June 20, 2025 • 45 mins
Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey – partners on Team Canada, the Montreal Victoire, and in life – join Sarah to discuss their goal of bringing the Walter Cup to Montreal, the memorable moment sparks first flew for them and the decision to be more public with their relationship. Plus the joy of being dog owners, their reaction to Boston leaving Hilary Knight unprotected, and Laura explains why she wanted PWHL GMs to consider her as her own player and not Pou’s plus-one.
- No idea who Marcus is? This post from The Gist will get you up to speed.
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Follow Marie-Philip Poulin on Instagram here
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Follow Laura Stacey on Instagram here
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Watch Ali Riley’s return to practice here
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The PWHL transaction tracker is here
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The latest USWNT roster is here
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Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at goodgame@wondermedianetwork.com
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Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
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Follow producer Misha Jones! Bluesky: @mishthejrnalist.bsky.social Instagram: @mishthejrnalist
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to good game with Sarah Spain. Where we had
to leave Canada, not by exile or extradition or official
decree or anything. It was just time to go home.
But we'll be back. I still got to get to
a Scepter's game and I want to go to the
top of Toronto c And Tower. It's Friday, June twentieth,
and on today's show, we'll be talking to hockey power
couple and teammates on the Canadian national team and the
(00:21):
Montreal Victoire, Marie Filipoulen and Laura Stacy about the adorable
moment their romance sparked their decision to share their relationship publicly,
YPWHL expansion sides Vancouver and Seattle will be threats next season,
and why Laura wanted league gms to consider her as
her own player and not Whoo's plus one plus. The
WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship is set, a quartet of newbies
(00:44):
get their first national team call up, and a reminder
that everything we see on the internet isn't automatically true.
It's all coming up right after this. Welcome Max Slaiceys,
Happy Friday. Here's what you need to know today in
(01:08):
WNBA Hoops. The Commissioner's Cup Final is set after Minnesota
went five to one in Cup play and Indiana went
four in one, so it'll be the Links versus the
Fever July first, at eight pm Eastern on Prime. The
team that wins the n season tournament will be awarded
a prize pool of five hundred thousand dollars, and each
player in the championship game earns a chunk of one
hundred twenty thousand dollars pool of cryptocurrency from sponsor Coinbase
(01:31):
more hoops. Former Fever draft pick Brie Hall, who was
waived by Indiana before the start of the season, was
picked up by the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, just
ahead of the team's game against Indiana on Thursday. The
former South Carolina standout had been set to play for
the three XBA A three x three league before redirecting
to the Bay to join the Valks. Even more hoops,
(01:52):
I want to shout out a fun moment Tuesday night
after the Dallas Wings first home win of the season
and eighty seventy one victory over the Valkyries. In her
postgame presser, rookie Page Beckers unveiled a custom Gatorade flavor
made just for her. Beckers, who was the first NCAA
player to sign an NIL deal with the brand, has
often talked about her love of Shirley Temples, so the
brand cooked up what they're calling Page's favorite flavor. They
(02:15):
even slapped her face and signature on the label. Shirley
Temple is like my favorite drink of all time, Beckers
told the media Tuesday as she admired the bottle. No
word yet on whether the rest of us will ever
get to try it. Finally, an on court action, We've
got three games in the w Tonight two contest tip
off at seven thirty pm Eastern, the Washington Mystics at
the Atlanta Dream and the Dallas Wings at the Connecticut Sun.
(02:36):
Then at ten pm Eastern, it's the Seattle Storm at
the Las Vegas Aces. All three games can be found
on Ion and League Pass to the Soccer Pitch. US
women's national team head coach Emma Hayes is named the
twenty five player training camp roster for their upcoming matches
against Ireland and Canada, remaining true to what she told
friend of the sho Jeff Casoof on ESPN earlier this week.
Naomi Germa is the only European based player on the roster.
(03:00):
The other twenty four play their club soccer in the NWSL.
Included in the call ups are friends of the Show
Angelina Anderson, Emily SAMs, Corey bethoon Yasmine Ryan and Izzy Rodriguez.
Special shout out to Izzy for earning her first call up.
She joined Seattle Rain center back Jordan bug Gotham FC
fullback Lily Reel and Seattle Rain midfielder Sam Mezza as
(03:21):
first time call ups. All four players have been part
of US youth national teams and played in Youth World Cups,
World Cup, and Olympic champ Rose Level is also on
this training camp roster. She returns to the US women's
national team for the first time in about six and
a half months after recovering from ankle surgery. The US
will play Ireland on June twenty sixth outside Denver and
again three days later in Cincinnati, and they'll conclude the
(03:42):
international window against Canada July second in Washington, d c.
To the NWSL. Two games tonight, both get underway at
eight pm Eastern. Angel City FC pays a visit to
the League leading Kansas City Current. That one will be
on Prime Video, and at the same time, the Orlando
Pride take a trip to Kentucky to play Racing Louisville.
You can catch that game streaming on NWSL plus. One
(04:02):
last bit of NWSL news shout out to friend of
the show Ali Riley, who returned to training for Angel
City this week after missing months to a nerve issue
in her leg. The issue forced her to withdraw from
the Paris Olympics and prematurely ended her NWSL season last year,
causing her to question her future in the sport. While
she's not back to full strength, We're so happy to
see her in uniform and out on the field with
(04:23):
her team, and you can tell she's overjoyed as well.
We'll link to a video of her addressing the squad
at practice in our show notes. More soccer in USL
Super League news. The Tampa Bay Sun, this season's USL
Super League champions, have announced plans for a purpose built
women's soccer stadium, a fifteen thousand seat venue on the
Ebor Harbor waterfront. The USL Super League a professional women's
(04:44):
league that launched last year with plans to compete directly
against the NWSL completed its first season last Saturday, with
Tampa Bay lifting the inaugural trophy after defeating Fort Lauderdale
United FC one nil. In April, the league sold its
naming rights to Gainbridge, and starting with the twenty twenty
five twenty six campaign, will be known as the Gainbridge
Super League to hockey, roster moves abound in the PWHL
(05:06):
this week as expansion squad's PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle
continue to build out their rosters. Here are some of
the highlights. Forward Hannah Miller signed a three year deal
to join PWHL Vancouver after playing for the Toronto Scepters
the past two seasons. Vancouver also added two time Walter
Cup champion forward Mikayla Cava, forward Terresa Venisheva, and defender
(05:26):
Emma Greco on two year agreements, as well as defender
Melissa Channel Watkins on a one year deal. PWHL Seattle
added defender Mariah Keppel and forward Natalie Snodgrass on one
year deals and signed forward Lexiagia for two years. Plenty
of moves elsewhere in the league as well, will link
to the PWHL's roster updates page in our show notes
too golf three major championships taking place the next six
(05:47):
weeks in the LPGA, beginning with the KPMG Women's PGA Championship,
which teed off yesterday in Frisco, Texas. South Korea's Amy
Yang is the defending champion last year's breakout Superstar Nelly Corps,
but still looking for her first win of the season.
She's finished in the top ten and four of her
nine starts, and tied for second in last month's US Open.
(06:09):
We got to take a quick break, yet when we
come back, it's Marie Philippe and Laura joining us now.
She's the captain of the Canadian national hockey team and
the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League. A
three time Olympic gold medalist and four time World champion,
(06:31):
she's known as Captain Clutch after scoring the game winning
goal in the gold medal game in three out of
four Olympics in which she's competed. The first female hockey
player to win the Northern Star Award is Canada's top
Athlete of the Year. She was named a Knight of
the National Order of Quebec in twenty twenty four. She
was also just named the International Ice Hockey Federation Player
of the Year. She studied psychology at Boston University, and
(06:51):
she shares the cutest dog ever, Arlow, with her wife.
It's Marie Philippe Polen.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Marie Philippe, Hi, how are you? I'm good? Thanks? Speak
of her wife. She's also with us. She's also a
Canadian national team player and member of the Montreal victor
of the PWHL. A two time Olympic medalist and winner
of three Golds for silvers at a bronze with the
World Championships. She comes from a sporty family, including her
great grandfather, Francis King Clancy, who's in the Hockey Hall
of Fame at Dartmouth Grad. She's the other half of
(07:17):
the Arlow Fan Club and Hockey's greatest power couple. It's
Laura Stacey.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Hi, Laura, Hey, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Thanks for joining us. Happy, Pride, Happy. She's gay. Marcus
Month the best month of the year as far as
we're concerned. I want to start with Arlow because you
both seem to be as obsessed with him as I
am with my three dogs, including putting his face on
the napkins at your wedding last September. The only thing
we had in mind for our wedding before we planned
(07:45):
anything else, was that our dog would be the ring bearer,
and then our venue would not allow dogs no matter what,
and we were so sad. So I totally get your obsession.
And it really feels like, Laura, that Arlow has actually
genuinely changed your life. Is that right?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, He's definitely on a big part of it.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
I think both of us we weren't really sure when
we were going to get a dog how we were
going to be able to do it, just with traveling
and playing hockey year round. But at the end of
the day, we're like, let's just go for it, let's
give it a try. It was covid. We just went
out of limb We're like, let's let's buy a dog.
And it was definitely one of the best decisions we've made.
And you're right, we're pretty obsessed, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
He is extremely cute. And I don't know if it
was your doing, Laura, but I read or listened to
somewhere that Marie Philippe was like no dog with any
like fur that might shed I don't want a big one.
I actually don't know if I want a dog at all.
So safe to say you were completely wrong in every way, Marie, Fleep.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yes, exactly, You've done your research. I love it.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Yeah, I didn't grow up with a dog, and honestly him,
I did like them, but I was not obsessed. And honestly,
I would always probably judge people that they would be
sad when they're leaving the house or they're kissing them
or living making them sleep in their bed. I was
probably a first one to judge down. But I gotta say,
now my whole world kind of turn around for this
little arlold boy, and I'm obsessed with him.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
So I'm pretty excited about him.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, I feel like that's all I need to tell people,
is like, you just don't understand. Just get a dog,
and soon you'll be one of us and you'll be
a total.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Free I agree. Until you have one, you don't.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Know what they do for you and the love they
give you and even coming home after a loss or
a bad day, or honestly he has no idea and
does not care. He still loves us no matter what.
