speaker 1: I know that something that Mark Walter wanted in place,

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Speaker 1: it also means that the players are not able to

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Speaker 1: deal with things that they realize midway through are not

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Speaker 1: beneficial or maybe not up to par. We'll see if

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Speaker 1: they are able to use their leverage or if the

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Speaker 1: new executive director has anything to say about trying to

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Speaker 1: make some amendments before that is run its course. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned some of these games that are incredible attendance, incredible vibes.

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Speaker 1: The Takeover Tour in particular has been so cool to

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Speaker 1: watch a series of neutral site game showcasing the league,

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Speaker 1: a lot of rabid crowds and a lot of folks

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Speaker 1: making an argument for their city to benefit from the

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Speaker 1: league's planned expansion. We've seen already Seattle Vancouver, Denver, and

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Speaker 1: Quebec City still to come. We've got Edmonton, Buffalo, Raleigh, Detroit,

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Speaker 1: and Saint Louis.

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Speaker 2: Have you heard any rumors based on cities that.

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Speaker 1: Are leading the way or maybe changing the minds of

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Speaker 1: leadership as a result of their turn hosting so far.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So I don't have the answer for where they're

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Speaker 3: gonna go.

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Speaker 2: That's it break some news. Carressa tell us right now.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think the PWHL is still figuring that out.

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Speaker 3: That is the number one question that everybody wants the

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Speaker 3: answer to. I think it's important to say expansion is

435
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,880
Speaker 3: not guaranteed for next season. It could happen as early

436
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,280
Speaker 3: as next season. To be honest, they did bring the

437
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,920
Speaker 3: league together quite quickly, so, you know, pulling one team

438
00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,080
Speaker 3: together in a few months, like, hey, that's nothing. They

439
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,200
Speaker 3: brought together a whole league with six teams. But it's

440
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,240
Speaker 3: tough right now because on one hand, I think you

441
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,960
Speaker 3: could expand to two markets in the US you have

442
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:31,920
Speaker 3: American owners. You saw a great showing in Denver. Detroit

443
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,879
Speaker 3: last year was fantastic. Obviously, there's a ton of interest

444
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,080
Speaker 3: in Seattle. You'd kind of like to think that they'd

445
00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:40,280
Speaker 3: like a team a little bit closer to Minnesota to

446
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,480
Speaker 3: make life there a bit easier. So maybe maybe you

447
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:44,800
Speaker 3: know Chicago or.

448
00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:49,080
Speaker 2: Saint Louis something like that. Chicago not on.

449
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,920
Speaker 3: The takeover tour this year, but definitely a big women's

450
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,119
Speaker 3: hockey community there, as you know. And then you know,

451
00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 3: you think about like Edmonton and Vancouver and Seattle, like

452
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:04,560
Speaker 3: is at the right time to go to the West coast.

453
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:09,200
Speaker 3: Certainly there's a huge women's hockey community in Seattle. There's

454
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,040
Speaker 3: no doubt in my mind that they would embrace the team.

455
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,520
Speaker 3: And Vancouver obviously sold out, and I believe Edmonton, if

456
00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,600
Speaker 3: it's not sold out, is pretty close to being sold out.

457
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,160
Speaker 3: So there's all kinds of different options there, And you know,

458
00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,360
Speaker 3: when you're thinking about going a little bit further west,

459
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,040
Speaker 3: the thing to keep in mind is that these players

460
00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,359
Speaker 3: do fly commercially, So we're not talking about NHL players

461
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,560
Speaker 3: sitting on their private planes, right Like, those are long

462
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,520
Speaker 3: trips to take on a commercial flight. So I think

463
00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:37,840
Speaker 3: that's something that the league is going to keep in mind.

464
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,639
Speaker 3: But I would say one city that's going to be

465
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,440
Speaker 3: really hard to say no to Sarah is Quebec City.

