May 23, 2025 • 47 mins
Hilary Knight, an Olympic gold medalist, 10x world champion and captain of the PWHL's Boston Fleet, joins Sarah to talk about her decision to make the Milan Cortina Olympics her last Games, share her scouting report for the PWHL Finals series between Ottawa and Minnesota, reveal the story of her secret MBA, and explain why an SNL invite saw her taking an Uber from D.C. to New York. Plus, Northwestern’s golf team makes history, the French Open offers more access, and Gotham FC eyes a championship.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're getting
the hell out of Chicago for the holiday weekend. High's
of sixty and low's of forty four for Memorial Day.
It's almost June, Chicago, get your shit together. It's Friday,
May twenty third, and on today's show, we'll be chatting
with legendary hockey player Hillary Knight about her season two
PWHL reflections, her analysis of the current Walter Cup final
(00:22):
series between the Minnesota frosted Outawa charge, and her announcement
this week that next year's Winter Olympics will be her last.
Plus Northwestern's golf team mix history, got the FC's got
a chance at a championship and a women's hockey what
the fact that'll make you say, what the fuck? That's
all coming up right after this Welcome back slices, Happy Friday.
(00:49):
Here's what you need to know today to golf. Northwestern
won the NCAA Women's Golf National Championship on Wednesday, upsetting
top seed at Stanford to win the Wildcat It's first
ever NCAA title in the sport. It was Northwestern junior
Diana Lee who secured the title, making a four foot
putt on the eighteenth hole for the win More Golf.
(01:09):
The LPGA has announced that Craig Kessler has been selected
as the organization's next commissioner. Kessler, the Chief Operating Officer
of the PGA of America, will take over from Molly Marcusseman,
who stepped down from the role in January. In a statement,
Kessler said, he's looking forward to redefining what's possible for
the organization. Quite honestly, we're looking forward to that too.
(01:30):
We believe in you, LPGA, come on to the NWSL.
The Boston Legacy expansion team has announced that the club
will play its inaugural season home games at Gillette Stadium
in Foxboro, Massachusetts, due to delays with the development of
the team's planned home venue, White Stadium. In a statement,
the club said, while construction at White Stadium is underway,
it's not expected to be finished in time for kickoff
(01:51):
in March of twenty twenty six. Little background here, ever,
Since Boston was awarded an expansion team in twenty twenty three,
the club's plans to renovate White Stadium have been mired
in controversy and slowdowns. The project is a public private one,
meaning that renovation costs are being covered by both the
owners of Boston Legacy as well as public taxpayer funding.
The long term plan is for the Boston Legacy to
(02:12):
share the facility with other community and school teams. The
city and Boston Public Schools will be the owners of
the renovated stadium and will have priority in scheduling games there,
which could cause additional scheduling challenges for the Legacy down
the road. More soccer, The inaugural final of the CONCACAF
Women's Championship Cup is set. The NWSL's Gotham FC will
compete against Tigris UNL of Lega Mxfeminil this Saturday ten
(02:37):
pm Eastern kickoff. This tournament actually began last year, with
club teams from North, South and Central America competing in
the group stage from August through October in order to
advance to this week's semifinals and final. To reach the final,
Gotham defeated Club America of Lega Mxfeminial three to one
on Wednesday, while Tigris Unal beat the Portland Thorns two ozho.
(02:59):
The winner of Saturday's championship game we'll secure a spot
in both the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup in twenty
twenty six and the FIFA Women's Club World Cup in
twenty twenty eight. More soccer. Just because Gotham's competing for
NWSL Pride down in Mexico doesn't mean the rest of
the league is on pause. There are two NWSL regular
season games tonight, with the Utah Royals hosting the Orlando
(03:21):
Pride at nine to thirty pm Eastern and the Seattle
Rain hosting the Washington Spirit at ten pm Eastern. Then
there are three games on Saturday, including one between the
top ranked Kansas City Current and last place Chicago Stars.
