December 19, 2024 • 43 mins
Tessa Bonhomme and Julia Tocheri, hosts of the PWHL’s Jocks In Jills podcast, join Sarah to talk about using their pod to help fans connect with players, the Minnesota Frost’s rollercoaster offseason, Hilary Knight’s scoring resurgence, and Julia’s former summer job as a Historical Interpreter. Plus, it’s time for the NCAA Volleyball Final four, NWSL expansion news, and Sarah’s gotta say goodbye to one of her favorite TV shows.
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Listen to the Jocks in Jills podcast here
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And listen to the Emma Maltais episode that Julia mentioned here
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And the Jessie Eldridge episode that Tessa mentioned here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where, just like
our girl Paige Beckers, we always credit the person who
made the assist, even if they're on the other team.
Google it friends. It's Thursday, December nineteenth, and on today's show,
we'll be chatting with Tessa Bonham and Julia to Cherry,
hosts of the Jocks and Jills podcast, about the return
of the PWHL, the team with the Best arena dance parties,
(00:21):
and Minnesota's turbulent offseason, plus NWSL expansion is headed to
the Mile High City. The Vibes Final Four has arrived
and two to two gets celebrated on two to two.
It's all coming up right after this welcome back Slices.
Here's what you need to know today. The NCAA Volleyball
(00:45):
Final Four gets underway tonight at the KFCYM Center in Louisville, Kentucky,
with back to back semi finals, and it'll be a
party of the number one seeds with all four number
ones making it. First up, Louisville takes on Pitt at
six thirty pm Eastern on ESPN. Pit is competing in
its fourth straight NCAA Final Four, but still looking for
the program's first ever national title. Then at nine PM,
(01:07):
Eastern Penn State matches up against Nebraska, also on ESPN.
Those two programs own the second and third most volleyball
national titles seven and five, respectively, behind only Stanford's nine.
And get this, y'all. According to Nielsen, this year's NCAA
Regionals were the most watched on record, averaging four hundred
and one thousand viewers. That's good for an increase of
(01:29):
ninety eight percent year over year. That's right, almost one
hundred percent increase. Incredible, Plus, the regional semis and finals
included five of the most watched regional matches ever. Sunday's
contest between Wisconsin and Nebraska got the most eyes, with
a total of seven hundred ninety eight thousand viewers to
the NWSL. According to reporting from Sportico and ESPN, the
(01:50):
NWSL is close to finalizing Denver as the latest expansion side,
beating out fellow finalists Cincinnati and Cleveland. Per Sportico, the
investment group led by IMS Financial Group CEO Rob Cohen,
would pay somewhere between one hundred five and one hundred
and twenty million dollars to bring an expansion side to Denver.
That would be the highest expansion fee in women's sports history.
(02:11):
For reference, the NWSL expansion clubs BFC and Boston paid
fifty three million dollars in expansion fees just a couple
years ago. By the way, I am shocked by that news.
I thought for sure Cincinnati would win the bid because
of the MLS ties and the arena fascinated to see
what ended up putting Denver over the top. I'm sure
we're gonna hear about it to college hoops. You might
recall that after Katelyn Clark finished her college career last April,
(02:34):
it only took four days for Iowa to announce that
the school planned to retire her jersey. Well, now we've
got a date for the ceremony. The Hawkeyes plan to
unveil Clark's number twenty two jersey up in the rafters
on February second, aka two to two, before Iowa tips
off against usc that day. Only bummer is Kate litt'le
b two three twenty three. By the time this two
(02:54):
to two party happens, we got to take a quick break.
When we come back, earning butter and swimming upstream. It's
a PWHL Group Chat with Tessa and Julia. Stick around.
It's time for another group chat where we take the
tea from the text and put it on the airwaves.
Joining us, she's one half of the Jock and Jill's
(03:16):
podcast and the senior Director of New Media for the PWHL.
A former professional ice hockey player, she was an Olympic
gold medallist as member of Canada's national women's hockey team,
and she played for the Toronto Furies in the Canadian
Women's Hockey League. She was co captain of the Ohio
State Buckeyes hockey team. Spent ten years as a TV
sports reporter for TSN and has appeared in several TV
shows and movies including Man Seeking Woman, Goon, Letter, Kenny
(03:38):
and Shorsey. It's Tessa Bonham. What's up? Tessa?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Oh my gosh, you did your research. That's way too.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
It was so good and unlike.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
My friend Chris Versti, you won Battle of the Blades.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Correct, That is correct?
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Joining her the other half of the Jack and Jill's
podcast and the director of New Media for the PWHL.
She spent six years with TSN and bar Down as
a content and host and was the co host of
Leif's Lunch on TSN ten fifty for a couple of years,
making her one of the few women in Canada anchor
a position in sports radio. She spent four years as
a historical interpreter at Fort William Historical Park. We're gonna
(04:13):
need to hear more about that. It's Julia to Jerry.
What's up?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Oh my gosh, Sarah, thank you so much. First of all,
whenever Tessa gets interroed before me, I'm like, oh damn,
here we go with the medals and the Worlds and
the Olympics. But you adding my history as an interpreter
made it all worth it. Test actually doesn't know this
about me, and I've been I've been waiting to tell her.
It came up in a conversation recently and I meant
to tell her the story. But I'm glad that we'll
(04:37):
have this platform to I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Let's just start. There was that like a historical reenactment
thing where you were dressed as a historical character and
telling people about what happened way back when.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, I am the way I am like largely because
of that experience, I think four.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Years, four years is a long time I don't work
it were you doing?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Okay, Yeah, I'll get into Annabell right now. So basically,
I'm from a place called thunder Bay, Ontario, about sixteen
hours north of where I sit right now in Toronto.
And in the early eighteen hundreds, there was a fur
trading post there. It was owned by the Northwest Company
and it was operated mostly by voyagers and their Indigenous
(05:18):
wives and families. And I played a voyager's daughter every
single summer. And her name was Annabelle, and she was
sixteen and I think she had four kids, and she
had a fabulous husband. And it was honestly the best
summer job ever. It was the weirdest summer job ever,
like my parents, like it was close to my house
(05:38):
and my parents made me walk up the street and
give my resume and then I was horrified when I
got the job, and all my friends made fun of
me about it relentlessly because I'd have to go put
my skirt and my bonnet on to go to work.
Every day in the summer, I hung over, like you
know how you know how real it is to be
hungover at eighteen years old and have to turn butter?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yeahouldn't say I do not know that gular experience, but
I'm imagining it and I feel like it really shaped
you and gave you a good work ethics.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
So I am the way I am exclusive.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
The fact that this hasn't come up on your podcast
yet is this to me?
Speaker 4 (06:10):
And like, oh, this should have been day one stuffs.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
So many photos of me with like a little goat
in my hands, under my arm or a chicken. Not
only was I working this job, but I also worked
the farm. Like everybody was in a different department. There
was like the tradesmen and they got to do cool
stuff with tin and like wood, and then there was
the family life department and they were mostly in the
kitchen baking bread. And I got put on the farm.
(06:34):
So not only was I yelling shit, I was doing
it in historic garb.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Did you have lines?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
No, I didn't have lines. I just had to know
the story. You just had to know every day.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, it was insane and knowledge about fur traders. Okay, Well,
I don't know where we go from there, because that
is gonna be the peak of the interview for me.
I'm going to picture you in a bonnet turning butter
for the rest of this and maybe how that might
have affected, you know, your ability to call games.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
And I have an historical face, said to me. They're like,
you kind of have a historical face too, What did
I just know?
Speaker 5 (07:06):
All?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
I don't have a lip filler like you do. Look
a little like an American girl doll from you know,
back in the day. So that works.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
One of those bad as a kid. Yeah, my parent
and my dad got me scared of them. So that's
another good full circle movement.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Oh my god. Okay, so let's talk about your podcast,
since you somehow haven't covered this fertile ground. You had
a successful first season, consistently ranked in Canada's top ten
hockey podcast the only women's hockey focused and all women
hosted podcasts. To achieve that milestone, your podcast, Jocks and
Jills and you two were acquired by the p WHL,
just like they bought up the whole damn thing. Test.
(07:42):
So that's a big leap to leave TSN after a
decade to join the p WHL. Why make the move? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:48):
You know what, I felt like I had done everything
that I could at TSM. You know, I'd covered the
World Junior Championships, I'd gone and covered the men's World
Hockey Championships. I'd cover the major tennis ornaments. I'd been
on Sports Center for years, I'd covered all of the
World championships. For the women the Rivalry series. It just
felt like I was tapped out and there was I
(08:09):
was kind of knocking my head at the ceiling and
the only thing I really wanted to do that was
left was cover professional women's hockey full time. And when
we heard the league was, you know, dropping last season,
we were like, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Called Julia right away.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
I was like, I got an idea, and she was
like podcast. I was like, yes, that is the exact evolution.
Very let's not go out to podcasts. So we did,
and honestly, it was so fulfilling doing it. It was
just it felt right. I was happy doing work. I
didn't you know, it was extra Obviously, I was running
on no sleep. I'd get home from like three in
(08:44):
the morning from work and I'd be up at six
with my kids, and then we'd have to record an episode,
and sometimes we were doing it late at night. Julia
was waiting for me to get home from work.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
But it didn't matter. It was fun.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
It really made my heart full and really felt like
I had a proper purpose and so and push came
to show where this opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
It just felt like a no brainer.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
It didn't feel like, you know, I was leaving something
behind that I wasn't done with yet. I'm not to
say that I was done with them, but that, like
I said, I had done everything. So all I wanted
to do was, you know, shine light on these women
that you know, have walked the same path that I
have and you know, training for hockey, going to university,
hoping for a pro league afterwards, and they made it happen,
(09:25):
and so I just we just want to help, you know,
make it grow and help get these ladies the notoriety
that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, you know, I've hosted a couple espnW summits up
in Toronto, so my knowledge of the sports space up
in Canada is getting better, but still quite limited. And
I wonder, could you have done a whole bunch of
PWHL stuff at TSN. Were they industed in leaning into
covering it or is it still something you're trying to
push for there.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
So there was a moment where I was trying to
figure out if I was going to stay on TSN
as you know, a part time employee. And and when
I found out what the broadcasting deal was between the
league and TSN, we were just simply going to be TSN,
and I shouldn't say we. TSN was simply going to
be playing, plugging and playing the games, So that means
(10:11):
they were just going to be running the broadcast that
Dome Productions was putting out. They wouldn't put a panel
together into a pregame or intermission stuff, so really I
wouldn't be involved at all. So this was my way
of kind of forcing myself to be involved with the
league and it's coverage.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, Julia, how about you. You weren't there quite as long,
But five years is a long time, and you're starting
your career a little bit more earlier in your career
than Tessa's. So maybe a boulder move to make that leap.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, it felt that way. I'm twenty six and Tessa's
only twenty eight, so she has more years center her
belt than I do. I don't know. I've been thinking
about this a little bit more recently, like with the
with the hindsight of already having left and with having
two feet on the ground in the PWHL now and
the work environment is so different. And that's not an
a on the work environment at TSN though, but we
(11:02):
work with a lot of women every day tests and
a lot of women that are pulling in the same direction.