466
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:49,440
Speaker 3: It would be the smallest PWHL market, but I think

467
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,200
Speaker 3: that that rivalry with Montreal is going to be super

468
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,560
Speaker 3: fun if that team were to come to pass. And

469
00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 3: the biggest reason why I think Quebec City could work

470
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 3: not just because people love women's hockey there, but they

471
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,920
Speaker 3: have an arena that was built for a professional tenant.

472
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,040
Speaker 3: It was built for an NHL team that has never

473
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 3: come and so there's lots of room and availability for

474
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,199
Speaker 3: a professional team there. And that's the one thing that

475
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,280
Speaker 3: might be tricky in some of these other markets is

476
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,640
Speaker 3: finding the right facility. So there are a few things

477
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,920
Speaker 3: the PWHL is looking at. So it's arena availability, it's

478
00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,240
Speaker 3: economic opportunity, it's geography, of course, it's you know, media,

479
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,280
Speaker 3: youth hockey markets, and so there's a lot of fun

480
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 3: things I think for them to take into account. But

481
00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 3: I mean, the fact that we're talking about expansion already

482
00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,679
Speaker 3: is is cool. It's going to happen. It's just a

483
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 3: matter of you know, whether it happens as soon as

484
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 3: when unware Yeah, right, exactly?

485
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,159
Speaker 2: Have you gotten to cover many of the games in person?

486
00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,720
Speaker 3: I followed the Montreal team around a little bit last year,

487
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 3: so I went to a number of their games. I

488
00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 3: went to a game in Boston as well. I was

489
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:58,040
Speaker 3: at the Scotia Bank Arena game last year in Toronto.

490
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,879
Speaker 3: I've spent the most time in so I think I

491
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:05,840
Speaker 3: can speak about Montreal the most. But it's an incredible atmosphere.

492
00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,119
Speaker 1: It feels like it and it feels like they're starting

493
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 1: to put together some new traditions, which is one of

494
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: the things in women's sports that I think is really fascinating.

495
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,200
Speaker 1: When you have men's sports, there's so much built in

496
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 1: nostalgia and some cases one hundred plus years of tradition

497
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,840
Speaker 1: that gets passed down, and when you're creating a new league,

498
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 1: you have to sort of try to find this balance

499
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:29,399
Speaker 1: between what's organic and also creating some things that you

500
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: know will bring fans back that they'll feel like they, Oh,

501
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,440
Speaker 1: if I identify and understand this, it means I'm a good fan.

502
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 2: I know what's to come, and I know what to

503
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:38,800
Speaker 2: cheer at this moment, or what to yell.

504
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:40,520
Speaker 1: Or what to bring or what to wave or whatever.

505
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,360
Speaker 1: Have you seen some of those traditions start anywhere yet?

506
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:44,840
Speaker 3: I mean, I think we have to talk about the

507
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,679
Speaker 3: Taylor Swift sing along. That's a thing at pretty much

508
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 3: every every game, and I have heard people compare it

509
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:54,240
Speaker 3: to the Aras Tour. I haven't been to the arastur

510
00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:56,679
Speaker 3: so you know, I can't speak to that, but it

511
00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:01,879
Speaker 3: certainly has that fun vibe. Like, for instance, in Montreal,

512
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:06,040
Speaker 3: they always had a DJ at the intermission, so it's like,

513
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,879
Speaker 3: even if you don't really know women's hockey and you

514
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:10,919
Speaker 3: want an introduction to it, like you come to this

515
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,320
Speaker 3: rink and you know, you don't have to worry that

516
00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,639
Speaker 3: maybe you don't know everything because everybody is kind of

517
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,879
Speaker 3: still learning. It's a brand new league, and you know,

518
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:20,560
Speaker 3: if you want to.

519
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,320
Speaker 2: And you get a party at the break exactly, dance party.

520
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,280
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Okay, let's talk about some of these teams.

521
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 1: Let's talk Montreal Victor their top of the standings right now.

522
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:30,480
Speaker 1: What makes them so good.