Gee wonder who's going to win that one? That's right, Chicago, baby,
I can feel it him a bones. We'll link to
(03:42):
the full NWSL weekend schedule in our show notes to
the PWHL where Minnesota and Ottawa met for Game number
two of the Walter Cup Finals on Thursday night, and
Ottawa now leads the series two oh or maybe Minnesota
even at up one to one. Clearly we're recording this
before the final, but no matter what happened, we're excited
(04:02):
to see what happens in Game three on Saturday, when
the series heads to Minnesota. We'll link to the full
PWHL playoff schedule and results in the show notes, and
they should hopefully be a little more up to date
than this recording. Plus we'll have plenty more on the
PWHL later in this episode with Boston Fleet captain Hillary Knight. Also,
a fun little music and hockey crossover just happened in
Mini where a member of Jelly Rolls band was rocket
(04:25):
a Minnesota Frost jersey on stage as the band performed
in Minneapolis this week, and my friend Brant Feldbin, who's
an agent over in the PWHL, sent over some photos
of a few of jelly Roll's band members skating with
Minnesota Frost coaches and reserve players who didn't make the
trip to Ottawa. Very cool to tennis, the French Open
gets underway on Sunday, with top seed Arena Sabalnka opening
(04:46):
her tournament against Kamila Rahimova and second seeded Coco Golf
set to take on Olivia Gadeki. Meantime, Igaspontek will be
aiming for her fourth straight title at Roland Garros, but
after a few months of rocky play, she fell out
of the top four heading into this year's competition, so
she's seated fifth overall. More French Open News, TNT, the
new US rights holder, has plans to shake things up
(05:08):
a little in the tennis world. They want to mike
up players for interviews with TNT's broadcast team during warmups,
as well as coaches for conversations in between sets, but
we'll have to wait and see how it actually pans out,
per Offle announcing TNT has not yet approached players to
get their side off, to mikee them on the practice courts,
or to make up their coaches who are employees of
those players during matches. We'll see how it goes to
(05:30):
the WNBA. And an update on a story you might
have seen on social media. Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham
has denied allegations that she was involved in an affair
with Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury CEO Josh Bartlestein during
her time playing for the franchise, saying that the accusation
is false and calling out media organizations who published the
accusation without asking her for comment first. In a post
(05:53):
on social media, Cunningham wrote, in part quote, I am
deeply saddened by the recent false accusations made against me
by Jane Trailer, someone I do not know and have
never met. Let me be clear, his statements are untrue
and extremely hurtful. End quote. Cunningham's anger is warranted, but
I just want to be clear on the fact. So
Trailer didn't make the accusation, though it was surfaced via
(06:14):
his lawsuit. Let me explain. The mnba's Phoenix Suns organization
has been under fire for several years, dating back to
previous ownership, with accusations of workplace misconduct and discrimination. Now
promises a big change were made by new owner Matteshbia,
who bought the Sons In Mercury in twenty twenty three,
but the accusations have continued, and a lawsuit filed earlier
(06:34):
this month by Trailer mentions cunning him in it. Trailer,
the Sun's director of safety, security and risk management, accuses
the organization of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and one of
his claims is that he warned the franchise that another
member of the organization was spreading that rumor about Cuttingham
and Bartolstein. He says his concerns were ignored even after
(06:54):
he told Bartlestein himself about the rumors. Earlier this week,
the Suns issued a denial to the statement of the lawsuit, saying,
on Tuesday, quote the recent reports concerning Josh Bartlestein and
Sophie Cunningham are entirely false and morally reprehensible. End quote
more WNBA news. According to multiple reports, on Thursday, owners
of the New York Liberty sold shares in the team
(07:15):
at a record valuation of four hundred and fifty million dollars,
the highest valuation for a women's pro sports franchise. Per
the reports, the capital raised from the sale represents a
percentage share in the mid teens, and the money will
be applied toward construction of a practice facility in Brooklyn.
More hoops. This weekend is chock full of WNBA games
(07:36):
to enjoy. Tonight's selection starts off strong with the Connecticut
Sun visiting the undefeated Minnesota Links at seven thirty pm Eastern.