And I knew that was the case because we'd gotten
to work around the PWHL a lot last season in
doing a couple of games for their broadcast and covering
their games for Sports Center last year. So I don't know,
I was just really attracted to the energy. And then
I hilariously I was only there for six years, but
(11:23):
I honestly did kind of get to do everything at
TSN as well, from the World Juniors to junior hockey,
to women's hockey to radio. Like you mentioned radio that
feels like fever dream almost that I did that for
a couple of years sports Center, like I had kind
of touched everything there, and there was just this deeper
sense of meaning that came with the PWHL, Like something
(11:45):
that I honestly struggle with in media is selling yourself
all the time, Like I'm never gonna want to like
step on somebody's neck to get the big game. It's
just like never been me so being a part of
growing something bigger than just myself. It just feels a
little bit more rewarding on a day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Honestly, Yeah, it's interesting that you use the kind of
metaphor or visual of people pulling the same direction, because
when I stop being full time at ESPN, I'm still
they're part time working for espnW. But had this time
where I was going to all these conferences, I was
starting to I was looking at what I wanted to
do next and thinking, I want to do women's sports.
I want to be as in women's sports as possible
(12:23):
more often than not. And I suddenly was like, oh,
I'm totally built to be the salmon swimming upstream, but
that doesn't mean I have to be. And it's so
nice not to be. It's so nice to be. That's
it moving with people in who are you know, and
not to be sycophantic or not to go up against opposition,
but to have more people that have bought in and
are trying to go push for the same things that
(12:43):
you want, instead of it constantly being trying to convince
people who don't believe in women's sports, don't believe in
women athletes, that they're worthy of time and energy. So
I love that you're getting that from your job. Julie,
tell us about the PWHL Media House, is it more
than just YouTube or right now, is that a nice
fancy name for we've acquired Tessa and Julia right now
it is?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
It is very much you're looking at the house, but like,
I don't know, we kind of picture it being bigger
than us, Like there's lots of room for conversations around
all these teams. Like Tessa and I twice a week
on Tuesdays and Fridays, we hit on the major league
stories and kind of what's been jumping out to us
the most. But we picture like fan voices, We picture
(13:25):
a podcast for every team. We picture eventually going beyond
just hockey and having a whole network of women's sports podcasts.
And honestly, when we put PWHL Media House out there,
we were hoping people would come to us with their ideas,
and we've been excited with the interest and people reaching
out to us with their ideas and contributions. So it's
honestly a it's a what would I call it, like
(13:46):
one of those houses in a subdivision where you could
see all the plywood and stuff, but it hasn't been
really developed to do a full idea yet. That's what
we're looking at right now.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
All right, cool, Yeah, we're kind of doing the same
thing building the plane as we're flying it here at
iHeart women's sports. It's like, here's the idea, le get
badding stuff and making it better. Tessa, there's a big
difference between working for the media side versus being on
the league side. Do you feel like you could still
speak frankly about players and the league as employees of
the league.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Yeah, that was like one of the main things. That
was the first thing we discussed. I'm pretty sure I
brought it up right away. I was like, just so
you know, like we have complete creative control and we
don't want to muzzle on at all. Like if this
is going to be a thing, it's our thing, and
you're just helping us help you grow. And they were
totally cool that. They're like, we actually don't even want
to touch you, guys. You keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
We like it.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
And just to go back to, you know, the point
where everybody's told in the rope the same way and
not being a fish swimming upstream it was amazing when
we dropped our podcast how many people reached out to
help us for free, and it was like, we just
want to help make this great. We love it, We
love you know, the league, we love the ladies, and
we love what you're doing and that there's finally something
(14:53):
out there for this. So I'm sure you felt the same, Sarah.
But even in that, the League provided that for us
as well, even acquiring us and then encouraging us just
to continue to do what we're doing unless we completely
step off side and really offend somebody. However, they're just
like no keeping you keep doing exactly what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Like Julia said, we start our show just quick catch up, and.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Then you know, we're breaking down all the headlines of
that were between episodes, and then we run a super
fun chill candid you know, interview with one of the players.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Where As a player, myself.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Having been interviewed, I feel like there are moments where
you keep getting asked the same questions. Like in my bio,
my uncle Tim has been playing with the Beach Boys
since the nineties, right, and it's just like that always
came up and it was like, there's more to me
than that or like Ohio State, you know, you're a
co captain and you're the all time leader defense and
points and talk about that, and it's like, there's more
to me than just hockey, Like there's a lot of
(15:53):
cool stuff that I'm into that people could touch on,
or funny stuff where I'm a prankster. I love to
play pranks and Joe can laugh. And that's where I
was like, you know what, We're actually going to really
get to the core of these women and just really
show how marketable they actually are. Because I feel like
I say this all the time. We wear cages or
some people wear bubbles, and so when I would go
(16:15):
to events and I would have my helmet off, people
be like, oh gosh, i'see you, I didn't recognize you.
It's really hard to tell who you guys are with
your masks on.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And it's true.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
So we're just trying to peel back the mask and
really expose these women for who they are to the
core and for relatability. I mean, as a kid growing up,
I mean I looked up to a lot of male
hockey players, but there are a few female ones that
I really looked up to that I didn't know much about,
So we're just trying to give any reason for anyone
to connect with with the ladies that are donning all
these jerseys.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, I hear that a lot from big name women
athletes that are the very few that get a fair
amount of interviews, that it's just the same for things
from their Wikipedia because the person doesn't do the work
and doesn't really watch, and so they feel like they're
patting themselves on the back just for having them. But
now they've asked the same thing over.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
It's pretty funny though now, because is when we are
getting someone on and rereach out to a couple of
the teammates or players that I play with them in
years past, how like excited people are to dish dirt.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, they're like, we want to talk about good stuff,
We want to really open up, and it does make
players more relatable and more interesting. Do you ever struggle
to criticize her critique fellow players? Tests I mean, you've
been at it for long enough now you've probably figured
out that that's the job. Huh.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
No, And no, My thing is I'm not going to
kick a horse when it's down. Like Julie and I
talked about the other day, like I broke down a
play and I was like, listen, she knows what she
did wrong. I'm not going to be that coach that
walks down the bench when I threw repeats up the middle.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
I know what I did wrong.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
I'm not going to hammer down on it, but it
needs to be pointed out and addressed right. So for instance,
just on our last podcast, we talked about on the
Toronto Scepters their top defensive pairing and we're not a
fast and Jocelyn the Rock. They're underperforming right now, and
that's just because I have a standard that I set
for them and it's a completely reachable goal for them
(17:58):
to be able to play that way, and just right
now they aren't. And it's a similar trend that happened
last season. So you know, we're expecting them to bounce
back and be better because we know what they can offer,
not just eat up thirty minutes a game, right There's
there's more to it than that. They really need to
lead the breakout and make things easier on their team
getting out of their own ends so they're spending less
time back there and they can go jump up on offense.
(18:18):
So there's stuff like that where you know, we'renata. I
know her personally, I know her family very well. And
it's not like I'm saying she's a horrible player and
deserves try cut. It's just self reflection that she's probably
doing as well watching video after games.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Right, It's such a big part of sport, and I
think that's why people in sports are usually good at
taking criticism and actually want it. They seek it out
in order to be better instead of shying away from it.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
At that chip, Right, I've found that around the whole,
Like even a few people have asked me like, well,
what's it like working within the league, Like so many
of those women were teammates and stuff like how does
that work in a professional setting? So I find that
ties in with like us critiquing them. There is no
I don't know if there's any more honest relationship than
teammates and like in a long and those players know what.
(19:02):
I heard Sarah Nurse on a podcast recently. She was
on Empty Netters and they asked her what her like
welcome to the show moment was. I laughed so hard
at her response. She said she was walking down in
the street in Toronto last year when they had their
like one and three start. It was one of three
or one and four or something to that effect that
somebody tapped her on the shoulder and said, tough start
to the season.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I was hurt.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I made it in Toronto Hockey. I'm getting rapped. So
I think that they know it's kind of part of
being a pro and they all kind of welcome it.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Have you gotten any pushback from the league when you
have to report something that's bad news about the league
or that you think the league is airing on or
making a wrong decision on.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Nothing? Really, I don't.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
I can't remember one time that they've been like pleased,
don't or we would appreciate if not. And to be honest,
like we don't even really send our rundown to them
before we go to air.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It will be retroactive if they would be in a
Coyeah exactly. Not the quession. You guys are also gonna
appear in all the PWHL markets this season. You're gonna
hang out with fans, create some content service, host for
some special events. Julia, do you have any upcoming events
or special gigs you can tell us about.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Okay, well, we got a big run coming in January
like a lot. We're gonna be everywhere in January. We
are going to Seattle. Sounds like there's going to be
some special guests in the mix, I think, influential people
and women's hockey right now in Seattle, so we're hoping
that we could have a bit of a stop and
chat with her, and then we go right to Vancouver
for their takeover game, and then we're going to be
(20:28):
in Montreal for the CCM Hockey House event, and then
we're also going to be in Quebec City in January
for their takeover game. So we're gonna be all over this.