So it's been a pretty great feeling through everything.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It's truly therapy, and not in a hyperbolic sense. It
literally like one of my dogs sleeps directly on top
of me like a weighted blanket, and I'm like, yeah,
this is this is therapy. Actually, Marie Philip, not only
did it cause you to like love dogs in a
way you didn't understand, but you actually said in an
interview a few months after your wedding that Arlow has
you convinced that kids are in the future and that
that's your next big project as a couple. So I
(09:52):
love that the dog was like the little tester for that.
That's tough to navigate when you've got two professional athletes.
So what are those conversations like for the two of
you as you're both still competing at the highest level,
trying to figure out timing and things like that.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Yeah, obviously, I think we're both still trying to figure out.
I think we're both in the a little bit getting older,
and we're all aware of what can be in the future.
And for sure, for us, having your family having kids
is in our project and that's what we want, but
we still love to figure out we still want to
be part of that.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Let Victoire.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
We still want to be at the Olympics in twenty
twenty six and we're working hard for that. But I
think after that it'll be awesome to make this happen.
But we know it takes a lot of work and
we'll go one day at a time.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Speaking of your Montreal Victoire finished the regular season at
the top of the standings in the PWHL, but exited
in the playoff. Second season in a row for that
sort of disappointing finish. What needs to change for the
team this upcoming season, Laura, Honestly, that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I don't know if we have the answer to that yet.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
I think obviously we've been taking a little bit of
time after the season to take.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
It in and of deal with that disappointment.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
You're right, two seasons in a row, when you think
you're close, when you think you're getting there and it
gets taken from you pretty early or you don't quite
have it.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
It is disappointing.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
We feel it, our fans obviously feel it, and so
I think just moving forward, it is finding those different
ways to win, and obviously we were able to do
pretty well throughout the season, but at.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
The end of the day.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
What matters is the playoffs and winning a championship, and
we weren't able to do that for our team and
for our city.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
So obviously it starts with us.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
We need to find a way to make a difference
in the playoffs and to have a bigger impact. And
then again, I think it's just little things and working together,
becoming more close with our team. And obviously there's a
lot of big changes here coming up in the PWHL,
so that's going to be a big thing, is how
can all these teams adapt to those changes quicker and
also just get to know their new teammates, get to
(11:52):
know the new feeling because the teams are changing so drastically.
So I think to get to the championship, that's what
it is. It's being able to adapt, being able to change.
Different things are happening in our environment and our league
it on a regular basis, and so I think it's
important for us as veteran players on the team to
find a way to help every single person adapt and
be a part of this new team that we're going
to see next year.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, I want to talk about expansion, but first I
want to ask you, Marie, Philip you've won it every
single level. No secret that you're widely considered the best
player in the world. It's been two seasons only, so
very early in this PWHL. But how much pressure do
you feel when it comes to p WHL titles versus
the pressure you feel for Canadian national team events like
the Olympics or World Championships.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Well, honestly, we like, I'm pretty fortunate to be part
of such amazing teams and having teammates in the environment
that allowed us to win. But honestly, being part of
the PWHL, being part of La Victoire, it is part
of right away. You jump into that team, you want
to win, and I don't think it's extra pressure. I
think it's part of me as an athlete to be
(12:54):
competitive and wanting to win day in and day out,
and honestly, starting this league, every team wants to win.
Every team wants to raise that Walter Cup that first time.
See the Sea Minnesota doing twice in a row, just
like the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
The Sneaky Frost exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I think for all of us, we want to win.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
I want to bring him back to Montreal and it's
gonna be saying yes, there's pressure, but I think thinking
of pressure in a positive way and just moving forward
towards that day in and they out.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
We haven't yet seen the logos, the names everything for
Seattle and Vancouver, so at least for now, Montreal hands down,
best logo, hands down best jersey. I don't want to say,
you know, I can't say it for next season because
we still got to see what's happening with the new teams.
But that's the jersey that I want. It's so sick.
Let's talk about expansion. So the expansion draft wrapped up
(13:46):
last week. The two of you are staying put with
the Victoire, but the league saw a lot of big moves,
including Hillary Night signing with Seattle after Boston left her unprotected,
Montreal losing Kayleb Barnes, Jennifer Gardner, among others. What was
your reaction when you heard that teams could protect initially
just three players, Laura.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Those are tough questions here, obviously, as as players of
the Victire, it's sad. It's sad to see our only
three people be protected. Obviously, we didn't know what was
going to happen, myself included. I didn't know if I
was going to be protected. So I think just just
obviously that first unknown and that first scary feeling of wow,
(14:27):
only three that's quite a small amount, and especially in
this team that we've created that we thought was going
to do so well, and obviously even with the result
of this of the playoffs, I think we still had
an incredible team. We had great people, great culture, and
so I think our first reaction as WHOA, this is
a big change. A lot is going to be different here.
This team that we have is not going to look
(14:48):
the same at all. So I think that was our
initial reaction. And then we've obviously tried to take with
some perspective here in the sense of like, it is.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Amazing for women talking.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
It is amazing that two new teams are being able
to be at to this league in such short time
because of how well the PWHL and how well all
six teams have done. So I think that perspective gives
you like, Okay, this this is for something so much bigger.
And we started this league with that same sense of
we want this to be a legacy, we want this
to be long lasting and forever, and so it is
(15:20):
important to look at it in all the disappointment in
the fact that we lost some of our friends and
our favorite players, Like it is important to zoom out
a little too and see how how awesome it is.
But yeah, I think obviously three players is it is
not a lot, And to see how Vancouver and Seattle
are shaping up, it seems like they are quite the
great teams. But with that being said, I think all
(15:43):
six teams have built something pretty special in each market
for the last two years and I don't think that
disappears with just this new process. That's still those those cultures,
those that what's started in all six of those cities
is still there, and I think all us six original
teams are are going to rely on those fan bases
and in order to kind of keep pushing forward here.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
So there's a lot to it. There's a lot of thoughts.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Obviously it's pretty fresh to all of us, but I
think it is important that there is a lot of
positives to it as well.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
I actually had Hillary Knight on the show about a
week before protected players were announced, and I was joking
about like, oh, what if Boston didn't protect you? Ha
ha ha, And she said one of her biggest goals
before retiring was to bring a cup to Boston and
then boom, she's gone, which is crazy. I didn't actually
think that would happen. But it also speaks to the
(16:34):
kind of talent that these rosters are going to have
from day one, the talent that they got between the
signing window and the draft and the noun free agency.
Just how big of a threat do you think they're
going to be in their first seasons? Murrayfully, because expansion
teams usually you can be like, it's gonna take a
little while, but they look pretty good.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
They look very good. I gotta tell you, they're going
to be a threat from day one. Honestly, they props
to the GM that the in drafting those amazing players,
and yeah, honestly, like hearing Nighter not getting protected, Honestly,
I was very surprised and shot for us. For me,
it's the face of women's hockey and especially around the world, and.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
It's hard to see.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
Honestly, she's created that league since day one, so it'll
be interesting to see, but honestly very happy to see
her in Seattle creating something.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Very special there.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
But to see these two teams lining up with these
with the free agency, with the draft, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Good for them, but we.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Got our work, toy. You do worried, I would be
worried about an angry Hillary Night with something. She's been
bad enough already. Happy go lucky Hillary Night is scary enough.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I do think Seattle is quite lucky to have her
to grow that program with a face like that and
a player like that. I mean, to start a brand
new program in a new city like Seattle, I think
having Nighter there couldn't be more beneficial to them, and honestly,
probably to the league. I know Boston is really going
to miss her, but it's it's good for her. That's
(18:08):
like in that sense too, Laura.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
It's a dream that you two ended up on the
same team. But as this league was coming together, you
did not want to be considered a package deal. In fact,
you've said you had conversations with all the gms in
the PWHL and said, I only want to be drafted
if you want me as a person and as a player,
not as Marie Philipp's plus one or some package deal.
So can you tell me about that time, because you
said it was quite hard on you.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yeah, I think obviously I want to be my own
person as well. My own player, and that's that's important
to the two of us, is we're not just doing
this to be a couple and to live in our
own house. We're doing it to chase our own passions
and our own dreams, obviously in support of one another
as well. And so from day one when this league started,
I had no idea what to expect, and it was
(18:54):
a nervous feeling coming to Montreal, a new city where
obviously not a Quebec Quebec Qua player, and they didn't
really know who I was or where what I was doing.
So I just I didn't want to have that feeling
of I'm only in Montreal for that reason. And obviously
Danielle silvia Jo made that really clear to me and
important to me that that they wanted me as as
(19:16):
not only a hockey player, but as a person as well.
And so yeah, I think obviously that's that's been a
big part of my focus even here throughout the Protection draft,
that that was important to me as well.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
And I think we're always going to be like that.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
We of course we want to play together, we want
to live in the same city, we want to spend
time in our house with Arlow that's that's the dream.
But on the same side of that, we are both
passionate about our dreams and and our aspirations and living
out those and chasing our own goals and dreams. Obviously,
if we can do it and support of one another
in side by side, that is the dream and that
(19:52):
that is the goal. But with that being said, it
is important for both of us to be our own,
our own people.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Marie Fileapel, you say quebec qua, Well.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
You can't be.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Yeah, right, so that sounded a little bit more natural
for you. Laura, how is your French when you join
the team.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
It's not amazing. I'm still working on it.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
I've taken some classes. I have an awesome French tutor teacher.
It's like one on one. We work together a little bit,
so she's definitely helped me out recently. I would still
not great. I still don't have that nice crisp accent,
but I can definitely understand it a lot more when
people speak to me.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, I love that your tutor isn't your wife. That's smart.