Tune in as the Sun try to pick up their
first win of the season on Ion or WNBA League Pass.
Then there are two games on Saturday, one of which
is the Indiana Fever hosting the defending champion New York
Liberty at one pm. Eastern on Ion that should offer
(07:57):
some great pace and offensive fireworks. Then on side Monday,
four more games, all available on League Pass or local
broadcast channels. Will link to that full WNBA schedule in
our show notes. A little motorsports news friend of the show,
Catherine leg is racing this Saturday in the NASCAR Expinity
Series bet MGM three hundred event at the Charlotte Motor
Speedway in North Carolina. She'll be racing in an ELF
(08:19):
branded car and fire suit, competing with the Jordan Anderson
Racing Team. Good luck Catherine, and good luck Elf. By
the way, shout out to ELF for sending me a
goodie bag of stuff, including this yummy gummy Glow Reviver
melting lip balm, which has quickly become my new favorite.
I'm obsessed. Finally, a little news for the put women's
sports on TV and make am easy to find. Crowd
(08:40):
streaming platform Fubo TV now has a women's sports hub,
making it easier for fans to find live games and documentaries.
The streaming platform already offered comprehensive WNBA coverage, as users
could already stream games on Ion, ABC, ESPN, CBS, and
NBA TV, but the new hub means that those games
will be easier to find. We got to take a
(09:03):
quick break slices when we come back. It's Hillary Knight.
I caught up with her yesterday. I had of game
two of the PWHL finals stick around joining us now.
She's one of the greatest hockey players of all time,
at Olympic gold medalist and three time Olympic silver medallist,
a ten time world champion and five time world runner up.
(09:24):
She's a member of Team USA, the captain of the
PWHL's Boston Fleet, and one of three finalists for the
PWHL's top honor, the Billie Jean King MVP Award. She
won the inaugural Isabelle Cup in the now defunct NWHL
with the Boston Pride. Was a two time national champion
with the Wisconsin Badgers, and she spent part of her
childhood living in my hometown of Lake Forest, Illinois. Her
(09:46):
girlfriend is an Olympic speed skater. Her dog is a
cutie patuna named Bain. She coats her floors and pledged
so she can skate around on her socks, and she'll
cook you a meal using her patented slap chopped method.
Google it people, It's Hillary Knight. What's up, Hillary?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
How's it going? What an intro?
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Thank you? Thank you? Is slap chopped? The most ridiculous
video you've ever done? Or is there another that comes
to mind?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
No, honestly, I keep you know, my younger teammates find
these gems and they bring them up, and I was
hoping that they were buried. But the internet's a weird
place where, you know, it just keeps rolling, lives forever.
I'd like to say yes, but I know you never know.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Are we still coating the floors with pledge?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
We are not? We are not. Yeah, that was a
good learning experience. It was fun for a while, and
then when the dog starts slipping, it's just it's not
worth it.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I had a feeling the dog might have come into
play there. What's the most fun thing you've gotten to do?
Because you've done a lot of cool stuff in addition
to the silly and ridiculous. Was it a TV show,
an awards show, a movie premiere? Like something cool you've
been asked to do or gotten to do over the
many years of being the face of hockey.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Oh my gosh, I've I mean, I've had the privilege
to do so many fun things. I'd say the first
thing that pops to mind, and I know afterwards and
be like, oh, I should have thought of this. But
I was able to meet Obama and that was like
the coolest thing. A friend like worked in the White
House at the time and he's like, oh, like, can
you just like come visit me for this thing? And
(11:13):
I was like, yeah, no problem, would love to just
like follow you around for the day. And he's like, oh,
just wait right here, and I'm like looking around. I
was like, this office looks like mighty important. And Obama
comes in. I was like, what.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Is so cool?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, So that was That's definitely the top of mind
thing because I was like, it wasn't like the you know,
you get to meet the president's you know, after the
Olympics and stuff, and you kind of go through the
handshake line and you meet all of them. But to
kind of have that touch point.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
At one on one out of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
I was just like, holy moment. And then I was like,
please be a hockey.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Fan, right right. I was going to tell you that
no matter what you said, it couldn't top being on
Saturday Night Live, because that's my dream, but meeting Obama
might be the only thing, might be the only thing.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I knew it like as soon as I said one thing,
another thing would pop up. But yeah, like Leslie Jones like,
oh my gosh, Leslie Jones like Olympic coverage is epic.