And we had so much fun in Minnesota with the
live podcast on the concourse and just getting to talk
to women's hockey fans. It's so cool to be in
that environment. Have you been to a game yet, Sarah, Sorry.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I'm no, I haven't.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
It is such a cool environment, like it feels like
being at the Eras Tour. It's warm, it's inviting, it
is everything, and the fans are engaged in a different
way than I've experienced hockey fans before, maybe because I
mostly experienced like anxious Toronto hockey fans that are always
like watching games and holding their breath. But it's a
totally different feel, like we're really.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Tons of tons of those friendship bracelets. What do you
call those, Julia, Yeah, friendship bracelets? Friendship I've been collecting. Yeah,
I've got a couple.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
That was so offended when she realized that you had
to trade friendship bracelets, like she was just saving them.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah, I'm collecting them.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Isn't there one team that does like dance breaks during
the intermissions? Oh?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, Montreal, Montreal.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, I've heard about that with Ye and the whole
place gets.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Jumping dance party in there, wild, like they pop the
roof off. There is no reason.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
I'm like, are they trying not to sell concessions because
they're making stories?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Fair?
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Good point. No, I'm dying to get to a game.
I'm bummed we don't have a Chicago team, but I
will travel to make sure I can get to them. Tessa,
do you have any sadness at all when you watch
the games to them that you didn't get the chance
to play in the PWHL. I know you played in
the Canadian Women's Hockey League, but it just feels like
this is a different time, a different era. To carry
on the Taylor Swift friendship bracelets we talked about in
(22:10):
women's hockey, and I'm sure you're happy for them, but
also like, oh, this would have been fun.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, I mean it would have been cool.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
But at the same time, it's like I get my
part in it now right by doing a podcast. It
would have been neat too, Yes to have played in it.
Am I envious?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I don't even know.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
If that's the right word. That feels icky, but like
I'm just so proud. I'm better, just happy and relieved. Yeah,
like if it was me, awesome, If not, who cares?
As long as it happens. That's where That's where we
all were at players my age and a bit older,
you know what I mean. It's just like, can we
just get this party started already? And you know, north
of the border, south of the board. I really don't
think anybody cared who or what or where. We just
(22:48):
wanted it to happen, and we wanted it to happen properly.
And the fact that it is now is just like
kind of a sigh relief, like, thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
My daughter finally now A yeah, they know all the
teams they watched for the highlights. My daughter the other
morning I played on her podcast. She's a Scepters fan.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
She loves Sarah Nurse and she's two, she's turning three.
She doesn't know who wins or loses. She just like
watches the pictures. Oh she does know when they lose, though,
well at because my son chooses to inform her. He's
a Montreal fan and he's like, ha ha, your team
loss and my daughter the entire morning.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
So it's cool that they have that though, right, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Love it, And I love that there's a generation growing
up with these leagues existing because that's the nostalgia and
the tradition that so many of us didn't have with
women's sports, and it's hard to recreate without it being organic.
So I love that. Okay, let's talk some storylines from
this season so far. Very early on, had a couple
of games and then took a break for the international
break that only one player ended up being in. But
(23:43):
that's a topic for another time. And well, we're turning
to action, so let's start with Minnesota because obviously they
won the inaugural Walter Cup last season, but there was
a lot of drama after that. Right after they hoisted
the trophy GM Natalie Darwitz ousted from the team following
an alleged riff with coach Ken Klee. Then at the
PWA raft, the team selected Britta Curl, who was booed
by fans at the draft because of her social media activity.
(24:06):
She had liked post promoting COVID nineteen conspiracy theories, attacking
inclusive language towards trans women, and appearing to show support
for Kyle Rittenhouse. So she has since apologized, but that
is not exactly the off season you want for the
inaugural Champs. After that win, Tessa, does it feel like
or do you have any sense of whether Britta Curl's
apology was enough for Minnesota fans who weren't excited by
(24:27):
her being drafted.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I think apology or not. I think what the league
stands for is inclusivity. And we had Brock mcgilles said,
I don't know if you know who Brock is. He
is a major leader in the forefront of making sports
inclusive and just educating And we had him on and
he was like, this is such an opportunity to educate
and teach somebody who clearly it sounds like to be
(24:50):
a little bit uneducated in this department. I had reached
out and spoken to a lot of her coaches and
former teammates and they gay and straight whatever, and they
were all madly in love with this girl. They said
she was awesome, that one of the best teammates and
leaders they ever had, what a great person. So it
felt like the online personality didn't really match the you know,
(25:12):
offline personality. So there's something going on there where I
feel like, you know, being in this league where no
one settles for anything but being inclusive and for loving
everyone for who they are, is a really good space
for her to not only grow as a player, but
a person as well. And I will say she did
not get booed in their home opener or banner raising,
and I don't think she's been booed since Julia. However,
(25:34):
in talking with some of the teammates there, yeah, they
all you know, have brought her into the locker room,
made her feel welcome. Like I said, I feel like
it's a true moment of instead of pushing someone away
and creating more space and more of a riff, it's
more of an embrace and it's like, come here, just
let me show you something.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Kind of.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
And I think that just speaks to the value of
this league, not only you know what it does for
the players in it, but also for the fans and
the people that you know, watch it and support it.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
As of safe space.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, I'm trying to hold space for people who come
from maybe a family or a home environment with belief
systems and things that have kept them sheltered from being
more educated and involved on those issues and allowed them
some time. But I also get that it's very difficult
to be in a locker room and in a space
and share the ice with someone who fundamentally doesn't believe
in my existence or my idea, you know that sort
(26:28):
of thing. So I get that there's probably some conflict
for a lot of folks, But I think you're right.
A lot of times in sports we see what we
call calling in instead of calling out, and that that's
a better way to get people to see your point
of view as opposed to demonizing them. They also had
the issue with their with their GM Julia, And have
(26:49):
you seen following Darwitz's departure, how Melissa Cruso, their new
general manager, has transitioned into taking a hold of this team.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well, we haven't seen her make a whole bunch of
moves yet, just because the moves at the draft were
mostly ken Clease and there hasn't been any movement on
the actual roster yet. But it seems like she's well
loved within the market, like she has a ton of
experience in men's hockey, she has experienced in women's hockey
as well. Seems like she's well loved. It would have
been hard to continue with a rift between a coach
(27:19):
and a GM like that just has to be such
a sacred relationship. PWHL had a third party come in
and investigate that whole situation and those those results weren't
made public, but based on that investigation, sounds like the
right person was let go and now the right person
is in place. It does sound like things are kind
(27:40):
of going swimmingly in Minnesota this year. And aside from
that ot loss in their first game, like, they have
been amazing to start the season right, like everybody who
just kind of had eyes on them because of all
that off season drama that you just met. Then the
first loss, Yeah, okay, what's.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That first loss? Was? Like?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
In overtime though they had a good game, they needed
the second win, and then they picked up that second
win and they just been rolling ever since. So there
has been a lot of eyes on that team, like
Kendall Coin, your Chicago girl face so much hate this
summer and we are just like in love with her. Oh,
she just did the best interview with Kendall Coin Schofield
I have ever heard in my life. It's like one
of our most recent episodes of the podcast. And I
(28:17):
don't know, I think that a lot of that drama
was I don't want to reduce it to noise, but
I think there might have been more like noise around
it because there wasn't so much that was revealed to
the public, and I created a little bit more noise than.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Maybe that sometimes happens where being more transparent would actually
help the situation. But also this is something one of
my producers, Alex is big hockey person and has worked
in the space a lot and consistently.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Lower body injury kind of sport.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Right, it's a lower body But also it's so limited
in terms of the people who are paid to cover
women's hockey and who do the work that there can
be voices that rise to the top even without enough
information or there can just be a lot of speculation
that stems from not having access or not having enough
people doing good vetted reporting, and that allows rumors and
other things to be the dominant storyline if there isn't
(29:06):
any like good solid reporting being done. And also I
think maybe a lesson for the league and the team
that being proactive about getting information out there and having
it available to good media will end things faster than
trying to cover it up or trying to not talk
about it and then let it build and build in
snowball into something that it never was. If that's indeed
(29:26):
what this was.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Yeah, And I think like her exit just out of respect,
I think that you know, they didn't really want stuff
to go public.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And I'm not saying this like there was something.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Major or bad, but like her exit with the Minnesota
Gophers was the exact same thing, and it caught tereer attraction.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
It's it's two very parallel stories with no information.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
So who you get mad at?
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Right?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
And then that's I'm not defending the league here. I
wanted to know. When I saw she left the Govers,
I was like, well, hold the phone, what's going on here?
Why would you ever get rid of it?
Speaker 1 (29:56):
I mean women's sports especially. I feel like we saw
it with the NWS. There were teams that with intentions
said thank you so much for your time here, goodbye,
and then that person got rehired, and then years later
it came out that they were fired for good reason.
And if that first team had said we fired this
person for a good reason, they probably wouldn't have gotten
hired again and been able to go do the same
thing elsewhere. So I think in women's sports, especially the
(30:18):
transparency there. I'm not saying that there's anything that Darwitz
did that's up to that level. I'm just saying in general,
there needs to be more communication and willingness to speak
out about stuff so that we can make sure the
right people are in the right positions. Let's go to
the bottom of the standings New York. They were the
clear sixth place team last year. What are your expectations
for them this year?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Julia, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Me and Tesa like, we're both just about to start
screaming because we're both obsessed with this team right now
and watching Alex Carpenter play with sarahiliate. Alex Carpenter is
like the most serious person in women's hockey. I would
say when I was between when I would be rinkside
for Women's World Championship games, and I'd get the okay,
grab carpeep between periods and'd be like, okay, crack my neck,
crack my knuckles. Am I going to get a smile
(31:00):
out of this girl between periods and get her to
say a few words for me? Not because she's rude
or anything. She is just serious about her craft and
she's a little bit stoic. And last year in New
York it went beyond that. She was extremely pissed off
all season and you could see it on her face.