523
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:32,119
Speaker 3: Well, they have the best player in the world, so

524
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 3: Matri Filipoulin their captains, so that helps. But I think

525
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,119
Speaker 3: the thing with Montreal this season, Sarah, is their depth

526
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,840
Speaker 3: is just so improved. And that was the problem for

527
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 3: Montreal in the playoffs last year against Boston. Boston's depth

528
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,000
Speaker 3: was just better. Obviously, the teams were really close. All

529
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 3: three games went to overtime. One went to triple overtime.

530
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,639
Speaker 3: But this year, like the third and the fourth lines

531
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 3: are just so so much better. I think Montreal drafted

532
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 3: really well. Like bring in a player like Kayla Barnes

533
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:06,000
Speaker 3: who has been quarterbacking their number one power play, which

534
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,919
Speaker 3: moves Aaron Ambrose to the number two power play. And

535
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,240
Speaker 3: that's somebody who has quarterbacked the top power play unit

536
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,040
Speaker 3: on Team Canada for a while. So like that is

537
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 3: huge on the blue line. And then when we look

538
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 3: up front, a player like Abby Boren, who we saw

539
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,880
Speaker 3: in short stints with the Minnesota team last year as

540
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,919
Speaker 3: a reserve player, watching her play full time with Montreal,

541
00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,720
Speaker 3: I mean she has just been incredible. And same with

542
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 3: Jennifer Gardner, who was a great draft pick by Montreal.

543
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 3: And so it's the depth I think that really makes

544
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:40,440
Speaker 3: Montreal stand out. I mean, one of their best players,

545
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,680
Speaker 3: Laura Stacey, they've been without her for the last couple

546
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,160
Speaker 3: of games and they haven't really missed a beat.

547
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:46,120
Speaker 2: Impressive, super impressive.

548
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,720
Speaker 1: Minnesota frost last year's Walter Cup winners as champions of

549
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 1: the league close behind them.

550
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:52,400
Speaker 2: What are they doing well this year?

551
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know I have to admit coming out

552
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 3: of Minnesota's draft, I sort of thought, like, I don't know,

553
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,960
Speaker 3: I'm not sure. You know, Minnesota kind of limped into

554
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 3: the playoffs, and I think everybody maybe underestimated them a

555
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:06,960
Speaker 3: little bit. But I think someone we have to talk

556
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 3: about on the frost this year is, well, there's two people.

557
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,880
Speaker 3: I think we have to talk about. Kendall coin Schofield,

558
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 3: who's having an incredible year and you're really seeing that

559
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 3: speed from her, Like she just looks so fast out there,

560
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:20,680
Speaker 3: and so she's been at the top of the leader

561
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,800
Speaker 3: board all this year for points, but it's just like

562
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 3: it feels like she is It's incredible that she came

563
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 3: back as quickly.

564
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 2: As she did from having a baby.

565
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 3: Yep, but she's so fast this season, like she can

566
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,960
Speaker 3: really see her wheels. And then we see somebody like

567
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 3: Taylor Hisie who hasn't even been at one hundred percent

568
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,439
Speaker 3: all season, and she's she's been one of their best players.

569
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,720
Speaker 3: So I think for Minnesota, you know, they go into

570
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:45,640
Speaker 3: this season with a bit of a target on their back,

571
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:49,359
Speaker 3: like everybody wants to beat the champions, right, and it

572
00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 3: hasn't really really phased them. I Mean, they've had a

573
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 3: couple of games where they've been stumbling and they had

574
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 3: illness going throughout their locker room. Like Taylor Heiseie said,

575
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,239
Speaker 3: if you were to put your ear up to our

576
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 3: locker room, you hear everybody like coughing and sneezing and

577
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,439
Speaker 3: throwing up and stuff like that. But they've just weathered

578
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:06,119
Speaker 3: the storm.

579
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:06,680
Speaker 2: Battled through.

580
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, Toronto Sceptor is not battling through quite as well.

581
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:11,640
Speaker 2: They're at the bottom of the standings.

582
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 1: Obviously a big loss to have Natalie Spooner out with

583
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:14,480
Speaker 1: injury for so long.