And then when she was over there, I was like,
no way, no way, this is happening. And so like
when that invite came through, it was crazy because there
was some sort of not a snowstorm, but something happened
(12:22):
and the train stopped running and I was in DC
at the time, like the day before, and I was
supposed to take the train into the city. And I
remember calling my agent being like, oh my gosh, like
I think, like all the trains are down, but I
am not missing this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
So I had an uber Oh my gosh, and.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I uber to New York City and I messaged the
guy like when he came to pick me up, I
was like just so you know, like is it okay
we drive to New York City? I know it's really
far away, and he's like yeah, sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
That's another level. Like sometimes they cancel when you're like
going to the airport, but Neil kidding, who'd you expense
that one?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
To? Oh? I sent now perfect, perfect, But we had
to stop like halfway a long way and I remember
being like, oh, this is like he could just like
leave me here. Yeah, this rest strap if you really
wanted to, oh man, And he gave me like the
second key to the car, and I was like cool.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Whoa, Okay, that's pretty epic. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I wore my metal underneath my sweatshirt when I went
in to use the restroom because I was like in
the cars right, yeah, yeah, yeah, Oh my gosh, memory.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah that's really bad ass. I'm one day I'm gonna
do it. I'm gonna I've gone to watch twice. I
am going to be on it. I'm putting that in
the universe for the eight millionth time. If there is
a god, she must hear me now, and that will
need to happen before the day I die. Okay, let's
talk the news of the week, because you have just
recently announced that the Milan Courtina Olympics will be your last.
Tell me about that decision.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I mean, quite a heavy decision for me, just because
I've grown up in this program and been with USA
Hockey for so many years literally kind of while to
think about, like how long I've played so far, And
my team kind of brought it up to me, like
our like agency, it's like, what do you think, like
will this be your last one? Just like prompting questions, right,
(14:03):
And I was like, oh my gosh, like I haven't
even thought about that, And so I thought about it
a lot throughout this year and I was like, I mean, yeah,
you know, I feel so fulfilled. I'm really confident with
where we are on the world stage. Obviously I want
to continue to keep on winning, but yeah, I think
it's just it's time and the prospect of signing up
(14:25):
for another quad, I don't know, you know, so a
long time. Yeah, So in terms of Olympics, like, yeah,
definitely twenty twenty six, and I would love to go
out with a bang. That way would be ideal. I mean,
anything can happen, right, Like, I still need to plot
my way and make the team and all that fun
things and stay healthy. But yeah, I'm really fulfilled from
(14:48):
an Olympic standpoint. Good, So that's exciting.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
But you have said you planned to play in the
PWHL after Milan. No need to put a timeline on
that just yet. But what about Team Usay, if you're
not gonna play for another full cycle, will you stick
around after Olympics or does it feel cleaner to be
done after Milan?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah? I think I think I might stick around. You know,
I've always had this if I can continue to make
a positive impact in that program, you know, and sort
of pass the torch in that way, make sure we're
in a good spot with you know, all the turnover
that naturally just happens after the Olympics. And yeah, I
think you know, I'm still one of the best players
(15:26):
in the world, so I'd love to continue that dominance
and bring more World Championship trophies back to the US.
But yeah, no, I think it's just it's exciting. I mean,
at first, it was really daunting to even think about
like an end point for anything. And I was like, well,
I don't know, would it feels weird to sam done
after twenty twenty six and then keep playing pro And
(15:48):
you know, to me, now those are two very separate things.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, so, which is nice. You know, you also have
some records you can add too, so if you could
keep playing in World Championships, we can build those leads
you've got because recent World Championships. Just a couple of
months ago, you helped Team USA to another win four
three o two win over Canada, your tenth World title,
which is insane, and then during the tournament you break
the record for most career assists at Worlds. You now
(16:12):
have the record at World's four assists, goals and points.