She did not enjoy losing and she did not enjoy
the way things were last year. And Sarah Phillier, the
first overall pick, comes into the fold this season, and
(31:22):
we all expected it to be good, Like we were
all looking forward to seeing those two play together tests,
and it just has been beyond what we expected. It's
like they're making magic on ice.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Tess, I want to ask about that. So they get
the number one pick in Sarah Phillia, but it took
a while for her to actually sign a contract. It's
kind of complicated, but can you sort of quickly explain
what caused that hold up?
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Yeah, So based on my understanding, you know, usually your
first pick or your first overall pick, you're going to
sign them to a three year deal. And I think
Sarah with her agent, just saw the trajectory of the
league and it's like, Okay, well, this isn't going to
be the cap for the next three years.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
It's likely going to go up every year.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Let's prove ourselves in year one and signed a one
year deal and then see what happens after that. So
I feel like any small business, you're just trying to
make the best business move for yourself, and I think
that's what she did, because she ended up signing a
one year.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Deal, right and were they out of three year deals?
There's only six players?
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Well, they weren't a minimum of six minimum.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
That's a great example of something that was going around online.
We did a deep bunk on that on our podcast because.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Okay, so they have a minimum of six, not only six.
And so this was an election from her interesting business
business election. That's great.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I like that. Yeah, he had been so far.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Betton on yourself and Betton on the league. That's very cool.
Moving over to Boston. We're running out of time here,
but I want to ask you about Hillary Knight, both
this season and last year too. So she's been so
clutched for so long on the international level, but she
struggled to find the back of the net in PWHL
games last year, even while she was dazzling for Team USA.
She's already recorded a couple clutch goals this season in
(32:55):
the PWHL. So maybe she's back on the up and up.
But do you have a sense of maybe why there
was a disconnect betwe mean her performance in p WHL
and national team Tessa.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
She was injured last year. She had uh she actually
we haven't launched this episode yet, but she was in
fact injured last season.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I touched on it a little bit. I had heard
a little rumbling of.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
It, so, but I didn't want to outright say because
she hadn't made any announcement on it yet. However, she
was going through it last year and it was the
first season of the p WHL. She didn't want to
miss it, and rightfully so, she had fought so hard
for that and she was one of the pioneers of
it all.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
So have at it.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
But this season.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
I remember saying to Julia, like she's healthy, like this
is going to be a lookout and yeah, and just
with the national team, I feel like the second you
throw that jersey on, something just happens.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
It's like trying to.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Think why it until the gold medal game, Like she
was crazy in the gold medal game like she does.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yeah, her and who went off.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah, And of course, like the talent of the p
WHL is super high as well, but there is something
to be said for like how much it elevates your
personal game when the people you're playing with are able
to pass, receive passes, play with you and rhythm all
that stuff.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
So well, that's it, right.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
She had carp with her as well, so it was like, Okay,
this is going to be something. All you got to
do really is get yourself to the front of the
net and they'll find you.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
So I'm not saying that's what she did, but.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah, if Hillary Knight had the nickname, by the way,
it would just be a problem. Yeah, like that would
be a great nickname for Hillary Knight.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Is just a problem, Canada's problem.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
We love it, we love it. Speed round for some
two early superlatives. Okay, Julia, which forward line on any
of the teams has impressed or surprised you the most
so far?
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Oh, I'm going with Eldridge, Carpenter and Philia in New York.
They are the line this year, and yeah, I'm obsessed.
I just watched them with hard eyes. Whenever I watch them.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Tessa, I'll double down on that. However, I'll let's go
to Toronto Scepters. It was at the beginning of the season.
This line has recently changed, but it was Darryl Watts,
Sarah Nurse and Ezzy Daniel. Sarah Nurse was leading the
charge with two i'll say rookies, even though Wats played
last season, but she's new on the Toronto Scepters. That
line every game they were together, they were creating something
(35:11):
and I didn't I did not expect them to be
that forceful right.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Off the hop all right, Tessa, whose game has made
the biggest jump from last season A player.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
Hillary Knight you mentioned it easily heard, but she has
the I don't want to say excuse because I don't
like excuses, but she had.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Explanation the context.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
What about you, Julia, You know what I think Sarah
Nurse had a really big off season. She's had a
little bit of a pep in her step to start
the year, So I'm going to go with her Nursey.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
We need to come up with the name for pep
in your step involving skates, because I don't think you'd
want to like get pet your step on ice. No,
you wouldn't glide in your slide slide glide, slide and
your glid.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
I want to give a shout out.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
That sounds like maybe you had too many vegetables before
the game.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
That feels like going fast.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Yeah, yes, it just showed smelly. But also Dominic Petrie
on the Minnesota Frost. She's a newcomer and she's just
been forced to be reckoned with and she's hilarious. I
had a chance to interview or two. That kid is funny.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Cool. Finally, what team is most likely to prevent the
Frost from repeating? Julia?
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Oh, the parody in this league is crazy? Is what
I want to just start this with. And I know
that's such a compound answer, but I truly think that
any team could win this league. I am going to
go with New York, though I like the idea going
worse to first and I just think Carpenter was too
angry last year to not win this year.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Tessa, I'll go with Montreal just based on the fact
that their goaltending and of course Captain Clutch. The way
they went out last year, I don't think Mary Philip
Pulaine company will let happen again. Yeah, and they've got
some serious depth this year.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
So yeah, Now she's got old married strength. I don't
know if that's a thing, but we always say old
man strength, so old married strength. We'll make that up. Okay. Finally,
very quickly, Julia, tell us one episode of your pod
to listen to that has a juicy storyline or a
great interview.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
My favorite episode of our podcast of all time is
the Emma Malta episode from last season. Emma Malta is
like the most lovable character of all time. She is
also an Ohio State alumni. Not that I am just
Tessa's but somehow I've taken it on because I spent
too much goddamn time with Tessa. She's just the funniest
person ever. Her stories about her mom, her stories about college,
(37:42):
her stories about laminating her eyebrows and getting them all
messed up. It's electric content.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Okay, all right, I'm gonna download that one. Tessa, how
about you?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
That we've done already last season.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
I liked Jesse eldridgees. She also is one heck of
a character.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
The story about how how she got her dog and
where her dog came from.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Is what it is.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
What it's disturb you looking for her dog?
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Okay, great, so she stole a dog. We'll listen to
that one, and we will listen to the podcast and
get more invested in all these fun, great interesting storylines
and athletes from this league. Thank you both so much
for joining us. Congrats on your new house, and we're
looking forward to the builds, to the architecture of the additions,
the new wings, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Thanks so much to Tessa and Julia for joining us.
We got to take another break when we come back.
We lament the loss of one of the most reliable
TV sources for fall on the floor, laps and women's
sports references. Welcome back. We love that you're listening, but
we want you to get in the game every day too,
(38:54):
So here's our good game play of the day. Listen
to Jocks and Jill's we'll link to the show and
the episodes Julie and Tessa mentioned in the show notes
and making up to catch a p WHL game this week.
If you're in the States, you can watch right on YouTube.
So easy. We always love to hear from you. Hit
us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com,
or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
o four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate
(39:17):
and review It's easy watch Girls five Eva not getting
renewed by Netflix. Rating minus infinity stars review. This is
one of my favorite shows of all time. This show
is veepesque and it's laughs per minent tally and Girls
five Eva has been canceled by Netflix. This is the
second time this show has been canceled by Morn's, first
(39:38):
by Peacock, and then Netflix picked it up for season
three and now they canceled it too. What is going on? People?
Busy Phillips, one of the stars of the show, set
on her doing her best podcast quote, it's dead. Yeah,
I'm just saying it because if Netflix won't, I will.
I guess not enough people watched it or watched it
the way that counts, or I don't know I actually
just don't know. End quote, but she did leave the
(40:00):
door open, saying quote, I don't think it'll ever be
dead dead. The characters are too good. I've even joked
with the cast like we should do Radio City or
turn it into a live stage show, a musical, maybe
even Broadway someday. End quote. But she also said something
interesting about the name of the show, hinting that it
could have been part of the problem for people scrolling
and just seeing the show title. She said, quote, I
(40:20):
think the name Girls five Ava is amazing and totally right,
but I think it's possible it alienates men like straight dudes.
Has anyone ever done a study and how women forward
titles affect the success of shows? End quote. I don't
know if they've done a study about the titles, but
there is endless research about men being unwilling to watch
movies and shows where women are the central characters because
they feel like they can't relate, even though girls and
(40:42):
women have had to spend their entire lives aligning themselves
with these stories and accomplishments and great and epic journeys
of men. So uugh, so sad. Side note, By the way,
since we've been talking a lot about women's sports references
in pop culture. Girls five Ava was one of our
favorite sources some of those references. For instance, at one
(41:02):
point they read that the dad from the show All
My Girls finally died, and one of them says, oh
my god, we met when we were both judges at
the WNBA layup contest. Another time, Paul Pell's character says,
I got a lot of shit to deal with. I'm
bad at letting go. I have a SIMS character named
Val who's been shooting hoops for twenty years. In season one,
the group books a gig singing the national anthem for
(41:23):
the quarterfinals of a w NHL game, and then they
decide to use a hologram of the one member of
the group that died, and then the hologram starts glitching
and then they get boot off the ice. It's pretty good,
and then of course the Rebecca Lobo cameo. There's this
character named Taffy England and she throws a birthday party
in which all of the posters from her childhood bedroom
come to life, and Rebecca Lobo is one of them.
(41:44):
Bring it on gets a shout out too. We even
actually had Rebecca on this show, like one of our
very first episodes, and we asked her about being on
set and meeting all the girls from Girls five EVA.
Here's a quick clip from.
Speaker 5 (41:55):
That one time, Sarah Burrelli's just She's like, I'm going
to get coffee. Would you like me to get you
some coffee? And then we just ended up having this
long conversation about coffee and life and a variety of things,
and she could not have been more awesome.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Now go back and listen to the whole thing. It
was literally episode two of our show, so you have
to scroll back in your feed for a while, but
it's worth it. The whole conversation is good, but especially
her behind the scenes from the show. Anyway, Middle fingers
to whoever was in charge of deciding that. Now it's
your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow,
where we will finally finally pick a name for ourselves.