584
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,200
Speaker 2: Is she the only thing they've been missing?

585
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,400
Speaker 3: Well, I think their goaltending hasn't quite been up to part.

586
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,679
Speaker 3: And we saw Kristin Campbell, their starter, have a bit

587
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,720
Speaker 3: of a slow start last season as well, but she

588
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 3: was able to turn it around and she was ultimately

589
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 3: chosen as the best goaltender of the year in the league.

590
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,320
Speaker 3: But it just hasn't quite been there for her this year.

591
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 3: I don't think she's been as steady for them. And like,

592
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 3: for instance, at the Scotia Bank Arena game, they went

593
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,879
Speaker 3: with their number two, who's a rookie, Reagan Kirk. You

594
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,080
Speaker 3: know who's who's been just mined for them, but you

595
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:44,440
Speaker 3: can tell that they're really missing that sort of rock

596
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 3: and net in Kristin Campbell, like she's not the problem,

597
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 3: hasn't really been scoring for Toronto, like they've been scoring

598
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,080
Speaker 3: goals without Natalie Spooner, but they're just letting a bunch

599
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 3: of the men, so that's the problem. Yeah, but they're

600
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 3: also missing Natalie Spooner. I think obviously you miss your

601
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 3: MVP when she is injured and she's still out as

602
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,080
Speaker 3: we speak, but just having her like in front of

603
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:12,119
Speaker 3: the net and causing chaos and getting in the goalies' eyes, like,

604
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,600
Speaker 3: they're really missing that kind of presence. And if you

605
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,080
Speaker 3: look at their top scorer right now, Hannah Miller, she's

606
00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:20,879
Speaker 3: somebody who does that really well. And she's somebody whose

607
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,440
Speaker 3: game I think translates really well to the p WHL

608
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,360
Speaker 3: because of that. So they just they need a bit

609
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,440
Speaker 3: more of that. And we will see Natalie Spooner I think,

610
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,280
Speaker 3: come back in the near future. We don't know exactly

611
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:33,919
Speaker 3: when yet, and it's it's not fair to expect her

612
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,879
Speaker 3: to turn everything around. Herself is one person, but it's

613
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:39,080
Speaker 3: gonna help for sure.

614
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 2: Yeah.

615
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 1: Toronto also made some headlines at the end of December,

616
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 1: Jocelyn the Rock went to Ottawa in exchange for Victoria

617
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: Bach and Haley Skimora.

618
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 2: What did you make of that trade?

619
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think, well, first of all, I

620
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 3: think that's the biggest p WHL trade that we've seen.

621
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,480
Speaker 3: I mean, I know the league's only two years old,

622
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,880
Speaker 3: but just trades in general in women's hockey is really exciting.

623
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 3: Like we didn't really have that before. There were trades,

624
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 3: but usually players knew where they were going because you

625
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,160
Speaker 3: couldn't just send somebody somewhere without their you know, without

626
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:09,959
Speaker 3: their consent.

627
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:11,640
Speaker 2: Because this was the real deal.

628
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, so this was real, Like Joscelyn le Rock had

629
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 3: no idea that she was going to be traded. And

630
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 3: I think it's so cool, Sarah, because if we think

631
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,320
Speaker 3: about like last New Year's Day, everybody was talking about

632
00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,440
Speaker 3: like the birth of the new league and the first game,

633
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:27,520
Speaker 3: who's going to score the first goal? All this stuff,

634
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 3: all these first and then this year, you know, we

635
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 3: get to the one year anniversary of the league and

636
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,480
Speaker 3: we're talking about hockey trade.

637
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that just goes ye, just the straight up hockey.