That's this Honestly, you need a little time away. I
actually want to get back to what's been called the
Royal wedding because you two have been together on and
off since twenty seventeen. I actually read about that scary break.
I hadn't heard about the break until I started diving deep.
I love that it required one of you to like
(20:52):
literally stalk the other's team bus and be like, get
out here, we need to talk, not letting you go.
But you only more recently, despite having Benji together for
a number of years, really started sharing more of your
life and your love publicly and being more open about it.
And before we get to talking about it now, I'm
sort of obsessed with the story of the moment you
both realized that there might be a little spark there.
(21:12):
So Laura, can you can you share that? Because I
love that story.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Uh yeah, it was quite early on. It was right
after centralization. It was at my first time on the
senior after my first World Championships on the senior team,
we had this golf tournament.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
It was called good as Gold. It was used to it.
It used to just be there.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
It used to just be a really fun weekend with
all of our teammates and sponsors, and it was amazing,
the best weekend ever.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Anyways, we were there and.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
We like we were just having drinks with everybody having fun,
and a bunch of us ended up going skinny dipping.
Just it was like one two in the morning, no idea.
There was a big group of us and the shares an.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Ocean, a pond, a lake, a pool in Blue mountain,
Blue Mountain, Okay, And a shooting star came flying across
the sky and there's tons of people in the pool
and for some reason, like only the two of us
looked up and saw this shooting star in the sky
and we kind of made eye contact.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
After and we're like, WHOA, this is a weird feeling,
a weird spark, And honestly, it wasn't anything. It was
literally just like this feeling, this moment, and it passed
and we kind of never did never thought about it
again until later on, obviously when we started getting closer
and talking more often. But it always kind of came
back to that moment of like, WHOA, I felt something.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Then did you?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
I love that?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
And then in the wedding vows you said she was
the wish I always dreamed of and I didn't realize
until now that's so cute love. I love cute romantic stories,
and I think that's such a sweet one. It's also
very sapfic that you're like, well, we were just in
a pool with a bunch of naked chicks and we
caught eyes. We were the two that stood out. It's
like a little too on the nose, guysfullief. You told
(22:58):
CBC Sports in November that this is probably the most
myself I've ever been. I've always been the hockey player,
but I have a wife and I can be myself.
People are coming to the rink and saying thank you
for allowing me to be myself. So what inspired you
to be more open with fans and family and community.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
I mean, like it did take a while to like
kind of be okay and be open to this whole
new world. But I knew my environment, knew about us,
and it was okay. But I think for us and
what I saw lately with this league, to have the
people that come through a game, and it's from all
(23:35):
different aspects.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
It's from the sport.
Speaker 5 (23:37):
World to the art world to the music world, and
it's everybody can be themselves. And seeing signs in the rink,
people on the street where you from afar, You're like,
there's no way they know about hockey, and they stop
you and say, oh my god, I came to my
first hockey game and I love it can be yourselves
and those are all little moments in the last couple
(23:57):
of years. I'm like, Wow, it's beyond hockey. It's beyond
the plays on the ice. It allows people to be
themselves enjoying something else that maybe they never knew about.
And it's women's hockey now. And you hear people saying
I had the best winterever. Have a season ticket, I
come to every game. Like those all little moments interaction
(24:19):
that you have with people that are like, really, open
your eyes two bigger take that hockey and to me, like,
I still am the hockey player, but now maybe I
realize a little bit more that I can have more
of a little bit more of an impact on the
social aspect, on the people aspect. So that it did
open my eyes for sure, and I think they did
open your eyes as well to be okay with what
(24:40):
we do. And honestly, we're not the most social media people.
I think we're just trying to be ourselves and if
people can connect with us, that's that's amazing. And I
think it's been amazing to see.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
And yet some of the wedding clips did end up
going viral on social media, particularly the Celine Dion moment,
which which is so great. Laura, you two have changed
out of these gorgeous dresses, you guys both look so
beautiful into these white, awesome suits, and you're dancing to
Celine Dion and all these players are around you and
everyone's so ecstatic. It's such a cool moment. I have
(25:14):
to ask if you're aware that rose Leavelle of the
US women's national soccer team also has a viral social
media moment belting out Celine Dion. Have you seen this?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
We saw it after actually and we're like, wow, this
is this is amazing.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Apparently this is the women's sports anthem. Or I guess
Celine Dion brings us all together somehow. Speaking of people,
you wouldn't necessarily assume no a ton about sports, you know,
Marie fleep. I just hosted this event in Canada espnW Summitt, Canada,
and there was a presentation about growing interest in women's sports,
and there was a bunch of quotes from folks that
they'd spoken to for the study, and one of them said,
(25:51):
I came out of protest, and I've stuck around out
of admiration, which is wild to me because there is
this element of crossover in women's sport where it's not
just about rooting for players or a sport, but about
what it stands for. And it does feel like you
take on this burden of not only being the best
at what you do, but also representing so much more
(26:12):
than that. Whether it's by choice or not, it's sort
of hoisted upon you. And I've talked to Hillary Night
about this for literal decades, like you have to sell
your sport, sell tickets, be a market or be a
role model, get your workouts in all the other stuff.
Was that something you had to psych yourself up to
do because you seem a little bit shyer. Did you
have to decide to take on the burden of being
(26:34):
the face of Canada hockey and hockey in general because
you knew that there was more to be earned and
won by doing that.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
I think I was lucky enough to follow into the footsteps, honestly,
from the pioneers and from these amazing womens that came
before us. Honestly, my dream started in two thousand and
two when I watched the Olympics on TV and Lily,
that's when that spark came. And honestly, I was like
enough to get invited to camps and make it at
a young age, and where you get to be in
(27:04):
the dressing room with these amazing pioneers, where you know,
and as you get older, and as you get with
these ladies on the World Championship at the Olympics, you
get to hear more of their story. You get to
see what they went through and how hard it has
been or how hard it is right now to push
women's hockey. And I think a all my career I
learned so much by it's just up like by just
(27:27):
looking and watching and hearing. And as I got to
find my voice on the team as I got older,
as you're a little bit less shy to ask questions,
you allow yourself to, yes, become one of the leader,
but not by yourself. Honestly, I was lucky enough to
be surrounded by such amazing group and girls that that
(27:47):
came on the team. And yes, I'm lucky enough to
maybe be one of the role models. But honestly, like
every day I look to my left and right to
see how lucky I am to be surrounded by such
amazing leaders and to see from my role in the
national team today seeing the league has been created, It's
been amazing and honestly, wasn't a decision.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
I love doing and honestly, I think I'm somebody that
leads by action and by leading the way in that sense,
and honestly, there's not a way that I take a
day off. I love pushing myself to be the best,
but honestly, I'm not there by myself, and I'm pretty
lucky to be doing that.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yeah, you know, it is Pride Month, and we're so
happy that so many athletes, especially in women's sports, are
able to come out and be their authentic selves. But
there's lots of folks that are still nervous about taking
that step. And I wonder, Laura, if you have any
advice to share with young athletes trying to figure that out.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Yeah, honestly, I think I mean our path, it wasn't like, Okay,
let's do this specific way or do this. We honestly
were just stay true to who we are. We didn't
necessarily want to go and post everything and have all
these pictures and when we did post. Obviously, sometimes it
went a little further than we thought and we didn't
(29:03):
know how to react or who to talk to or
but it was important to kind of lean on the
people around us who supported us, who cared about us,
whether it's our families, our parents, our siblings, our our
hockey community, our friends. So I would my first advice
would one percent be lean on the people who love
you and support you. There's so many people who want
(29:24):
what's best for you, who care about you as a
person and just want you to be happy, and so
lean on those people. They're they're always going to be
there through the ups, the downs, the ugly and the
amazing moments. So the people who are there for you
and the tougher ones, those are the ones who you
want to keep around. So that would be my number one.
And number two is honestly, just be yourself. I think
at the end of the day, when you're genuine when
(29:47):
you find the right person, when you are genuinely happierself,
things around you seem to fall all fall into place
a little bit easier. And those would be my two things.
Is it's easy to get caught up in social media
and what's around you and feeling like you have to
do certain things or fall into the norms. But at
the end of the day, like as hockey players, we're
(30:09):
going to be better when we're ourselves as human beings first.
So I think both of us our careers have been
better because we're happy in our own selves and we're
happy together, and our relationships and our life and all
of that is genuinely true to ourself and who we
want to be as people first.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
So those would be my two for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
It also feels like there's more folks who came before
you now to talk to about the decision to come
out and when and how, especially like soccer and basketball,
there's been more I think women who are openly gay
in those sports, and more recent years that athletes in
hockey really felt like they could come out. Have you
guys talked to any of them or did you reach
out to anyone in advance and be like, how did
(30:53):
you navigate this, especially with sponsors or other folks that
you're more worried about than maybe friends and family.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Honestly, we're right, we are really really lucky.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
I think when when we started, honestly, we didn't really
have those conversations we kind of slid a random Instagram
post in and everybody was like, oh my god, it's
so hard.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Launch We tried to.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Have as little of conversations as possible and just pretend
it was.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
But we're lucky.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
I think we know so many people who are a
little bit older than us, a generation or two who don't,
who haven't and still don't have it as easy and
don't feel as comfortable because that's how they grew up
or that's all they knew, or it wasn't as normal
back then, so there's still a little bit more standoffish today.
So we are extremely lucky and fortunate obviously to be
(31:42):
able to be at the right timing in the world
that not only could we play in this new professional
hockey league, but we could also play together and be together.
So we're pretty fortunate.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Obviously. We've leaned on a lot of our friends.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
A lot of our friends are in relationships with girls
as well, and I think of one hundred percent, our
environment around it around us made it a lot easier
to have those conversations, to feel like it was normal.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
There's always going to be people that have comments and
people that have different opinions and that's life and that
thing we're aware of. That I think to us is
just focusing on what's good our environment and that people
wants the best for us.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
All right, last two most important questions. Was Marcus invited
to the wedding?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
No, he was not. Haven't met Marcus?