(42:33):
Good Game, Tessa, Good Game, Julia. You networks that cancel great, funny,
smart shows while rolling out season eleventy of so you
think you can take a dump? Well? Singing Good Game
with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
(42:54):
get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers
are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our
editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and Lindsay Cradowell.
Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where, just like
our girl Paige Beckers, we always credit the person who
made the assist, even if they're on the other team.
Google it friends. It's Thursday, December nineteenth, and on today's show,
we'll be chatting with Tessa Bonham and Julia to Cherry,
hosts of the Jocks and Jills podcast, about the return
of the PWHL, the team with the Best arena dance parties,
(00:21):
and Minnesota's turbulent offseason, plus NWSL expansion is headed to
the Mile High City. The Vibes Final Four has arrived
and two to two gets celebrated on two to two.
It's all coming up right after this welcome back Slices.
Here's what you need to know today. The NCAA Volleyball
(00:45):
Final Four gets underway tonight at the KFCYM Center in Louisville, Kentucky,
with back to back semi finals, and it'll be a
party of the number one seeds with all four number
ones making it. First up, Louisville takes on Pitt at
six thirty pm Eastern on ESPN. Pit is competing in
its fourth straight NCAA Final Four, but still looking for
the program's first ever national title. Then at nine PM,
(01:07):
Eastern Penn State matches up against Nebraska, also on ESPN.
Those two programs own the second and third most volleyball
national titles seven and five, respectively, behind only Stanford's nine.
And get this, y'all. According to Nielsen, this year's NCAA
Regionals were the most watched on record, averaging four hundred
and one thousand viewers. That's good for an increase of
(01:29):
ninety eight percent year over year. That's right, almost one
hundred percent increase. Incredible, Plus, the regional semis and finals
included five of the most watched regional matches ever. Sunday's
contest between Wisconsin and Nebraska got the most eyes, with
a total of seven hundred ninety eight thousand viewers to
the NWSL. According to reporting from Sportico and ESPN, the
(01:50):
NWSL is close to finalizing Denver as the latest expansion side,
beating out fellow finalists Cincinnati and Cleveland. Per Sportico, the
investment group led by IMS Financial Group CEO Rob Cohen,
would pay somewhere between one hundred five and one hundred
and twenty million dollars to bring an expansion side to Denver.
That would be the highest expansion fee in women's sports history.
(02:11):
For reference, the NWSL expansion clubs BFC and Boston paid
fifty three million dollars in expansion fees just a couple
years ago. By the way, I am shocked by that news.
I thought for sure Cincinnati would win the bid because
of the MLS ties and the arena fascinated to see
what ended up putting Denver over the top. I'm sure
we're gonna hear about it to college hoops. You might
recall that after Katelyn Clark finished her college career last April,
(02:34):
it only took four days for Iowa to announce that
the school planned to retire her jersey. Well, now we've
got a date for the ceremony. The Hawkeyes plan to
unveil Clark's number twenty two jersey up in the rafters
on February second, aka two to two, before Iowa tips
off against usc that day. Only bummer is Kate litt'le
b two three twenty three. By the time this two
(02:54):
to two party happens, we got to take a quick break.
When we come back, earning butter and swimming upstream. It's
a PWHL Group Chat with Tessa and Julia. Stick around.
It's time for another group chat where we take the
tea from the text and put it on the airwaves.
Joining us, she's one half of the Jock and Jill's
(03:16):
podcast and the senior Director of New Media for the PWHL.
A former professional ice hockey player, she was an Olympic
gold medallist as member of Canada's national women's hockey team,
and she played for the Toronto Furies in the Canadian
Women's Hockey League. She was co captain of the Ohio
State Buckeyes hockey team. Spent ten years as a TV
sports reporter for TSN and has appeared in several TV
shows and movies including Man Seeking Woman, Goon, Letter, Kenny
(03:38):
and Shorsey. It's Tessa Bonham. What's up? Tessa?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Oh my gosh, you did your research. That's way too.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
It was so good and unlike.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
My friend Chris Versti, you won Battle of the Blades.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Correct, That is correct?
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Joining her the other half of the Jack and Jill's
podcast and the director of New Media for the PWHL.
She spent six years with TSN and bar Down as
a content and host and was the co host of
Leif's Lunch on TSN ten fifty for a couple of years,
making her one of the few women in Canada anchor
a position in sports radio. She spent four years as
a historical interpreter at Fort William Historical Park. We're gonna
(04:13):
need to hear more about that. It's Julia to Jerry.
What's up?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Oh my gosh, Sarah, thank you so much. First of all,
whenever Tessa gets interroed before me, I'm like, oh damn,
here we go with the medals and the Worlds and
the Olympics. But you adding my history as an interpreter
made it all worth it. Test actually doesn't know this
about me, and I've been I've been waiting to tell her.
It came up in a conversation recently and I meant
to tell her the story. But I'm glad that we'll
(04:37):
have this platform to I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Let's just start. There was that like a historical reenactment
thing where you were dressed as a historical character and
telling people about what happened way back when.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, I am the way I am like largely because
of that experience, I think four.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Years, four years is a long time I don't work
it were you doing?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Okay, Yeah, I'll get into Annabell right now. So basically,
I'm from a place called thunder Bay, Ontario, about sixteen
hours north of where I sit right now in Toronto.
And in the early eighteen hundreds, there was a fur
trading post there. It was owned by the Northwest Company
and it was operated mostly by voyagers and their Indigenous
(05:18):
wives and families. And I played a voyager's daughter every
single summer. And her name was Annabelle, and she was
sixteen and I think she had four kids, and she
had a fabulous husband. And it was honestly the best
summer job ever. It was the weirdest summer job ever,
like my parents, like it was close to my house
(05:38):
and my parents made me walk up the street and
give my resume and then I was horrified when I
got the job, and all my friends made fun of
me about it relentlessly because I'd have to go put
my skirt and my bonnet on to go to work.
Every day in the summer, I hung over, like you
know how you know how real it is to be
hungover at eighteen years old and have to turn butter?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yeahouldn't say I do not know that gular experience, but
I'm imagining it and I feel like it really shaped
you and gave you a good work ethics.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
So I am the way I am exclusive.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
The fact that this hasn't come up on your podcast
yet is this to me?
Speaker 4 (06:10):
And like, oh, this should have been day one stuffs.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
So many photos of me with like a little goat
in my hands, under my arm or a chicken. Not
only was I working this job, but I also worked
the farm. Like everybody was in a different department. There
was like the tradesmen and they got to do cool
stuff with tin and like wood, and then there was
the family life department and they were mostly in the
kitchen baking bread. And I got put on the farm.
(06:34):
So not only was I yelling shit, I was doing
it in historic garb.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Did you have lines?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
No, I didn't have lines. I just had to know
the story. You just had to know every day.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, it was insane and knowledge about fur traders. Okay, Well,
I don't know where we go from there, because that
is gonna be the peak of the interview for me.
I'm going to picture you in a bonnet turning butter
for the rest of this and maybe how that might
have affected, you know, your ability to call games.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
And I have an historical face, said to me. They're like,
you kind of have a historical face too, What did
I just know?
Speaker 5 (07:06):
All?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
I don't have a lip filler like you do. Look
a little like an American girl doll from you know,
back in the day. So that works.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
One of those bad as a kid. Yeah, my parent
and my dad got me scared of them. So that's
another good full circle movement.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Oh my god. Okay, so let's talk about your podcast,
since you somehow haven't covered this fertile ground. You had
a successful first season, consistently ranked in Canada's top ten
hockey podcast the only women's hockey focused and all women
hosted podcasts. To achieve that milestone, your podcast, Jocks and
Jills and you two were acquired by the p WHL,
just like they bought up the whole damn thing. Test.
(07:42):
So that's a big leap to leave TSN after a
decade to join the p WHL. Why make the move? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:48):
You know what, I felt like I had done everything
that I could at TSM. You know, I'd covered the
World Junior Championships, I'd gone and covered the men's World
Hockey Championships. I'd cover the major tennis ornaments. I'd been
on Sports Center for years, I'd covered all of the
World championships. For the women the Rivalry series. It just
felt like I was tapped out and there was I
(08:09):
was kind of knocking my head at the ceiling and
the only thing I really wanted to do that was
left was cover professional women's hockey full time. And when
we heard the league was, you know, dropping last season,
we were like, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Called Julia right away.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
I was like, I got an idea, and she was
like podcast. I was like, yes, that is the exact evolution.
Very let's not go out to podcasts. So we did,
and honestly, it was so fulfilling doing it. It was
just it felt right. I was happy doing work. I
didn't you know, it was extra Obviously, I was running
on no sleep. I'd get home from like three in
(08:44):
the morning from work and I'd be up at six
with my kids, and then we'd have to record an episode,
and sometimes we were doing it late at night. Julia
was waiting for me to get home from work.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
But it didn't matter. It was fun.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
It really made my heart full and really felt like
I had a proper purpose and so and push came
to show where this opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
It just felt like a no brainer.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
It didn't feel like, you know, I was leaving something
behind that I wasn't done with yet. I'm not to
say that I was done with them, but that, like
I said, I had done everything. So all I wanted
to do was, you know, shine light on these women
that you know, have walked the same path that I
have and you know, training for hockey, going to university,
hoping for a pro league afterwards, and they made it happen,
(09:25):
and so I just we just want to help, you know,
make it grow and help get these ladies the notoriety
that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, you know, I've hosted a couple espnW summits up
in Toronto, so my knowledge of the sports space up
in Canada is getting better, but still quite limited. And
I wonder, could you have done a whole bunch of
PWHL stuff at TSN. Were they industed in leaning into
covering it or is it still something you're trying to
push for there.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
So there was a moment where I was trying to
figure out if I was going to stay on TSN
as you know, a part time employee. And and when
I found out what the broadcasting deal was between the
league and TSN, we were just simply going to be TSN,
and I shouldn't say we. TSN was simply going to
be playing, plugging and playing the games, So that means
(10:11):
they were just going to be running the broadcast that
Dome Productions was putting out. They wouldn't put a panel
together into a pregame or intermission stuff, so really I
wouldn't be involved at all. So this was my way
of kind of forcing myself to be involved with the
league and it's coverage.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, Julia, how about you. You weren't there quite as long,
But five years is a long time, and you're starting
your career a little bit more earlier in your career
than Tessa's. So maybe a boulder move to make that leap.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, it felt that way. I'm twenty six and Tessa's
only twenty eight, so she has more years center her
belt than I do. I don't know. I've been thinking
about this a little bit more recently, like with the
with the hindsight of already having left and with having
two feet on the ground in the PWHL now and
the work environment is so different. And that's not an
a on the work environment at TSN though, but we
(11:02):
work with a lot of women every day tests and
a lot of women that are pulling in the same direction.