638
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 1: I didn't even think about it, but I wonder if

639
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,360
Speaker 1: it's extra tricky to make a trade between countries because

640
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 1: that was Toronto and Ottawa dealing. But if you were

641
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,040
Speaker 1: sending a Canadian player from a team in Canada to

642
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 1: suddenly go live in the States, how much stickier is

643
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: that in terms of you know, visas and all the

644
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 1: other things in order to get there and work. I

645
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:58,680
Speaker 1: haven't really dug into that. Maybe that's a story if

646
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,320
Speaker 1: you haven't already written it yet. Does that get in

647
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,400
Speaker 1: the way of trades at all? Their slow teams down? Okay,

648
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 1: last question on the teams. New York was far and

649
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:08,520
Speaker 1: away the worst team last year, but they've added number

650
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 1: one draft picks Sarah Filia. They're on the up and

651
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:12,840
Speaker 1: up this year, currently fourth in the standings. What have

652
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:15,040
Speaker 1: you seen from that team in making that turnaround?

653
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think there are a couple of changes. Obviously,

654
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 3: they brought in a new head coach as well in

655
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,400
Speaker 3: Greg Fargo, So I think they they're playing with this

656
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:25,160
Speaker 3: sort of strong possession style, and I think just having

657
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 3: a different voice maybe has helped a lot as well.

658
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 3: And then I think again, kind of like Montreal, they

659
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,000
Speaker 3: drafted well, I mean, you can't go wrong with the

660
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,920
Speaker 3: first overall pick being Sarah Filiate Like, that's not really

661
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,240
Speaker 3: you can't really give them too much credit for that.

662
00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 3: You couldn't really go wrong by drafting her. But you

663
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,480
Speaker 3: look at some of the other draft picks that they

664
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,760
Speaker 3: made as well, and you know, somebody like an Alie

665
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,480
Speaker 3: Simpson who's really short up their depth on the back end,

666
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 3: I think New York might have the best decor in

667
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 3: the league. And then you know, just up front that

668
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 3: offensive talent with Sarah Phillier and Alex car together. I

669
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 3: think Alex Carpenter's been one of the most underrated players

670
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 3: for a long time. She's just an incredible shooter, and

671
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:08,880
Speaker 3: I think part of that is she wasn't playing in

672
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 3: North America for a while, so she's not somebody you

673
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,200
Speaker 3: really saw. But yeah, to see her and Sarah Philia

674
00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 3: on the same line, I actually thought, you know, going

675
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:17,920
Speaker 3: into the season, Sarah, I thought they should split them up,

676
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,400
Speaker 3: and I was wrong. They're incredible together, right, Like like

677
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,840
Speaker 3: Jesse Eldridge as well, who you know has has been

678
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:28,479
Speaker 3: running their second line and who I think is really talented,

679
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:30,720
Speaker 3: who we probably don't talk about enough. So New York's

680
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,400
Speaker 3: just firing on all cylinders. Right now.

681
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:34,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fun to watch, Like I like watching those

682
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 1: teams kind of figure things out and get out of

683
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 1: the get out of the rut. Okay, quick question for

684
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 1: you before we let you go.

685
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:42,120
Speaker 2: So we used to.

686
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,560
Speaker 1: See most of these US and Canadian teams get together

687
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,360
Speaker 1: at these lead ups to the Olympics. There wasn't really

688
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 1: a way for players to get together and train and

689
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 1: prepare and stay ready. But because of the p WHL,

690
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 1: these centralization camps are kind of going away. Do you

691
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: think that shift is going to change the hockey we

692
00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 1: see at the Olympics because we've we've got this next

693
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 1: Winter Olympics right on the corner.

694
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's I think it's an interesting question. I mean

695
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,920
Speaker 3: I think that you know, like in Canada, ference and centralization,

696
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,040
Speaker 3: I think it could be so grueling and difficult on

697
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 3: players mentally, like for them to just pick up their

698
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,840
Speaker 3: lives and move to Calgary for a few months. It's

699
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,160
Speaker 3: it's a lot to ask of the player. But I

700
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 3: think there's also a level of bonding and chemistry that

701
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,520
Speaker 3: comes through that. So, you know, I think it will

702
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,400
Speaker 3: get to a point where they have to think about,

703
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,280
Speaker 3: you know, how much programming do we need so for sure,

704
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 3: we're not going to see centralization or you know, the

705
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,480
Speaker 3: US equivalent of that, where players just go off and

706
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 3: and you know, live somewhere for months and train together.