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Has anybody heard from Marcus? I think we need to
have Marcus on the show. I want to ask him
some important questions about just life and his ability to
see things and learn things and know things.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
That was like one of our first moments of like, Okay,
I guess we are a little bit more out there
than we thought. You had no idea about this whole situation,
and it blew up right in front of us. So
it made it a lot easier to transition, like we're together.
Everybody knows it now, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
It would be cool is if Marcus and Stacy got together.
I don't know if you guys have heard about their
lesbian Stacy, but I feel like I don't know if
they're straight. I don't want to assume anything in twenty
twenty five, especially during Pride Month, but what if Marcus
and Stacy could get together? Wouldn't that be a sweet
moment they're lesbian stacy is a similar to a their
gay Marcus moment. Okay, final most important question. How many
(33:23):
American players were invited to your wedding?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Two?
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (33:32):
Two?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
Or three? Julie two?
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Yeah, just Victoire teammates or.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
No?
Speaker 3 (33:40):
No, like, like Julie Chu was invited Julian as Meghan
dug In.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
But isn't Julie Chou married to a Canadian player, So
that's kind of I feel like, I feel like that's sneaky.
That doesn't count.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
We had a few Americans invited, not as petty as Canadians.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
But.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
All right, well allow it if you renew your vows.
We expect more Americans who are not married to Canadians
to be welcomed in because I feel like one thing
that the PWHL has done, beyond all the other amazing things,
is perhaps defrost a little bit of the rivalry, at
(34:24):
least when you're not on the ice against each other,
because it's a little harder to hate each other quite
so much when you play together and in pursuit of
the Walter Cup together. Right, I mean that I have
met way more Canadian hockey players of late, and I'm
like gosh, Dan, it's harder to hate them. I feel
sad for them about twenty eighteen. Not that sad because
it was one of my favorite games ever, but a
(34:46):
little sad.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
I hope you film even more so after this interview
I do, which.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Makes it hard. Also, I want to be a Canadian
at this point because of you know, everything that's going
on in Canada's basement right now. I used to call
y'all America's hat, but now I call us Canada's basement.
And at the espnW Summit Canada, I did put out
a petition to ask if anyone would have me if
things really go badly and I need to relocate, And
(35:14):
so far Diana Matheson and her wife Anastasia have offered
me that I could be their roommate, and also Tessa
Bonham said I can sleep on her couch for a while.
So I've got a couple offers. But your place looks
nice too, so I'll add you. I'll add you to
the list. Thank you so much for the time. We're
such big fans at the show and it's so great
to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Thank you, thanks for having us. We'll get you a
Victire jersey.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Thanks again to Laura and Pooh for joining us. We
have to take another break. When we come back, check
your sources people, welcome back slices. It's time for another
What the fact? Last Saturday, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark
(36:03):
made her highly anticipated return to the court and helped
her squad to a one O two eighty eight win
over the New York Liberty, a win that helped the
Fever secure its spot and the Commissioner's Cup Championship game. Now,
we're accustomed to Fever games drawing a ton of eyeballs,
and Saturday's contest was no different. With two point two
million average viewers, it was ESPN's third most watched WNBA
game on ABC ever. But after the game, something caught
(36:26):
our It was a post from at the Indiana Fever
on Twitter slash x that read quote, the Indiana Fever
versus New York Liberty game was the most watched game
in WNBA history, with twenty point nine million viewers via
at WNBA on ESPN. Okay, four important things to note.
One that's not true obviously, as I just told you,
(36:47):
the number was two point two million. Two at the
Indiana Fever is a parody account, and it says so
in the bio. Three at WNBA on ESPN is not
a real account, and four the infograph reads viewvers viewvers.
Despite that, over twenty three thousand people like the post
(37:09):
and over two thousand shared it. What the fact, y'all? Now,
more than ever, it's important to check your sources, click
bios and check for parity notices or other stories that
might look fishy, and look for corroborating stories about the
alleged incident or report. Well, this is just a throwaway
clickbait post about viewvers. We've talked in the past about
far more damaging tweets and stories that fundamentally impact how
(37:33):
folks view women's leagues and players. So do your homework.
Our social media accounts are basically megaphones at this point.
What you choose to share and repost matters, So make
sure you're sharing the facts and never the what the facts?
This what the fact? Brought to you by elf Beauty.
And here's another fact. When a company reflects the community
it serves, it makes elfin sense, especially when it starts
(37:55):
in the highest seats of decision making. Elf Beauty, who
has delivered twenty fivective quarters of net sales growth and
market share gains. Is one of only five publicly traded
companies in the US with a board of directors that's
sixty seven percent women and forty four percent diverse. It's
the only cosmetics brand to grow market share every single
quarter for the past twenty five quarters. Elf is for
(38:16):
every eye, lip, and face, and when you're further every
everyone wins. Learn more about what ELF Beauty is doing
to help diversify corporate boards, visit changethboardgame dot com. While
we're on the subject of Caitlin Clark's return, videos for
the interview I did with Marina Mabray a few weeks
ago started getting flooded with comments this week after Maybury's
aggressive bump of Kaitlin Clark during the particularly physical Fever
(38:39):
Sun game on Tuesday night. In case you missed it,
J C. Sheldon accidentally poked Clark in the eye while
defending her, and Clark pushed Sheldon away, leading to Mabrey's
bump of Clark hard enough to knock her to the ground.
Tita Charles stepped in and she and Clark were both
assessed technical fouls, while Maybury was given a flagrant three
players Sophie Cunningham, J. C. Sheldon, and Lynz Se Allen
(39:00):
all ended up ejected late in the game for a
completely different incident, and Maybury's flagrant foul was upgraded to
a flagrant two on Wednesday. So yeah, like I said,
particularly physical game, Maybury's bump was clearly not a basketball
play and the league handled it correctly. But Caitlin Clark
stands now see Maybury as public enemy number one, which
leads us back to my Instagram and the interview I
(39:22):
did with Marina where she's hilariously discussing her worst trash
talk making fun of another player's dog, and that video
is now seeing a lot of clown face and trash
can emojis along with some unhinged comments like trash talk
from a trash player, No one will remember you, Karma
is coming for you, You'll get yours. You look like
a McDonald's employee, and without CC you'd make less than
(39:45):
a McDonald's manager every year for the rest of your career.
Room temp IQ petitioned to cancel the Connecticut Sons and
Marina Maybury for not showing sportsmanship and displaying violence on
the court. What a D list player looks like you're
a clown emoji. Can't wait to see you get legit
knocked out mid game for your third grade trash talk. Whoof.
(40:08):
While I love fans of women's sports being passionate about
their teams and players, I'll never enduse harassing folks on
social media, and I certainly can't understand spending your one
wild and precious life searching the Internet for videos of
a player so you can comment with trash can emojis
and a desire to see them injured. Also, I got
some strays just for being in the video.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
What the fuck?
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Come on, folks, Get some perspective. Root for your faves,
heck hate on your rivals if you want to. You
can even trash talk about them at baverbial water cooler,
but taking personal shots at someone's looks and wishing harm
on them for a flagrant foul or a physical play
that's out of control. I promise you no WNBA player,
Caitlin Clark or anyone else wants you up in the
(40:50):
comments of other players with this messiness. Get a grip.
We love that you're listening everybody, but we want you
to get in the game every day too. So here's
our good gameplay of the day. Follow the new PWHL
Seattle and Vancouver squads on social and the existing PWHL
squads if you don't already, got to keep up with
the league ahead of season three. And while you're at it,
follow Marie Filip Puhlan and Laurastac two. We'll link to
(41:13):
their accounts in our show notes. And of course, again
remember to vet your sources on the innerwebs. People, that's
not a one time play, that's an all time play
of the day. We love to hear from you, so
hit us up on email Good Game at wondermediaetwork dot
com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate
and review, y'all. It's easy. Watch the Supreme Court upholding
(41:34):
a Tennessee state law banning gender affirming care for minors,
rating just three out of nine justices with common sense
and compassion review. On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court passed
down a ruling in the case of the United States
Versus Scrimmetti, which was filed last year by three families
of trans children and a provider of gender affirming care
the six conservative justices on the Supreme Court voted to
(41:57):
uphold SB one, a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments
for transgender miners. Under SB one, someone assigned a female
at birth could not be prescribed testosterone, but someone assigned
male at birth could receive those drugs. Justice is Sonya Sodomyor,
Katanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan dissented from the majority opinion,
and in her descent, Justice Sodomyra wrote, in part quote,
(42:20):
by retreating from meaningful judicial review exactly where it matters most,
the Court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.
In sadness, I dissent end quote. This is a disheartening
decision with implications that could set a negative precedent for
other lawsuits across the country involving the rights of transgender children.
(42:41):
Power is being taken away from the people who should
be making these decisions and instead put in the hands
of government officials. Just in my own circle, I know
a family that's moving abroad to a different country so
all their children can feel safe, and another family that's
seen the hospital that provides care to their child pause
gender care surgeries in response to Trump executive order back
in January that threatened to cut federal funding to healthcare
(43:04):
providers offering gender affirming medical care. My friend posted about
the hospital after the EO was announced, saying, quote, I
will only speak from my experience and my perspective on
here as a mother. It has helped me better support
my gender non conforming kid. It has welcomed us, celebrated us,
and opened a door to community we really needed. We
waited a year to get in, and now that we
(43:24):
finally are, and EO is trying to shut it down.
There are so many scary things happening, and our lives
are steeped in so much privilege. Whatever happens, we will
fight loud and hard and be okay. But the larger
implications for multiple eos targeting queer youth are dizzying. All
parents and educators should fear that the highest office is
dictating who a child can or cannot be. I could
(43:47):
talk to you about how much I've learned from my
kid about the social construct of gender, the nuance of gender,
the beautiful spectrum of who we all are. But honestly,
I'm tired, and I just want to say, at its core,
This is healthcare, babes. What a thing to have to
fight for. End quote. Trans kids and trans people continue
(44:07):
to sit in the crosshairs of political bullies within and
outside of government. But though this moment stings, the fight
continues to ensure their autonomy, their safety, and ability to
make decisions that reflect what's in the best interest of
their mental, emotional, and physical health. Now it's your turn
yal rate and review. Thanks for listening. See you next week.