And I knew that was the case because we'd gotten
to work around the PWHL a lot last season in
doing a couple of games for their broadcast and covering
their games for Sports Center last year. So I don't know,
I was just really attracted to the energy. And then
I hilariously I was only there for six years, but
(11:23):
I honestly did kind of get to do everything at
TSN as well, from the World Juniors to junior hockey,
to women's hockey to radio. Like you mentioned radio that
feels like fever dream almost that I did that for
a couple of years sports Center, like I had kind
of touched everything there, and there was just this deeper
sense of meaning that came with the PWHL, Like something
(11:45):
that I honestly struggle with in media is selling yourself
all the time, Like I'm never gonna want to like
step on somebody's neck to get the big game. It's
just like never been me so being a part of
growing something bigger than just myself. It just feels a
little bit more rewarding on a day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Honestly, Yeah, it's interesting that you use the kind of
metaphor or visual of people pulling the same direction, because
when I stop being full time at ESPN, I'm still
they're part time working for espnW. But had this time
where I was going to all these conferences, I was
starting to I was looking at what I wanted to
do next and thinking, I want to do women's sports.
I want to be as in women's sports as possible
(12:23):
more often than not. And I suddenly was like, oh,
I'm totally built to be the salmon swimming upstream, but
that doesn't mean I have to be. And it's so
nice not to be. It's so nice to be. That's
it moving with people in who are you know, and
not to be sycophantic or not to go up against opposition,
but to have more people that have bought in and
are trying to go push for the same things that
(12:43):
you want, instead of it constantly being trying to convince
people who don't believe in women's sports, don't believe in
women athletes, that they're worthy of time and energy. So
I love that you're getting that from your job. Julie,
tell us about the PWHL Media House, is it more
than just YouTube or right now, is that a nice
fancy name for we've acquired Tessa and Julia right now
it is?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
It is very much you're looking at the house, but like,
I don't know, we kind of picture it being bigger
than us, Like there's lots of room for conversations around
all these teams. Like Tessa and I twice a week
on Tuesdays and Fridays, we hit on the major league
stories and kind of what's been jumping out to us
the most. But we picture like fan voices, We picture
(13:25):
a podcast for every team. We picture eventually going beyond
just hockey and having a whole network of women's sports podcasts.
And honestly, when we put PWHL Media House out there,
we were hoping people would come to us with their ideas,
and we've been excited with the interest and people reaching
out to us with their ideas and contributions. So it's
honestly a it's a what would I call it, like
(13:46):
one of those houses in a subdivision where you could
see all the plywood and stuff, but it hasn't been
really developed to do a full idea yet. That's what
we're looking at right now.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
All right, cool, Yeah, we're kind of doing the same
thing building the plane as we're flying it here at
iHeart women's sports. It's like, here's the idea, le get
badding stuff and making it better. Tessa, there's a big
difference between working for the media side versus being on
the league side. Do you feel like you could still
speak frankly about players and the league as employees of
the league.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Yeah, that was like one of the main things. That
was the first thing we discussed. I'm pretty sure I
brought it up right away. I was like, just so
you know, like we have complete creative control and we
don't want to muzzle on at all. Like if this
is going to be a thing, it's our thing, and
you're just helping us help you grow. And they were
totally cool that. They're like, we actually don't even want
to touch you, guys. You keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
We like it.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
And just to go back to, you know, the point
where everybody's told in the rope the same way and
not being a fish swimming upstream it was amazing when
we dropped our podcast how many people reached out to
help us for free, and it was like, we just
want to help make this great. We love it, We
love you know, the league, we love the ladies, and
we love what you're doing and that there's finally something
(14:53):
out there for this. So I'm sure you felt the same, Sarah.
But even in that, the League provided that for us
as well, even acquiring us and then encouraging us just
to continue to do what we're doing unless we completely
step off side and really offend somebody. However, they're just
like no keeping you keep doing exactly what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Like Julia said, we start our show just quick catch up, and.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Then you know, we're breaking down all the headlines of
that were between episodes, and then we run a super
fun chill candid you know, interview with one of the players.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Where As a player, myself.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Having been interviewed, I feel like there are moments where
you keep getting asked the same questions. Like in my bio,
my uncle Tim has been playing with the Beach Boys
since the nineties, right, and it's just like that always
came up and it was like, there's more to me
than that or like Ohio State, you know, you're a
co captain and you're the all time leader defense and
points and talk about that, and it's like, there's more
to me than just hockey, Like there's a lot of
(15:53):
cool stuff that I'm into that people could touch on,
or funny stuff where I'm a prankster. I love to
play pranks and Joe can laugh. And that's where I
was like, you know what, We're actually going to really
get to the core of these women and just really
show how marketable they actually are. Because I feel like
I say this all the time. We wear cages or
some people wear bubbles, and so when I would go
(16:15):
to events and I would have my helmet off, people
be like, oh gosh, i'see you, I didn't recognize you.
It's really hard to tell who you guys are with
your masks on.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And it's true.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
So we're just trying to peel back the mask and
really expose these women for who they are to the
core and for relatability. I mean, as a kid growing up,
I mean I looked up to a lot of male
hockey players, but there are a few female ones that
I really looked up to that I didn't know much about,
So we're just trying to give any reason for anyone
to connect with with the ladies that are donning all
these jerseys.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, I hear that a lot from big name women
athletes that are the very few that get a fair
amount of interviews, that it's just the same for things
from their Wikipedia because the person doesn't do the work
and doesn't really watch, and so they feel like they're
patting themselves on the back just for having them. But
now they've asked the same thing over.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
It's pretty funny though now, because is when we are
getting someone on and rereach out to a couple of
the teammates or players that I play with them in
years past, how like excited people are to dish dirt.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, they're like, we want to talk about good stuff,
We want to really open up, and it does make
players more relatable and more interesting. Do you ever struggle
to criticize her critique fellow players? Tests I mean, you've
been at it for long enough now you've probably figured
out that that's the job. Huh.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
No, And no, My thing is I'm not going to
kick a horse when it's down. Like Julie and I
talked about the other day, like I broke down a
play and I was like, listen, she knows what she
did wrong. I'm not going to be that coach that
walks down the bench when I threw repeats up the middle.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
I know what I did wrong.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
I'm not going to hammer down on it, but it
needs to be pointed out and addressed right. So for instance,
just on our last podcast, we talked about on the
Toronto Scepters their top defensive pairing and we're not a
fast and Jocelyn the Rock. They're underperforming right now, and
that's just because I have a standard that I set
for them and it's a completely reachable goal for them
(17:58):
to be able to play that way, and just right
now they aren't. And it's a similar trend that happened
last season. So you know, we're expecting them to bounce
back and be better because we know what they can offer,
not just eat up thirty minutes a game, right There's
there's more to it than that. They really need to
lead the breakout and make things easier on their team
getting out of their own ends so they're spending less
time back there and they can go jump up on offense.
(18:18):
So there's stuff like that where you know, we'renata. I
know her personally, I know her family very well. And
it's not like I'm saying she's a horrible player and
deserves try cut. It's just self reflection that she's probably
doing as well watching video after games.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Right, It's such a big part of sport, and I
think that's why people in sports are usually good at
taking criticism and actually want it. They seek it out
in order to be better instead of shying away from it.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
At that chip, Right, I've found that around the whole,
Like even a few people have asked me like, well,
what's it like working within the league, Like so many
of those women were teammates and stuff like how does
that work in a professional setting? So I find that
ties in with like us critiquing them. There is no
I don't know if there's any more honest relationship than
teammates and like in a long and those players know what.
(19:02):
I heard Sarah Nurse on a podcast recently. She was
on Empty Netters and they asked her what her like
welcome to the show moment was. I laughed so hard
at her response. She said she was walking down in
the street in Toronto last year when they had their
like one and three start. It was one of three
or one and four or something to that effect that
somebody tapped her on the shoulder and said, tough start
to the season.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I was hurt.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I made it in Toronto Hockey. I'm getting rapped. So
I think that they know it's kind of part of
being a pro and they all kind of welcome it.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Have you gotten any pushback from the league when you
have to report something that's bad news about the league
or that you think the league is airing on or
making a wrong decision on.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Nothing? Really, I don't.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
I can't remember one time that they've been like pleased,
don't or we would appreciate if not. And to be honest,
like we don't even really send our rundown to them
before we go to air.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It will be retroactive if they would be in a
Coyeah exactly. Not the quession. You guys are also gonna
appear in all the PWHL markets this season. You're gonna
hang out with fans, create some content service, host for
some special events. Julia, do you have any upcoming events
or special gigs you can tell us about.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Okay, well, we got a big run coming in January
like a lot. We're gonna be everywhere in January. We
are going to Seattle. Sounds like there's going to be
some special guests in the mix, I think, influential people
and women's hockey right now in Seattle, so we're hoping
that we could have a bit of a stop and
chat with her, and then we go right to Vancouver
for their takeover game, and then we're going to be
(20:28):
in Montreal for the CCM Hockey House event, and then
we're also going to be in Quebec City in January
for their takeover game. So we're gonna be all over this.