707
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,720
Speaker 3: But we've continued to see the rivalry series, and I

708
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,120
Speaker 3: think that's been really helpful for you know, for the

709
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 3: national teams to make their their roster decisions, and I

710
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,800
Speaker 3: think we will continue to see part of that. Maybe

711
00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 3: it won't be a seven game rivalry series like the

712
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 3: rivalry series started because players didn't really have a ton

713
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,720
Speaker 3: of places to play kind of when the CWHL folded

714
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 3: and then as we went into COVID, But I think

715
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 3: it's still a valuable tool and it could be helpful

716
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 3: for those for that chemistry building as well. But Sarah,

717
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:14,120
Speaker 3: where I think the PWHL really changes what we're going

718
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,440
Speaker 3: to see at the Olympics and at the World Championship

719
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,680
Speaker 3: is with teams like you know, Chechia or Finland, where

720
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,600
Speaker 3: you're seeing some of their best players coming to the

721
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,160
Speaker 3: p WHL. And so we look at like, you know,

722
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 3: Swedish goaltender m Soderberg, maybe she gets to see Hillary

723
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 3: Nights shooting on her in practice every day, so she

724
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 3: doesn't just see her, you know, once in a million

725
00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 3: years at Worlds, So that's only going to make her better,

726
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:39,520
Speaker 3: and that's going to make Sweden better.

727
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 1: And Hillary Knight's listening and she's like, yeah, I'm also

728
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 1: getting to shoot on her every day, So I know,

729
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:45,840
Speaker 1: if I go, you know, top shelf, it's harder for

730
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 1: you know, she doesn't like it.

731
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 2: Five hole.

732
00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,360
Speaker 1: Troy Ryan, the Canadian coach, is a coach in the PWHL,

733
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,440
Speaker 1: but the US national team coach, John Rablowski is not.

734
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,600
Speaker 1: Does that have any impact on this rivalry? I mean,

735
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 1: one's getting a good look at a lot of players.

736
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:02,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean I do think there's still a

737
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,360
Speaker 3: lot of you know, USA Hockey scouting that's that's going on.

738
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 3: I wouldn't read into that too much, honestly, and I

739
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:09,839
Speaker 3: do think people make a lot of make a lot

740
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,560
Speaker 3: out of that. The fact that you know, Gina Kingsbury,

741
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,480
Speaker 3: who's the GM of Team Canada, and Troy Ryan are

742
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 3: both with the scepters, and there's a number there are

743
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,400
Speaker 3: a number of players on the scepters who play on

744
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,080
Speaker 3: the Team Canada as well, So I mean, yeah, there

745
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,719
Speaker 3: are some benefits there. But I think in the world

746
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,920
Speaker 3: where we are today, Sarah, Like anybody can go to

747
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,160
Speaker 3: a game, it's really easy to find video from it.

748
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 3: And I know that there are USA Hockey scouts who

749
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 3: are going to these games and are pretty in touch

750
00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:38,880
Speaker 3: with it, so I wouldn't worry too much for that.

751
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 1: It's not lost on us that the Canadian is downplaying

752
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,120
Speaker 1: the potential outcomes of a spy. I don't know if

753
00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:47,839
Speaker 1: Americans would feel the same way about it. By the way,

754
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,120
Speaker 1: you just published a story last week about Troy Ryan,

755
00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 1: the coach of the Scepters and the Canadian national team,

756
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,399
Speaker 1: about his long journey to becoming one of the top

757
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,800
Speaker 1: coaches in the world. Lots of great and interesting stories

758
00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:57,960
Speaker 1: in there, so we'll link to that story in the

759
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,279
Speaker 1: show notes for people to read it.

760
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:01,080
Speaker 2: So keep following your work.

761
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:02,839
Speaker 1: We'll link to the ways to follow you and keep

762
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,640
Speaker 1: up with the PWHL. Thank you so much for joining

763
00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:07,560
Speaker 1: us and forgiving us a whole ton of info on

764
00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:08,160
Speaker 1: this league.