(44:28):
Good Game, Marie Philippe, Good Game, Laura you Conservative Supreme
Court Justices. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart
women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
You could find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
(44:51):
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Brittany Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer are associate producers. Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to good game with Sarah Spain. Where we had
to leave Canada, not by exile or extradition or official
decree or anything. It was just time to go home.
But we'll be back. I still got to get to
a Scepter's game and I want to go to the
top of Toronto c And Tower. It's Friday, June twentieth,
and on today's show, we'll be talking to hockey power
couple and teammates on the Canadian national team and the
(00:21):
Montreal Victoire, Marie Filipoulen and Laura Stacy about the adorable
moment their romance sparked their decision to share their relationship publicly,
YPWHL expansion sides Vancouver and Seattle will be threats next season,
and why Laura wanted league gms to consider her as
her own player and not Whoo's plus one plus. The
WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship is set, a quartet of newbies
(00:44):
get their first national team call up, and a reminder
that everything we see on the internet isn't automatically true.
It's all coming up right after this. Welcome Max Slaiceys,
Happy Friday. Here's what you need to know today in
(01:08):
WNBA Hoops. The Commissioner's Cup Final is set after Minnesota
went five to one in Cup play and Indiana went
four in one, so it'll be the Links versus the
Fever July first, at eight pm Eastern on Prime. The
team that wins the n season tournament will be awarded
a prize pool of five hundred thousand dollars, and each
player in the championship game earns a chunk of one
hundred twenty thousand dollars pool of cryptocurrency from sponsor Coinbase
(01:31):
more hoops. Former Fever draft pick Brie Hall, who was
waived by Indiana before the start of the season, was
picked up by the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, just
ahead of the team's game against Indiana on Thursday. The
former South Carolina standout had been set to play for
the three XBA A three x three league before redirecting
to the Bay to join the Valks. Even more hoops,
(01:52):
I want to shout out a fun moment Tuesday night
after the Dallas Wings first home win of the season
and eighty seventy one victory over the Valkyries. In her
postgame presser, rookie Page Beckers unveiled a custom Gatorade flavor
made just for her. Beckers, who was the first NCAA
player to sign an NIL deal with the brand, has
often talked about her love of Shirley Temples, so the
brand cooked up what they're calling Page's favorite flavor. They
(02:15):
even slapped her face and signature on the label. Shirley
Temple is like my favorite drink of all time, Beckers
told the media Tuesday as she admired the bottle. No
word yet on whether the rest of us will ever
get to try it. Finally, an on court action, We've
got three games in the w Tonight two contest tip
off at seven thirty pm Eastern, the Washington Mystics at
the Atlanta Dream and the Dallas Wings at the Connecticut Sun.
(02:36):
Then at ten pm Eastern, it's the Seattle Storm at
the Las Vegas Aces. All three games can be found
on Ion and League Pass to the Soccer Pitch. US
women's national team head coach Emma Hayes is named the
twenty five player training camp roster for their upcoming matches
against Ireland and Canada, remaining true to what she told
friend of the sho Jeff Casoof on ESPN earlier this week.
Naomi Germa is the only European based player on the roster.
(03:00):
The other twenty four play their club soccer in the NWSL.
Included in the call ups are friends of the Show
Angelina Anderson, Emily SAMs, Corey bethoon Yasmine Ryan and Izzy Rodriguez.
Special shout out to Izzy for earning her first call up.
She joined Seattle Rain center back Jordan bug Gotham FC
fullback Lily Reel and Seattle Rain midfielder Sam Mezza as
(03:21):
first time call ups. All four players have been part
of US youth national teams and played in Youth World Cups,
World Cup, and Olympic champ Rose Level is also on
this training camp roster. She returns to the US women's
national team for the first time in about six and
a half months after recovering from ankle surgery. The US
will play Ireland on June twenty sixth outside Denver and
again three days later in Cincinnati, and they'll conclude the
(03:42):
international window against Canada July second in Washington, d c.
To the NWSL. Two games tonight, both get underway at
eight pm Eastern. Angel City FC pays a visit to
the League leading Kansas City Current. That one will be
on Prime Video, and at the same time, the Orlando
Pride take a trip to Kentucky to play Racing Louisville.
You can catch that game streaming on NWSL plus. One
(04:02):
last bit of NWSL news shout out to friend of
the show Ali Riley, who returned to training for Angel
City this week after missing months to a nerve issue
in her leg. The issue forced her to withdraw from
the Paris Olympics and prematurely ended her NWSL season last year,
causing her to question her future in the sport. While
she's not back to full strength, We're so happy to
see her in uniform and out on the field with
(04:23):
her team, and you can tell she's overjoyed as well.
We'll link to a video of her addressing the squad
at practice in our show notes. More soccer in USL
Super League news. The Tampa Bay Sun, this season's USL
Super League champions, have announced plans for a purpose built
women's soccer stadium, a fifteen thousand seat venue on the
Ebor Harbor waterfront. The USL Super League a professional women's
(04:44):
league that launched last year with plans to compete directly
against the NWSL completed its first season last Saturday, with
Tampa Bay lifting the inaugural trophy after defeating Fort Lauderdale
United FC one nil. In April, the league sold its
naming rights to Gainbridge, and starting with the twenty twenty
five twenty six campaign, will be known as the Gainbridge
Super League to hockey, roster moves abound in the PWHL
(05:06):
this week as expansion squad's PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle
continue to build out their rosters. Here are some of
the highlights. Forward Hannah Miller signed a three year deal
to join PWHL Vancouver after playing for the Toronto Scepters
the past two seasons. Vancouver also added two time Walter
Cup champion forward Mikayla Cava, forward Terresa Venisheva, and defender
(05:26):
Emma Greco on two year agreements, as well as defender
Melissa Channel Watkins on a one year deal. PWHL Seattle
added defender Mariah Keppel and forward Natalie Snodgrass on one
year deals and signed forward Lexiagia for two years. Plenty
of moves elsewhere in the league as well, will link
to the PWHL's roster updates page in our show notes
too golf three major championships taking place the next six
(05:47):
weeks in the LPGA, beginning with the KPMG Women's PGA Championship,
which teed off yesterday in Frisco, Texas. South Korea's Amy
Yang is the defending champion last year's breakout Superstar Nelly Corps,
but still looking for her first win of the season.
She's finished in the top ten and four of her
nine starts, and tied for second in last month's US Open.
(06:09):
We got to take a quick break, yet when we
come back, it's Marie Philippe and Laura joining us now.
She's the captain of the Canadian national hockey team and
the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League. A
three time Olympic gold medalist and four time World champion,
(06:31):
she's known as Captain Clutch after scoring the game winning
goal in the gold medal game in three out of
four Olympics in which she's competed. The first female hockey
player to win the Northern Star Award is Canada's top
Athlete of the Year. She was named a Knight of
the National Order of Quebec in twenty twenty four. She
was also just named the International Ice Hockey Federation Player
of the Year. She studied psychology at Boston University, and
(06:51):
she shares the cutest dog ever, Arlow, with her wife.
It's Marie Philippe Polen.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Marie Philippe, Hi, how are you? I'm good? Thanks? Speak
of her wife. She's also with us. She's also a
Canadian national team player and member of the Montreal victor
of the PWHL. A two time Olympic medalist and winner
of three Golds for silvers at a bronze with the
World Championships. She comes from a sporty family, including her
great grandfather, Francis King Clancy, who's in the Hockey Hall
of Fame at Dartmouth Grad. She's the other half of
(07:17):
the Arlow Fan Club and Hockey's greatest power couple. It's
Laura Stacey.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Hi, Laura, Hey, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Thanks for joining us. Happy, Pride, Happy. She's gay. Marcus
Month the best month of the year as far as
we're concerned. I want to start with Arlow because you
both seem to be as obsessed with him as I
am with my three dogs, including putting his face on
the napkins at your wedding last September. The only thing
we had in mind for our wedding before we planned
(07:45):
anything else, was that our dog would be the ring bearer,
and then our venue would not allow dogs no matter what,
and we were so sad. So I totally get your obsession.
And it really feels like, Laura, that Arlow has actually
genuinely changed your life. Is that right?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, He's definitely on a big part of it.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
I think both of us we weren't really sure when
we were going to get a dog how we were
going to be able to do it, just with traveling
and playing hockey year round. But at the end of
the day, we're like, let's just go for it, let's
give it a try. It was covid. We just went
out of limb We're like, let's let's buy a dog.
And it was definitely one of the best decisions we've made.
And you're right, we're pretty obsessed, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
He is extremely cute. And I don't know if it
was your doing, Laura, but I read or listened to
somewhere that Marie Philippe was like no dog with any
like fur that might shed I don't want a big one.
I actually don't know if I want a dog at all.
So safe to say you were completely wrong in every way, Marie, Fleep.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yes, exactly, You've done your research. I love it.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Yeah, I didn't grow up with a dog, and honestly him,
I did like them, but I was not obsessed. And honestly,
I would always probably judge people that they would be
sad when they're leaving the house or they're kissing them
or living making them sleep in their bed. I was
probably a first one to judge down. But I gotta say,
now my whole world kind of turn around for this
little arlold boy, and I'm obsessed with him.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
So I'm pretty excited about him.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, I feel like that's all I need to tell people,
is like, you just don't understand. Just get a dog,
and soon you'll be one of us and you'll be
a total.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Free I agree. Until you have one, you don't.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Know what they do for you and the love they
give you and even coming home after a loss or
a bad day, or honestly he has no idea and
does not care. He still loves us no matter what.