And we had so much fun in Minnesota with the
live podcast on the concourse and just getting to talk
to women's hockey fans. It's so cool to be in
that environment. Have you been to a game yet, Sarah, Sorry.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I'm no, I haven't.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
It is such a cool environment, like it feels like
being at the Eras Tour. It's warm, it's inviting, it
is everything, and the fans are engaged in a different
way than I've experienced hockey fans before, maybe because I
mostly experienced like anxious Toronto hockey fans that are always
like watching games and holding their breath. But it's a
totally different feel, like we're really.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Tons of tons of those friendship bracelets. What do you
call those, Julia, Yeah, friendship bracelets? Friendship I've been collecting. Yeah,
I've got a couple.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
That was so offended when she realized that you had
to trade friendship bracelets, like she was just saving them.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah, I'm collecting them.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Isn't there one team that does like dance breaks during
the intermissions? Oh?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, Montreal, Montreal.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, I've heard about that with Ye and the whole
place gets.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Jumping dance party in there, wild, like they pop the
roof off. There is no reason.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
I'm like, are they trying not to sell concessions because
they're making stories?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Fair?
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Good point. No, I'm dying to get to a game.
I'm bummed we don't have a Chicago team, but I
will travel to make sure I can get to them. Tessa,
do you have any sadness at all when you watch
the games to them that you didn't get the chance
to play in the PWHL. I know you played in
the Canadian Women's Hockey League, but it just feels like
this is a different time, a different era. To carry
on the Taylor Swift friendship bracelets we talked about in
(22:10):
women's hockey, and I'm sure you're happy for them, but
also like, oh, this would have been fun.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, I mean it would have been cool.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
But at the same time, it's like I get my
part in it now right by doing a podcast. It
would have been neat too, Yes to have played in it.
Am I envious?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I don't even know.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
If that's the right word. That feels icky, but like
I'm just so proud. I'm better, just happy and relieved. Yeah,
like if it was me, awesome, If not, who cares?
As long as it happens. That's where That's where we
all were at players my age and a bit older,
you know what I mean. It's just like, can we
just get this party started already? And you know, north
of the border, south of the board. I really don't
think anybody cared who or what or where. We just
(22:48):
wanted it to happen, and we wanted it to happen properly.
And the fact that it is now is just like
kind of a sigh relief, like, thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
My daughter finally now A yeah, they know all the
teams they watched for the highlights. My daughter the other
morning I played on her podcast. She's a Scepters fan.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
She loves Sarah Nurse and she's two, she's turning three.
She doesn't know who wins or loses. She just like
watches the pictures. Oh she does know when they lose, though,
well at because my son chooses to inform her. He's
a Montreal fan and he's like, ha ha, your team
loss and my daughter the entire morning.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
So it's cool that they have that though, right, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Love it, And I love that there's a generation growing
up with these leagues existing because that's the nostalgia and
the tradition that so many of us didn't have with
women's sports, and it's hard to recreate without it being organic.
So I love that. Okay, let's talk some storylines from
this season so far. Very early on, had a couple
of games and then took a break for the international
break that only one player ended up being in. But
(23:43):
that's a topic for another time. And well, we're turning
to action, so let's start with Minnesota because obviously they
won the inaugural Walter Cup last season, but there was
a lot of drama after that. Right after they hoisted
the trophy GM Natalie Darwitz ousted from the team following
an alleged riff with coach Ken Klee. Then at the
PWA raft, the team selected Britta Curl, who was booed
by fans at the draft because of her social media activity.
(24:06):
She had liked post promoting COVID nineteen conspiracy theories, attacking
inclusive language towards trans women, and appearing to show support
for Kyle Rittenhouse. So she has since apologized, but that
is not exactly the off season you want for the
inaugural Champs. After that win, Tessa, does it feel like
or do you have any sense of whether Britta Curl's
apology was enough for Minnesota fans who weren't excited by
(24:27):
her being drafted.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I think apology or not. I think what the league
stands for is inclusivity. And we had Brock mcgilles said,
I don't know if you know who Brock is. He
is a major leader in the forefront of making sports
inclusive and just educating And we had him on and
he was like, this is such an opportunity to educate
and teach somebody who clearly it sounds like to be
(24:50):
a little bit uneducated in this department. I had reached
out and spoken to a lot of her coaches and
former teammates and they gay and straight whatever, and they
were all madly in love with this girl. They said
she was awesome, that one of the best teammates and
leaders they ever had, what a great person. So it
felt like the online personality didn't really match the you know,
(25:12):
offline personality. So there's something going on there where I
feel like, you know, being in this league where no
one settles for anything but being inclusive and for loving
everyone for who they are, is a really good space
for her to not only grow as a player, but
a person as well. And I will say she did
not get booed in their home opener or banner raising,
and I don't think she's been booed since Julia. However,
(25:34):
in talking with some of the teammates there, yeah, they
all you know, have brought her into the locker room,
made her feel welcome. Like I said, I feel like
it's a true moment of instead of pushing someone away
and creating more space and more of a riff, it's
more of an embrace and it's like, come here, just
let me show you something.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Kind of.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
And I think that just speaks to the value of
this league, not only you know what it does for
the players in it, but also for the fans and
the people that you know, watch it and support it.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
As of safe space.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, I'm trying to hold space for people who come
from maybe a family or a home environment with belief
systems and things that have kept them sheltered from being
more educated and involved on those issues and allowed them
some time. But I also get that it's very difficult
to be in a locker room and in a space
and share the ice with someone who fundamentally doesn't believe
in my existence or my idea, you know that sort
(26:28):
of thing. So I get that there's probably some conflict
for a lot of folks, But I think you're right.
A lot of times in sports we see what we
call calling in instead of calling out, and that that's
a better way to get people to see your point
of view as opposed to demonizing them. They also had
the issue with their with their GM Julia, And have
(26:49):
you seen following Darwitz's departure, how Melissa Cruso, their new
general manager, has transitioned into taking a hold of this team.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well, we haven't seen her make a whole bunch of
moves yet, just because the moves at the draft were
mostly ken Clease and there hasn't been any movement on
the actual roster yet. But it seems like she's well
loved within the market, like she has a ton of
experience in men's hockey, she has experienced in women's hockey
as well. Seems like she's well loved. It would have
been hard to continue with a rift between a coach
(27:19):
and a GM like that just has to be such
a sacred relationship. PWHL had a third party come in
and investigate that whole situation and those those results weren't
made public, but based on that investigation, sounds like the
right person was let go and now the right person
is in place. It does sound like things are kind
(27:40):
of going swimmingly in Minnesota this year. And aside from
that ot loss in their first game, like, they have
been amazing to start the season right, like everybody who
just kind of had eyes on them because of all
that off season drama that you just met. Then the
first loss, Yeah, okay, what's.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That first loss? Was? Like?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
In overtime though they had a good game, they needed
the second win, and then they picked up that second
win and they just been rolling ever since. So there
has been a lot of eyes on that team, like
Kendall Coin, your Chicago girl face so much hate this
summer and we are just like in love with her. Oh,
she just did the best interview with Kendall Coin Schofield
I have ever heard in my life. It's like one
of our most recent episodes of the podcast. And I
(28:17):
don't know, I think that a lot of that drama
was I don't want to reduce it to noise, but
I think there might have been more like noise around
it because there wasn't so much that was revealed to
the public, and I created a little bit more noise than.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Maybe that sometimes happens where being more transparent would actually
help the situation. But also this is something one of
my producers, Alex is big hockey person and has worked
in the space a lot and consistently.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Lower body injury kind of sport.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Right, it's a lower body But also it's so limited
in terms of the people who are paid to cover
women's hockey and who do the work that there can
be voices that rise to the top even without enough
information or there can just be a lot of speculation
that stems from not having access or not having enough
people doing good vetted reporting, and that allows rumors and
other things to be the dominant storyline if there isn't
(29:06):
any like good solid reporting being done. And also I
think maybe a lesson for the league and the team
that being proactive about getting information out there and having
it available to good media will end things faster than
trying to cover it up or trying to not talk
about it and then let it build and build in
snowball into something that it never was. If that's indeed
(29:26):
what this was.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Yeah, And I think like her exit just out of respect,
I think that you know, they didn't really want stuff
to go public.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And I'm not saying this like there was something.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Major or bad, but like her exit with the Minnesota
Gophers was the exact same thing, and it caught tereer attraction.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
It's it's two very parallel stories with no information.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
So who you get mad at?
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Right?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
And then that's I'm not defending the league here. I
wanted to know. When I saw she left the Govers,
I was like, well, hold the phone, what's going on here?
Why would you ever get rid of it?
Speaker 1 (29:56):
I mean women's sports especially. I feel like we saw
it with the NWS. There were teams that with intentions
said thank you so much for your time here, goodbye,
and then that person got rehired, and then years later
it came out that they were fired for good reason.
And if that first team had said we fired this
person for a good reason, they probably wouldn't have gotten
hired again and been able to go do the same
thing elsewhere. So I think in women's sports, especially the
(30:18):
transparency there. I'm not saying that there's anything that Darwitz
did that's up to that level. I'm just saying in general,
there needs to be more communication and willingness to speak
out about stuff so that we can make sure the
right people are in the right positions. Let's go to
the bottom of the standings New York. They were the
clear sixth place team last year. What are your expectations
for them this year?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Julia, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Me and Tesa like, we're both just about to start
screaming because we're both obsessed with this team right now
and watching Alex Carpenter play with sarahiliate. Alex Carpenter is
like the most serious person in women's hockey. I would
say when I was between when I would be rinkside
for Women's World Championship games, and I'd get the okay,
grab carpeep between periods and'd be like, okay, crack my neck,
crack my knuckles. Am I going to get a smile
(31:00):
out of this girl between periods and get her to
say a few words for me? Not because she's rude
or anything. She is just serious about her craft and
she's a little bit stoic. And last year in New
York it went beyond that. She was extremely pissed off
all season and you could see it on her face.
She did not enjoy losing and she did not enjoy
the way things were last year. And Sarah Phillier, the
first overall pick, comes into the fold this season, and
(31:22):
we all expected it to be good, Like we were
all looking forward to seeing those two play together tests,
and it just has been beyond what we expected. It's
like they're making magic on ice.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Tess, I want to ask about that. So they get
the number one pick in Sarah Phillia, but it took
a while for her to actually sign a contract. It's
kind of complicated, but can you sort of quickly explain
what caused that hold up?