765
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks for having me and big fan of the show.

766
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,279
Speaker 2: Thanks to CHRISA for joining us. We got to take

767
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:15,799
Speaker 2: another break.

768
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:17,960
Speaker 1: When we come back, we induct the newest member of

769
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:19,319
Speaker 1: the Good Game Hall of Fame.

770
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:30,160
Speaker 2: Welcome back slices.

771
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:33,719
Speaker 1: As we previewed during yesterday's show, Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell

772
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:36,480
Speaker 1: returned to the bench to coach her team against SECFO

773
00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,680
Speaker 1: South Carolina on Monday night, just seven days after giving

774
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:42,640
Speaker 1: birth to her son, Connor Scott. That reminded us of

775
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,560
Speaker 1: the story of Tennessee's most famous coach, the legendary Pat

776
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,839
Speaker 1: Summit and a wild story involving the birth of her son,

777
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 1: Which means it's time for the latest induction to the

778
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:53,160
Speaker 1: Good Game Hall of Fame.

779
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 3: Ah.

780
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 2: Yes, the Good Game.

781
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,600
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame, where we celebrate women's sports lore, the

782
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,320
Speaker 1: kind of legendary stories we should all know by heart,

783
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:05,359
Speaker 1: just like we know that MNBA Great Shaquille O'Neil wears

784
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,240
Speaker 1: a size twenty two shoe and NFL QB Aaron Rodgers

785
00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:11,919
Speaker 1: spends his off seasons doing ayahuasca and going on darkness retreats. Yeah,

786
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 1: we've got some catching up to do in women's sports.

787
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,360
Speaker 1: So grab another plaque and find a good place on

788
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:20,280
Speaker 1: the wall. Today we've got another inductee. Let's time travel

789
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,200
Speaker 1: back to September nineteen ninety. Tennessee is one of the

790
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,480
Speaker 1: biggest players in women's Soups, having won two of the

791
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:29,120
Speaker 1: last four NCAA titles. But a few months before our

792
00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,960
Speaker 1: story begins, the Lady Voles fall to Virginia in the

793
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,280
Speaker 1: regional finals, meaning that for the first time in four years,

794
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,080
Speaker 1: they won't be progressing to the Final four. And to

795
00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,680
Speaker 1: make that sting hurt even more, Tennessee was the host

796
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 1: of that year's Final Four, leaving the team uninvited to

797
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,960
Speaker 1: their own hometown party, so that tough loss was undoubtedly

798
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,399
Speaker 1: on pat Summit's mind in September of nineteen ninety, when,

799
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,759
Speaker 1: at eight months pregnant, she flew from Knoxville to Allentown,

800
00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:57,279
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania for a recruiting trip meant to convince then high

801
00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 1: schooler Michelle Marciniak to come to Tennessee. Summit wasn't expecting

802
00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:03,600
Speaker 1: her son to arrive for another couple weeks and was

803
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:06,360
Speaker 1: surprised when while visiting with Marciniac and her family and

804
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:10,640
Speaker 1: their home, she started experiencing contractions. When they didn't subside,

805
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,239
Speaker 1: Summit and Crewe decided it was time to go. They

806
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 1: loaded onto the plane and took off with Summit intent

807
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:18,759
Speaker 1: on getting back to Tennessee where her husband was, but

808
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:21,920
Speaker 1: as her contractions continued to increase, the pilot recommended the

809
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,640
Speaker 1: plane make an emergency landing in Roanoke so Summit could

810
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:28,360
Speaker 1: get to the hospital. That's Ronoke, as in Roanoke, Virginia,

811
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,360
Speaker 1: the state that had defeated some its lady voles just

812
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:33,920
Speaker 1: a few months earlier. How did Summit respond to that

813
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,279
Speaker 1: suggestion in the most pat Summit way possible quote, don't

814
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:38,920
Speaker 1: land anywhere but Knoxville.