So it's been a pretty great feeling through everything.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It's truly therapy, and not in a hyperbolic sense. It
literally like one of my dogs sleeps directly on top
of me like a weighted blanket, and I'm like, yeah,
this is this is therapy. Actually, Marie Philip, not only
did it cause you to like love dogs in a
way you didn't understand, but you actually said in an
interview a few months after your wedding that Arlow has
you convinced that kids are in the future and that
that's your next big project as a couple. So I
(09:52):
love that the dog was like the little tester for that.
That's tough to navigate when you've got two professional athletes.
So what are those conversations like for the two of
you as you're both still competing at the highest level,
trying to figure out timing and things like that.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Yeah, obviously, I think we're both still trying to figure out.
I think we're both in the a little bit getting older,
and we're all aware of what can be in the future.
And for sure, for us, having your family having kids
is in our project and that's what we want, but
we still love to figure out we still want to
be part of that.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Let Victoire.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
We still want to be at the Olympics in twenty
twenty six and we're working hard for that. But I
think after that it'll be awesome to make this happen.
But we know it takes a lot of work and
we'll go one day at a time.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Speaking of your Montreal Victoire finished the regular season at
the top of the standings in the PWHL, but exited
in the playoff. Second season in a row for that
sort of disappointing finish. What needs to change for the
team this upcoming season, Laura, Honestly, that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I don't know if we have the answer to that yet.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
I think obviously we've been taking a little bit of
time after the season to take.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
It in and of deal with that disappointment.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
You're right, two seasons in a row, when you think
you're close, when you think you're getting there and it
gets taken from you pretty early or you don't quite
have it.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
It is disappointing.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
We feel it, our fans obviously feel it, and so
I think just moving forward, it is finding those different
ways to win, and obviously we were able to do
pretty well throughout the season, but at.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
The end of the day.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
What matters is the playoffs and winning a championship, and
we weren't able to do that for our team and
for our city.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
So obviously it starts with us.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
We need to find a way to make a difference
in the playoffs and to have a bigger impact. And
then again, I think it's just little things and working together,
becoming more close with our team. And obviously there's a
lot of big changes here coming up in the PWHL,
so that's going to be a big thing, is how
can all these teams adapt to those changes quicker and
also just get to know their new teammates, get to
(11:52):
know the new feeling because the teams are changing so drastically.
So I think to get to the championship, that's what
it is. It's being able to adapt, being able to change.
Different things are happening in our environment and our league
it on a regular basis, and so I think it's
important for us as veteran players on the team to
find a way to help every single person adapt and
be a part of this new team that we're going
to see next year.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, I want to talk about expansion, but first I
want to ask you, Marie, Philip you've won it every
single level. No secret that you're widely considered the best
player in the world. It's been two seasons only, so
very early in this PWHL. But how much pressure do
you feel when it comes to p WHL titles versus
the pressure you feel for Canadian national team events like
the Olympics or World Championships.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Well, honestly, we like, I'm pretty fortunate to be part
of such amazing teams and having teammates in the environment
that allowed us to win. But honestly, being part of
the PWHL, being part of La Victoire, it is part
of right away. You jump into that team, you want
to win, and I don't think it's extra pressure. I
think it's part of me as an athlete to be
(12:54):
competitive and wanting to win day in and day out,
and honestly, starting this league, every team wants to win.
Every team wants to raise that Walter Cup that first time.
See the Sea Minnesota doing twice in a row, just
like the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
The Sneaky Frost exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I think for all of us, we want to win.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
I want to bring him back to Montreal and it's
gonna be saying yes, there's pressure, but I think thinking
of pressure in a positive way and just moving forward
towards that day in and they out.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
We haven't yet seen the logos, the names everything for
Seattle and Vancouver, so at least for now, Montreal hands down,
best logo, hands down best jersey. I don't want to say,
you know, I can't say it for next season because
we still got to see what's happening with the new teams.
But that's the jersey that I want. It's so sick.
Let's talk about expansion. So the expansion draft wrapped up
(13:46):
last week. The two of you are staying put with
the Victoire, but the league saw a lot of big moves,
including Hillary Night signing with Seattle after Boston left her unprotected,
Montreal losing Kayleb Barnes, Jennifer Gardner, among others. What was
your reaction when you heard that teams could protect initially
just three players, Laura.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Those are tough questions here, obviously, as as players of
the Victire, it's sad. It's sad to see our only
three people be protected. Obviously, we didn't know what was
going to happen, myself included. I didn't know if I
was going to be protected. So I think just just
obviously that first unknown and that first scary feeling of wow,
(14:27):
only three that's quite a small amount, and especially in
this team that we've created that we thought was going
to do so well, and obviously even with the result
of this of the playoffs, I think we still had
an incredible team. We had great people, great culture, and
so I think our first reaction as WHOA, this is
a big change. A lot is going to be different here.
This team that we have is not going to look
(14:48):
the same at all. So I think that was our
initial reaction. And then we've obviously tried to take with
some perspective here in the sense of like, it is.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Amazing for women talking.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
It is amazing that two new teams are being able
to be at to this league in such short time
because of how well the PWHL and how well all
six teams have done. So I think that perspective gives
you like, Okay, this this is for something so much bigger.
And we started this league with that same sense of
we want this to be a legacy, we want this
to be long lasting and forever, and so it is
(15:20):
important to look at it in all the disappointment in
the fact that we lost some of our friends and
our favorite players, Like it is important to zoom out
a little too and see how how awesome it is.
But yeah, I think obviously three players is it is
not a lot, And to see how Vancouver and Seattle
are shaping up, it seems like they are quite the
great teams. But with that being said, I think all
(15:43):
six teams have built something pretty special in each market
for the last two years and I don't think that
disappears with just this new process. That's still those those cultures,
those that what's started in all six of those cities
is still there, and I think all us six original
teams are are going to rely on those fan bases
and in order to kind of keep pushing forward here.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
So there's a lot to it. There's a lot of thoughts.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Obviously it's pretty fresh to all of us, but I
think it is important that there is a lot of
positives to it as well.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
I actually had Hillary Knight on the show about a
week before protected players were announced, and I was joking
about like, oh, what if Boston didn't protect you? Ha
ha ha, And she said one of her biggest goals
before retiring was to bring a cup to Boston and
then boom, she's gone, which is crazy. I didn't actually
think that would happen. But it also speaks to the
(16:34):
kind of talent that these rosters are going to have
from day one, the talent that they got between the
signing window and the draft and the noun free agency.
Just how big of a threat do you think they're
going to be in their first seasons? Murrayfully, because expansion
teams usually you can be like, it's gonna take a
little while, but they look pretty good.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
They look very good. I gotta tell you, they're going
to be a threat from day one. Honestly, they props
to the GM that the in drafting those amazing players,
and yeah, honestly, like hearing Nighter not getting protected, Honestly,
I was very surprised and shot for us. For me,
it's the face of women's hockey and especially around the world, and.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
It's hard to see.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
Honestly, she's created that league since day one, so it'll
be interesting to see, but honestly very happy to see
her in Seattle creating something.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Very special there.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
But to see these two teams lining up with these
with the free agency, with the draft, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Good for them, but we.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Got our work, toy. You do worried, I would be
worried about an angry Hillary Night with something. She's been
bad enough already. Happy go lucky Hillary Night is scary enough.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I do think Seattle is quite lucky to have her
to grow that program with a face like that and
a player like that. I mean, to start a brand
new program in a new city like Seattle, I think
having Nighter there couldn't be more beneficial to them, and honestly,
probably to the league. I know Boston is really going
to miss her, but it's it's good for her. That's
(18:08):
like in that sense too, Laura.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
It's a dream that you two ended up on the
same team. But as this league was coming together, you
did not want to be considered a package deal. In fact,
you've said you had conversations with all the gms in
the PWHL and said, I only want to be drafted
if you want me as a person and as a player,
not as Marie Philipp's plus one or some package deal.
So can you tell me about that time, because you
said it was quite hard on you.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yeah, I think obviously I want to be my own
person as well. My own player, and that's that's important
to the two of us, is we're not just doing
this to be a couple and to live in our
own house. We're doing it to chase our own passions
and our own dreams, obviously in support of one another
as well. And so from day one when this league started,
I had no idea what to expect, and it was
(18:54):
a nervous feeling coming to Montreal, a new city where
obviously not a Quebec Quebec Qua player, and they didn't
really know who I was or where what I was doing.
So I just I didn't want to have that feeling
of I'm only in Montreal for that reason. And obviously
Danielle silvia Jo made that really clear to me and
important to me that that they wanted me as as
(19:16):
not only a hockey player, but as a person as well.
And so yeah, I think obviously that's that's been a
big part of my focus even here throughout the Protection draft,
that that was important to me as well.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
And I think we're always going to be like that.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
We of course we want to play together, we want
to live in the same city, we want to spend
time in our house with Arlow that's that's the dream.
But on the same side of that, we are both
passionate about our dreams and and our aspirations and living
out those and chasing our own goals and dreams. Obviously,
if we can do it and support of one another
in side by side, that is the dream and that
(19:52):
that is the goal. But with that being said, it
is important for both of us to be our own,
our own people.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Marie Fileapel, you say quebec qua, Well.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
You can't be.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Yeah, right, so that sounded a little bit more natural
for you. Laura, how is your French when you join
the team.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
It's not amazing. I'm still working on it.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
I've taken some classes. I have an awesome French tutor teacher.
It's like one on one. We work together a little bit,
so she's definitely helped me out recently. I would still
not great. I still don't have that nice crisp accent,
but I can definitely understand it a lot more when
people speak to me.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, I love that your tutor isn't your wife. That's smart.
That's this Honestly, you need a little time away. I
actually want to get back to what's been called the
Royal wedding because you two have been together on and
off since twenty seventeen. I actually read about that scary break.
I hadn't heard about the break until I started diving deep.
I love that it required one of you to like
(20:52):
literally stalk the other's team bus and be like, get
out here, we need to talk, not letting you go.
But you only more recently, despite having Benji together for
a number of years, really started sharing more of your
life and your love publicly and being more open about it.
And before we get to talking about it now, I'm
sort of obsessed with the story of the moment you
both realized that there might be a little spark there.