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Yeah, So based on my understanding, you know, usually your
first pick or your first overall pick, you're going to
sign them to a three year deal. And I think
Sarah with her agent, just saw the trajectory of the
league and it's like, Okay, well, this isn't going to
be the cap for the next three years.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
It's likely going to go up every year.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Let's prove ourselves in year one and signed a one
year deal and then see what happens after that. So
I feel like any small business, you're just trying to
make the best business move for yourself, and I think
that's what she did, because she ended up signing a
one year.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Deal, right and were they out of three year deals?
There's only six players?
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Well, they weren't a minimum of six minimum.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
That's a great example of something that was going around online.
We did a deep bunk on that on our podcast because.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Okay, so they have a minimum of six, not only six.
And so this was an election from her interesting business
business election. That's great.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I like that. Yeah, he had been so far.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Betton on yourself and Betton on the league. That's very cool.
Moving over to Boston. We're running out of time here,
but I want to ask you about Hillary Knight, both
this season and last year too. So she's been so
clutched for so long on the international level, but she
struggled to find the back of the net in PWHL
games last year, even while she was dazzling for Team USA.
She's already recorded a couple clutch goals this season in
(32:55):
the PWHL. So maybe she's back on the up and up.
But do you have a sense of maybe why there
was a disconnect betwe mean her performance in p WHL
and national team Tessa.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
She was injured last year. She had uh she actually
we haven't launched this episode yet, but she was in
fact injured last season.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I touched on it a little bit. I had heard
a little rumbling of.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
It, so, but I didn't want to outright say because
she hadn't made any announcement on it yet. However, she
was going through it last year and it was the
first season of the p WHL. She didn't want to
miss it, and rightfully so, she had fought so hard
for that and she was one of the pioneers of
it all.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
So have at it.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
But this season.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
I remember saying to Julia, like she's healthy, like this
is going to be a lookout and yeah, and just
with the national team, I feel like the second you
throw that jersey on, something just happens.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
It's like trying to.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Think why it until the gold medal game, Like she
was crazy in the gold medal game like she does.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yeah, her and who went off.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah, And of course, like the talent of the p
WHL is super high as well, but there is something
to be said for like how much it elevates your
personal game when the people you're playing with are able
to pass, receive passes, play with you and rhythm all
that stuff.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
So well, that's it, right.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
She had carp with her as well, so it was like, Okay,
this is going to be something. All you got to
do really is get yourself to the front of the
net and they'll find you.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
So I'm not saying that's what she did, but.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah, if Hillary Knight had the nickname, by the way,
it would just be a problem. Yeah, like that would
be a great nickname for Hillary Knight.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Is just a problem, Canada's problem.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
We love it, we love it. Speed round for some
two early superlatives. Okay, Julia, which forward line on any
of the teams has impressed or surprised you the most
so far?
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Oh, I'm going with Eldridge, Carpenter and Philia in New York.
They are the line this year, and yeah, I'm obsessed.
I just watched them with hard eyes. Whenever I watch them.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Tessa, I'll double down on that. However, I'll let's go
to Toronto Scepters. It was at the beginning of the season.
This line has recently changed, but it was Darryl Watts,
Sarah Nurse and Ezzy Daniel. Sarah Nurse was leading the
charge with two i'll say rookies, even though Wats played
last season, but she's new on the Toronto Scepters. That
line every game they were together, they were creating something
(35:11):
and I didn't I did not expect them to be
that forceful right.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Off the hop all right, Tessa, whose game has made
the biggest jump from last season A player.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
Hillary Knight you mentioned it easily heard, but she has
the I don't want to say excuse because I don't
like excuses, but she had.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Explanation the context.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
What about you, Julia, You know what I think Sarah
Nurse had a really big off season. She's had a
little bit of a pep in her step to start
the year, So I'm going to go with her Nursey.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
We need to come up with the name for pep
in your step involving skates, because I don't think you'd
want to like get pet your step on ice. No,
you wouldn't glide in your slide slide glide, slide and
your glid.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
I want to give a shout out.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
That sounds like maybe you had too many vegetables before
the game.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
That feels like going fast.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Yeah, yes, it just showed smelly. But also Dominic Petrie
on the Minnesota Frost. She's a newcomer and she's just
been forced to be reckoned with and she's hilarious. I
had a chance to interview or two. That kid is funny.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Cool. Finally, what team is most likely to prevent the
Frost from repeating? Julia?
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Oh, the parody in this league is crazy? Is what
I want to just start this with. And I know
that's such a compound answer, but I truly think that
any team could win this league. I am going to
go with New York, though I like the idea going
worse to first and I just think Carpenter was too
angry last year to not win this year.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Tessa, I'll go with Montreal just based on the fact
that their goaltending and of course Captain Clutch. The way
they went out last year, I don't think Mary Philip
Pulaine company will let happen again. Yeah, and they've got
some serious depth this year.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
So yeah, Now she's got old married strength. I don't
know if that's a thing, but we always say old
man strength, so old married strength. We'll make that up. Okay. Finally,
very quickly, Julia, tell us one episode of your pod
to listen to that has a juicy storyline or a
great interview.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
My favorite episode of our podcast of all time is
the Emma Malta episode from last season. Emma Malta is
like the most lovable character of all time. She is
also an Ohio State alumni. Not that I am just
Tessa's but somehow I've taken it on because I spent
too much goddamn time with Tessa. She's just the funniest
person ever. Her stories about her mom, her stories about college,
(37:42):
her stories about laminating her eyebrows and getting them all
messed up. It's electric content.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Okay, all right, I'm gonna download that one. Tessa, how
about you?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
That we've done already last season.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
I liked Jesse eldridgees. She also is one heck of
a character.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
The story about how how she got her dog and
where her dog came from.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Is what it is.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
What it's disturb you looking for her dog?
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Okay, great, so she stole a dog. We'll listen to
that one, and we will listen to the podcast and
get more invested in all these fun, great interesting storylines
and athletes from this league. Thank you both so much
for joining us. Congrats on your new house, and we're
looking forward to the builds, to the architecture of the additions,
the new wings, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Thanks so much to Tessa and Julia for joining us.
We got to take another break when we come back.
We lament the loss of one of the most reliable
TV sources for fall on the floor, laps and women's
sports references. Welcome back. We love that you're listening, but
we want you to get in the game every day too,
(38:54):
So here's our good game play of the day. Listen
to Jocks and Jill's we'll link to the show and
the episodes Julie and Tessa mentioned in the show notes
and making up to catch a p WHL game this week.
If you're in the States, you can watch right on YouTube.
So easy. We always love to hear from you. Hit
us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com,
or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
o four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate
(39:17):
and review It's easy watch Girls five Eva not getting
renewed by Netflix. Rating minus infinity stars review. This is
one of my favorite shows of all time. This show
is veepesque and it's laughs per minent tally and Girls
five Eva has been canceled by Netflix. This is the
second time this show has been canceled by Morn's, first
(39:38):
by Peacock, and then Netflix picked it up for season
three and now they canceled it too. What is going on? People?
Busy Phillips, one of the stars of the show, set
on her doing her best podcast quote, it's dead. Yeah,
I'm just saying it because if Netflix won't, I will.
I guess not enough people watched it or watched it
the way that counts, or I don't know I actually
just don't know. End quote, but she did leave the
(40:00):
door open, saying quote, I don't think it'll ever be
dead dead. The characters are too good. I've even joked
with the cast like we should do Radio City or
turn it into a live stage show, a musical, maybe
even Broadway someday. End quote. But she also said something
interesting about the name of the show, hinting that it
could have been part of the problem for people scrolling
and just seeing the show title. She said, quote, I
(40:20):
think the name Girls five Ava is amazing and totally right,
but I think it's possible it alienates men like straight dudes.
Has anyone ever done a study and how women forward
titles affect the success of shows? End quote. I don't
know if they've done a study about the titles, but
there is endless research about men being unwilling to watch
movies and shows where women are the central characters because
they feel like they can't relate, even though girls and
(40:42):
women have had to spend their entire lives aligning themselves
with these stories and accomplishments and great and epic journeys
of men. So uugh, so sad. Side note, By the way,
since we've been talking a lot about women's sports references
in pop culture. Girls five Ava was one of our
favorite sources some of those references. For instance, at one
(41:02):
point they read that the dad from the show All
My Girls finally died, and one of them says, oh
my god, we met when we were both judges at
the WNBA layup contest. Another time, Paul Pell's character says,
I got a lot of shit to deal with. I'm
bad at letting go. I have a SIMS character named
Val who's been shooting hoops for twenty years. In season one,
the group books a gig singing the national anthem for
(41:23):
the quarterfinals of a w NHL game, and then they
decide to use a hologram of the one member of
the group that died, and then the hologram starts glitching
and then they get boot off the ice. It's pretty good,
and then of course the Rebecca Lobo cameo. There's this
character named Taffy England and she throws a birthday party
in which all of the posters from her childhood bedroom
come to life, and Rebecca Lobo is one of them.
(41:44):
Bring it on gets a shout out too. We even
actually had Rebecca on this show, like one of our
very first episodes, and we asked her about being on
set and meeting all the girls from Girls five EVA.
Here's a quick clip from.
Speaker 5 (41:55):
That one time, Sarah Burrelli's just She's like, I'm going
to get coffee. Would you like me to get you
some coffee? And then we just ended up having this
long conversation about coffee and life and a variety of things,
and she could not have been more awesome.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Now go back and listen to the whole thing. It
was literally episode two of our show, so you have
to scroll back in your feed for a while, but
it's worth it. The whole conversation is good, but especially
her behind the scenes from the show. Anyway, Middle fingers
to whoever was in charge of deciding that. Now it's
your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow,
where we will finally finally pick a name for ourselves.
(42:33):
Good Game, Tessa, Good Game, Julia. You networks that cancel great, funny,
smart shows while rolling out season eleventy of so you
think you can take a dump? Well? Singing Good Game
with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in
partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find
us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
(42:54):
get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers
are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our
editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and Lindsay Cradowell.
Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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