815
00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:41,240
Speaker 2: Put your pedal to the medal end quote.

816
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,160
Speaker 1: This whole saga was included in Jeff Goldberg's twenty fifteen

817
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,960
Speaker 1: book Unrivaled, which is somehow not a prophetic look at

818
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,000
Speaker 1: a future three on three league, but actually about the

819
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,480
Speaker 1: history of the Tennessee Yukon women's hoops rivalry. Per Goldberg's telling,

820
00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 1: some made it to Knoxville with quote moments to spare.

821
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,320
Speaker 1: She was almost fully dilated when she arrived at the

822
00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:00,080
Speaker 1: hospital end quote.

823
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:01,440
Speaker 2: And the story gets even better.

824
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:03,960
Speaker 1: Just a few months after Tyler Summit entered the world,

825
00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:08,520
Speaker 1: Tennessee reclaimed the NCAA Championship trophy, beating Virginia in the

826
00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,799
Speaker 1: title game. You can't write this stuff, folks. Welcome to

827
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:17,480
Speaker 1: the Good Game Hall of Fame. Posthumously pat Summit. We

828
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 1: love that you're listening, but we want to get you

829
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:20,919
Speaker 1: in the game every day too, So here's our good

830
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,440
Speaker 1: gameplay of the day. Keep sending us questions for our

831
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,400
Speaker 1: Big Citrus, ask us Anything, mail bag episode, sports questions,

832
00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:30,520
Speaker 1: questions about life, love and the pursuit of happiness, the

833
00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:33,719
Speaker 1: best coffee or pizza in our city, travel tips, workout tips,

834
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 1: dog tips, the.

835
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:35,560
Speaker 2: World is your oyster.

836
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,359
Speaker 1: Hit us up and we'd especially love to hear your

837
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:41,600
Speaker 1: angelic voices in a voicemail, So shoot us a question

838
00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:45,600
Speaker 1: that way eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy.

839
00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:48,759
Speaker 1: That's eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy, and

840
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 1: you can always email us good game at wondermedianetwork dot com. Finally,

841
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,280
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy slices

842
00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:01,479
Speaker 1: watch Surviving Your First Earthquake rating zero out of five

843
00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:05,960
Speaker 1: Holy Shits review. Yesterday Morning producer Alex got her first

844
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,960
Speaker 1: taste of the old seismic shakes, a three point eight

845
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,920
Speaker 1: magnitude earthquake centered off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine.

846
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,360
Speaker 1: Now she reported herself shaken but not stirred. As a

847
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,120
Speaker 1: former defunct geology major whose only previous earthquake experience was

848
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,439
Speaker 1: reading about them in textbooks. She said it was fun

849
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:27,120
Speaker 1: to finally be at the epicenter of attention. I remember

850
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 1: my first quake. It was maybe five maybe six in

851
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 1: LA I was rehearsing with my second city sketch group

852
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:36,400
Speaker 1: shoutout reverse Coma when we felt the first jolt and

853
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:38,799
Speaker 1: suddenly we all went running toward the one desk in

854
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:40,960
Speaker 1: the room to try to hide under it. Then it

855
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:43,360
Speaker 1: was in an earthquake while driving. Then it was in

856
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 1: an earthquake while in Flagrante delicto. Seriously, and after a

857
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,520
Speaker 1: few of those scary suckers, I now live in a

858
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:52,920
Speaker 1: city that is very, very cold, but has no major

859
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: natural disasters for now at least, And that's the way

860
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,880
Speaker 1: I like it. Now, it's your turn, rate and review.

861
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Carissa, Good Game,

862
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:10,440
Speaker 1: PWHL few earthquakes. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an

863
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,640
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports

864
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:14,360
Speaker 1: and Entertainment.

865
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:15,480
Speaker 2: You can find us on the.

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Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: Production by Wonder Media Network, Our producers are Alex Azzie

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Speaker 1: and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,

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Speaker 1: Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutter.

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Speaker 2: Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch.

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Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host

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Speaker 1: Sarah Spain