(21:12):
So Laura, can you can you share that? Because I
love that story.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Uh yeah, it was quite early on. It was right
after centralization. It was at my first time on the
senior after my first World Championships on the senior team,
we had this golf tournament.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
It was called good as Gold. It was used to it.
It used to just be there.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
It used to just be a really fun weekend with
all of our teammates and sponsors, and it was amazing,
the best weekend ever.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Anyways, we were there and.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
We like we were just having drinks with everybody having fun,
and a bunch of us ended up going skinny dipping.
Just it was like one two in the morning, no idea.
There was a big group of us and the shares an.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Ocean, a pond, a lake, a pool in Blue mountain,
Blue Mountain, Okay, And a shooting star came flying across
the sky and there's tons of people in the pool
and for some reason, like only the two of us
looked up and saw this shooting star in the sky
and we kind of made eye contact.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
After and we're like, WHOA, this is a weird feeling,
a weird spark, And honestly, it wasn't anything. It was
literally just like this feeling, this moment, and it passed
and we kind of never did never thought about it
again until later on, obviously when we started getting closer
and talking more often. But it always kind of came
back to that moment of like, WHOA, I felt something.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Then did you?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
I love that?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
And then in the wedding vows you said she was
the wish I always dreamed of and I didn't realize
until now that's so cute love. I love cute romantic stories,
and I think that's such a sweet one. It's also
very sapfic that you're like, well, we were just in
a pool with a bunch of naked chicks and we
caught eyes. We were the two that stood out. It's
like a little too on the nose, guysfullief. You told
(22:58):
CBC Sports in November that this is probably the most
myself I've ever been. I've always been the hockey player,
but I have a wife and I can be myself.
People are coming to the rink and saying thank you
for allowing me to be myself. So what inspired you
to be more open with fans and family and community.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
I mean, like it did take a while to like
kind of be okay and be open to this whole
new world. But I knew my environment, knew about us,
and it was okay. But I think for us and
what I saw lately with this league, to have the
people that come through a game, and it's from all
(23:35):
different aspects.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
It's from the sport.
Speaker 5 (23:37):
World to the art world to the music world, and
it's everybody can be themselves. And seeing signs in the rink,
people on the street where you from afar, You're like,
there's no way they know about hockey, and they stop
you and say, oh my god, I came to my
first hockey game and I love it can be yourselves
and those are all little moments in the last couple
(23:57):
of years. I'm like, Wow, it's beyond hockey. It's beyond
the plays on the ice. It allows people to be
themselves enjoying something else that maybe they never knew about.
And it's women's hockey now. And you hear people saying
I had the best winterever. Have a season ticket, I
come to every game. Like those all little moments interaction
(24:19):
that you have with people that are like, really, open
your eyes two bigger take that hockey and to me, like,
I still am the hockey player, but now maybe I
realize a little bit more that I can have more
of a little bit more of an impact on the
social aspect, on the people aspect. So that it did
open my eyes for sure, and I think they did
open your eyes as well to be okay with what
(24:40):
we do. And honestly, we're not the most social media people.
I think we're just trying to be ourselves and if
people can connect with us, that's that's amazing. And I
think it's been amazing to see.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
And yet some of the wedding clips did end up
going viral on social media, particularly the Celine Dion moment,
which which is so great. Laura, you two have changed
out of these gorgeous dresses, you guys both look so
beautiful into these white, awesome suits, and you're dancing to
Celine Dion and all these players are around you and
everyone's so ecstatic. It's such a cool moment. I have
(25:14):
to ask if you're aware that rose Leavelle of the
US women's national soccer team also has a viral social
media moment belting out Celine Dion. Have you seen this?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
We saw it after actually and we're like, wow, this
is this is amazing.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Apparently this is the women's sports anthem. Or I guess
Celine Dion brings us all together somehow. Speaking of people,
you wouldn't necessarily assume no a ton about sports, you know,
Marie fleep. I just hosted this event in Canada espnW Summitt, Canada,
and there was a presentation about growing interest in women's sports,
and there was a bunch of quotes from folks that
they'd spoken to for the study, and one of them said,
(25:51):
I came out of protest, and I've stuck around out
of admiration, which is wild to me because there is
this element of crossover in women's sport where it's not
just about rooting for players or a sport, but about
what it stands for. And it does feel like you
take on this burden of not only being the best
at what you do, but also representing so much more
(26:12):
than that. Whether it's by choice or not, it's sort
of hoisted upon you. And I've talked to Hillary Night
about this for literal decades, like you have to sell
your sport, sell tickets, be a market or be a
role model, get your workouts in all the other stuff.
Was that something you had to psych yourself up to
do because you seem a little bit shyer. Did you
have to decide to take on the burden of being
(26:34):
the face of Canada hockey and hockey in general because
you knew that there was more to be earned and
won by doing that.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
I think I was lucky enough to follow into the footsteps, honestly,
from the pioneers and from these amazing womens that came
before us. Honestly, my dream started in two thousand and
two when I watched the Olympics on TV and Lily,
that's when that spark came. And honestly, I was like
enough to get invited to camps and make it at
a young age, and where you get to be in
(27:04):
the dressing room with these amazing pioneers, where you know,
and as you get older, and as you get with
these ladies on the World Championship at the Olympics, you
get to hear more of their story. You get to
see what they went through and how hard it has
been or how hard it is right now to push
women's hockey. And I think a all my career I
learned so much by it's just up like by just
(27:27):
looking and watching and hearing. And as I got to
find my voice on the team as I got older,
as you're a little bit less shy to ask questions,
you allow yourself to, yes, become one of the leader,
but not by yourself. Honestly, I was lucky enough to
be surrounded by such amazing group and girls that that
(27:47):
came on the team. And yes, I'm lucky enough to
maybe be one of the role models. But honestly, like
every day I look to my left and right to
see how lucky I am to be surrounded by such
amazing leaders and to see from my role in the
national team today seeing the league has been created, It's
been amazing and honestly, wasn't a decision.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
I love doing and honestly, I think I'm somebody that
leads by action and by leading the way in that sense,
and honestly, there's not a way that I take a
day off. I love pushing myself to be the best,
but honestly, I'm not there by myself, and I'm pretty
lucky to be doing that.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yeah, you know, it is Pride Month, and we're so
happy that so many athletes, especially in women's sports, are
able to come out and be their authentic selves. But
there's lots of folks that are still nervous about taking
that step. And I wonder, Laura, if you have any
advice to share with young athletes trying to figure that out.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Yeah, honestly, I think I mean our path, it wasn't like, Okay,
let's do this specific way or do this. We honestly
were just stay true to who we are. We didn't
necessarily want to go and post everything and have all
these pictures and when we did post. Obviously, sometimes it
went a little further than we thought and we didn't
(29:03):
know how to react or who to talk to or
but it was important to kind of lean on the
people around us who supported us, who cared about us,
whether it's our families, our parents, our siblings, our our
hockey community, our friends. So I would my first advice
would one percent be lean on the people who love
you and support you. There's so many people who want
(29:24):
what's best for you, who care about you as a
person and just want you to be happy, and so
lean on those people. They're they're always going to be
there through the ups, the downs, the ugly and the
amazing moments. So the people who are there for you
and the tougher ones, those are the ones who you
want to keep around. So that would be my number one.
And number two is honestly, just be yourself. I think
at the end of the day, when you're genuine when
(29:47):
you find the right person, when you are genuinely happierself,
things around you seem to fall all fall into place
a little bit easier. And those would be my two things.
Is it's easy to get caught up in social media
and what's around you and feeling like you have to
do certain things or fall into the norms. But at
the end of the day, like as hockey players, we're
(30:09):
going to be better when we're ourselves as human beings first.
So I think both of us our careers have been
better because we're happy in our own selves and we're
happy together, and our relationships and our life and all
of that is genuinely true to ourself and who we
want to be as people first.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
So those would be my two for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
It also feels like there's more folks who came before
you now to talk to about the decision to come
out and when and how, especially like soccer and basketball,
there's been more I think women who are openly gay
in those sports, and more recent years that athletes in
hockey really felt like they could come out. Have you
guys talked to any of them or did you reach
out to anyone in advance and be like, how did
(30:53):
you navigate this, especially with sponsors or other folks that
you're more worried about than maybe friends and family.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Honestly, we're right, we are really really lucky.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
I think when when we started, honestly, we didn't really
have those conversations we kind of slid a random Instagram
post in and everybody was like, oh my god, it's
so hard.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Launch We tried to.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Have as little of conversations as possible and just pretend
it was.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
But we're lucky.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
I think we know so many people who are a
little bit older than us, a generation or two who don't,
who haven't and still don't have it as easy and
don't feel as comfortable because that's how they grew up
or that's all they knew, or it wasn't as normal
back then, so there's still a little bit more standoffish today.
So we are extremely lucky and fortunate obviously to be
(31:42):
able to be at the right timing in the world
that not only could we play in this new professional
hockey league, but we could also play together and be together.
So we're pretty fortunate.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Obviously. We've leaned on a lot of our friends.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
A lot of our friends are in relationships with girls
as well, and I think of one hundred percent, our
environment around it around us made it a lot easier
to have those conversations, to feel like it was normal.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
There's always going to be people that have comments and
people that have different opinions and that's life and that
thing we're aware of. That I think to us is
just focusing on what's good our environment and that people
wants the best for us.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
All right, last two most important questions. Was Marcus invited
to the wedding?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
No, he was not. Haven't met Marcus?
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Has anybody heard from Marcus? I think we need to
have Marcus on the show. I want to ask him
some important questions about just life and his ability to
see things and learn things and know things.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
That was like one of our first moments of like, Okay,
I guess we are a little bit more out there
than we thought. You had no idea about this whole situation,
and it blew up right in front of us. So
it made it a lot easier to transition, like we're together.
Everybody knows it now, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
It would be cool is if Marcus and Stacy got together.
I don't know if you guys have heard about their
lesbian Stacy, but I feel like I don't know if
they're straight. I don't want to assume anything in twenty
twenty five, especially during Pride Month, but what if Marcus
and Stacy could get together? Wouldn't that be a sweet
moment they're lesbian stacy is a similar to a their
gay Marcus moment. Okay, final most important question. How many
(33:23):
American players were invited to your wedding?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Two?
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (33:32):
Two?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
Or three? Julie two?
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Yeah, just Victoire teammates or.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
No?
Speaker 3 (33:40):
No, like, like Julie Chu was invited Julian as Meghan
dug In.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
But isn't Julie Chou married to a Canadian player, So
that's kind of I feel like, I feel like that's sneaky.
That doesn't count.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
We had a few Americans invited, not as petty as Canadians.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
But.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
All right, well allow it if you renew your vows.
We expect more Americans who are not married to Canadians
to be welcomed in because I feel like one thing
that the PWHL has done, beyond all the other amazing things,
is perhaps defrost a little bit of the rivalry, at
(34:24):
least when you're not on the ice against each other,
because it's a little harder to hate each other quite
so much when you play together and in pursuit of
the Walter Cup together. Right, I mean that I have
met way more Canadian hockey players of late, and I'm
like gosh, Dan, it's harder to hate them. I feel
sad for them about twenty eighteen. Not that sad because
it was one of my favorite games ever, but a
(34:46):
little sad.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
I hope you film even more so after this interview
I do, which.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Makes it hard. Also, I want to be a Canadian
at this point because of you know, everything that's going
on in Canada's basement right now. I used to call
y'all America's hat, but now I call us Canada's basement.
And at the espnW Summit Canada, I did put out
a petition to ask if anyone would have me if
things really go badly and I need to relocate, And
(35:14):
so far Diana Matheson and her wife Anastasia have offered
me that I could be their roommate, and also Tessa
Bonham said I can sleep on her couch for a while.
So I've got a couple offers. But your place looks
nice too, so I'll add you. I'll add you to
the list. Thank you so much for the time. We're
such big fans at the show and it's so great
to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Thank you, thanks for having us. We'll get you a
Victire jersey.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Thanks again to Laura and Pooh for joining us. We
have to take another break. When we come back, check
your sources people, welcome back slices. It's time for another
What the fact? Last Saturday, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark
(36:03):
made her highly anticipated return to the court and helped
her squad to a one O two eighty eight win
over the New York Liberty, a win that helped the
Fever secure its spot and the Commissioner's Cup Championship game. Now,
we're accustomed to Fever games drawing a ton of eyeballs,
and Saturday's contest was no different. With two point two
million average viewers, it was ESPN's third most watched WNBA
game on ABC ever. But after the game, something caught
(36:26):
our It was a post from at the Indiana Fever
on Twitter slash x that read quote, the Indiana Fever
versus New York Liberty game was the most watched game
in WNBA history, with twenty point nine million viewers via
at WNBA on ESPN. Okay, four important things to note.
One that's not true obviously, as I just told you,
(36:47):
the number was two point two million. Two at the
Indiana Fever is a parody account, and it says so
in the bio. Three at WNBA on ESPN is not
a real account, and four the infograph reads viewvers viewvers.
Despite that, over twenty three thousand people like the post
(37:09):
and over two thousand shared it. What the fact, y'all? Now,
more than ever, it's important to check your sources, click
bios and check for parity notices or other stories that
might look fishy, and look for corroborating stories about the
alleged incident or report. Well, this is just a throwaway
clickbait post about viewvers. We've talked in the past about
far more damaging tweets and stories that fundamentally impact how
(37:33):
folks view women's leagues and players. So do your homework.
Our social media accounts are basically megaphones at this point.
What you choose to share and repost matters, So make
sure you're sharing the facts and never the what the facts?
This what the fact? Brought to you by elf Beauty.
And here's another fact. When a company reflects the community
it serves, it makes elfin sense, especially when it starts
(37:55):
in the highest seats of decision making. Elf Beauty, who
has delivered twenty fivective quarters of net sales growth and
market share gains. Is one of only five publicly traded
companies in the US with a board of directors that's
sixty seven percent women and forty four percent diverse. It's
the only cosmetics brand to grow market share every single
quarter for the past twenty five quarters. Elf is for
(38:16):
every eye, lip, and face, and when you're further every
everyone wins. Learn more about what ELF Beauty is doing
to help diversify corporate boards, visit changethboardgame dot com. While
we're on the subject of Caitlin Clark's return, videos for
the interview I did with Marina Mabray a few weeks
ago started getting flooded with comments this week after Maybury's
aggressive bump of Kaitlin Clark during the particularly physical Fever
(38:39):
Sun game on Tuesday night. In case you missed it,
J C. Sheldon accidentally poked Clark in the eye while
defending her, and Clark pushed Sheldon away, leading to Mabrey's
bump of Clark hard enough to knock her to the ground.
Tita Charles stepped in and she and Clark were both
assessed technical fouls, while Maybury was given a flagrant three
players Sophie Cunningham, J. C. Sheldon, and Lynz Se Allen
(39:00):
all ended up ejected late in the game for a
completely different incident, and Maybury's flagrant foul was upgraded to
a flagrant two on Wednesday. So yeah, like I said,
particularly physical game, Maybury's bump was clearly not a basketball
play and the league handled it correctly. But Caitlin Clark
stands now see Maybury as public enemy number one, which
leads us back to my Instagram and the interview I
(39:22):
did with Marina where she's hilariously discussing her worst trash
talk making fun of another player's dog, and that video
is now seeing a lot of clown face and trash
can emojis along with some unhinged comments like trash talk
from a trash player, No one will remember you, Karma
is coming for you, You'll get yours. You look like
a McDonald's employee, and without CC you'd make less than
(39:45):
a McDonald's manager every year for the rest of your career.
Room temp IQ petitioned to cancel the Connecticut Sons and
Marina Maybury for not showing sportsmanship and displaying violence on
the court. What a D list player looks like you're
a clown emoji. Can't wait to see you get legit
knocked out mid game for your third grade trash talk. Whoof.
(40:08):
While I love fans of women's sports being passionate about
their teams and players, I'll never enduse harassing folks on
social media, and I certainly can't understand spending your one
wild and precious life searching the Internet for videos of
a player so you can comment with trash can emojis
and a desire to see them injured. Also, I got
some strays just for being in the video.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
What the fuck?
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Come on, folks, Get some perspective. Root for your faves,
heck hate on your rivals if you want to. You
can even trash talk about them at baverbial water cooler,
but taking personal shots at someone's looks and wishing harm
on them for a flagrant foul or a physical play
that's out of control. I promise you no WNBA player,
Caitlin Clark or anyone else wants you up in the
(40:50):
comments of other players with this messiness. Get a grip.
We love that you're listening everybody, but we want you
to get in the game every day too. So here's
our good gameplay of the day. Follow the new PWHL
Seattle and Vancouver squads on social and the existing PWHL
squads if you don't already, got to keep up with
the league ahead of season three. And while you're at it,
follow Marie Filip Puhlan and Laurastac two. We'll link to
(41:13):
their accounts in our show notes. And of course, again
remember to vet your sources on the innerwebs. People, that's
not a one time play, that's an all time play
of the day. We love to hear from you, so
hit us up on email Good Game at wondermediaetwork dot
com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate
and review, y'all. It's easy. Watch the Supreme Court upholding
(41:34):
a Tennessee state law banning gender affirming care for minors,
rating just three out of nine justices with common sense
and compassion review. On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court passed
down a ruling in the case of the United States
Versus Scrimmetti, which was filed last year by three families
of trans children and a provider of gender affirming care
the six conservative justices on the Supreme Court voted to
(41:57):
uphold SB one, a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments
for transgender miners. Under SB one, someone assigned a female
at birth could not be prescribed testosterone, but someone assigned
male at birth could receive those drugs. Justice is Sonya Sodomyor,
Katanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan dissented from the majority opinion,
and in her descent, Justice Sodomyra wrote, in part quote,
(42:20):
by retreating from meaningful judicial review exactly where it matters most,
the Court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.
In sadness, I dissent end quote. This is a disheartening
decision with implications that could set a negative precedent for
other lawsuits across the country involving the rights of transgender children.
(42:41):
Power is being taken away from the people who should
be making these decisions and instead put in the hands
of government officials. Just in my own circle, I know
a family that's moving abroad to a different country so
all their children can feel safe, and another family that's
seen the hospital that provides care to their child pause
gender care surgeries in response to Trump executive order back
in January that threatened to cut federal funding to healthcare
(43:04):
providers offering gender affirming medical care. My friend posted about
the hospital after the EO was announced, saying, quote, I
will only speak from my experience and my perspective on
here as a mother. It has helped me better support
my gender non conforming kid. It has welcomed us, celebrated us,
and opened a door to community we really needed. We
waited a year to get in, and now that we
(43:24):
finally are, and EO is trying to shut it down.
There are so many scary things happening, and our lives
are steeped in so much privilege. Whatever happens, we will
fight loud and hard and be okay. But the larger
implications for multiple eos targeting queer youth are dizzying. All
parents and educators should fear that the highest office is
dictating who a child can or cannot be. I could
(43:47):
talk to you about how much I've learned from my
kid about the social construct of gender, the nuance of gender,
the beautiful spectrum of who we all are. But honestly,
I'm tired, and I just want to say, at its core,
This is healthcare, babes. What a thing to have to
fight for. End quote. Trans kids and trans people continue
(44:07):
to sit in the crosshairs of political bullies within and
outside of government. But though this moment stings, the fight
continues to ensure their autonomy, their safety, and ability to
make decisions that reflect what's in the best interest of
their mental, emotional, and physical health. Now it's your turn
yal rate and review. Thanks for listening. See you next week.
(44:28):
Good Game, Marie Philippe, Good Game, Laura you Conservative Supreme
Court Justices. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart
women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
You could find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
(44:51):
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Brittany Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer are associate producers. Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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