What's the predominant feeling you have when I read that,
when I say all that you've accomplished there, Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
No, I mean I've played with some amazing players. I've
been on some great teams, so like the individual awards
feel uncomfortable, I'd say to me, And I think definitely,
at some point in my life when I'm able to
have like a healthy reflection on everything, be like wow,
like I was a total badass. But no, the World
(16:44):
Championship wins like that to me is just epic. You know,
having ten is just I mean, that's a that's a
body of work right there. And to be a part
of those teams, to help lead those teams, to be
a small or big piece in those teams. Yeah, it's
really cool to have that number for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, And you know, I think it's really hard for
athletes who are as great as you have been and
continue to be to figure out do I want to
just be done at some point, or do I want
to tell people when I'm going to be done and
know that everyone at every one of my last games
will know that this is it. It's going to feel
like a lot. Maybe all the opponents will give me
a gift and then it'll feel like a big deal
and I can't just focus on the hockey. But it
(17:25):
sounds like you are in a really a place of
peace about how it all goes down, and it's cool
that you do get to keep playing after the Olympics
for something meaningful, Like a few years ago, it would
have been a lot harder to know whether it was
worth returning to something like the professional league that you
were in, whether it was the money or the resources,
or the interest or the fans. Because the PWHL has
gotten off to such an incredible start when you choose
(17:47):
to say goodbye to the Olympics, you can still play
in a meaningful way after and not have it be
three years earlier than you want, because that just happens
to be what the Olympics cycle is.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
That's cool totally, and I think too, like it's no
like I like to win, right, Like I love winning.
And you know, when I think about the inaugural season
with the PWHL, when I think about the landscape of
pro sports in the city of Boston, I want to
bring a Walter cumb back to that city. And that
(18:19):
is like that's gonna be the new Crosshairs, right.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
So okay, look out.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah yeah so and obviously this expansion, everything's gonna get
blown up and you know, who knows what's gonna happen.
But I want that so bad for this city too.
And so you know when I was like, ah, like
being done with the Olympic and I still play pro
kind of thing, like is that weird? And it's like,
how is that weird? You know, I'm just saying, like
I'm not signing up for another quad. So I really
(18:46):
want to embrace this twenty twenty six cycle for sure
and really take it all in. And I'm really glad
that that question was prompted months ago so I could
now be more at peace with it. Yeah, and just hey,
you know, and it too, like it's great for like
our younger players on the team now, like you know,
it's whoa like we're gonna step up, you know. So
(19:08):
I think there's so many great things that come out
of it. Obviously it's my career is something also to
be celebrated, and it's cool because you know, even looking
I don't usually go into dms for Instagram or anything,
but someone sent me one. But I was just like
on the couch the older day. I was like, what,
you know, what does this look like? And they just
said like thank you, like I inspired them in some
(19:29):
sort of way, and it was just it was cool
because we lace up, we play this game that we
love and sometimes, you know, we talk about it, but
sometimes we lose that perspective of having that impact through
the thing that we love, and so like that was
like a really cool moment where it's like, you know,
it was sort of bittersweet, right, like yeah, but it
(19:49):
just goes to show like what these careers can do
for people. Obviously given me everything, but you know, I'd
like to think that it's had positive impact on other
people's wealth.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
So absolutely, you know, I want to get to your
goals with Boston. But just to wrap on the international stuff,
I'm curious how it's felt playing Canada in the last
couple of major international tournaments. Now that you're not relying
on centralization camps with national teams to prep, but you're
prepping sort of together against the enemy, has it been
hard to hate them as much as you used to.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Kind of and then know? At the same time, I
will say, like, it's hard from like a you don't
have the same touch points with like just Team USA
teammates all the time, and because of the ebbs and
flows of the pro season, it's like sometimes you're in
survival mode trying to get to the next game and
recovering and whatnot, and you really have to be focused
(20:44):
on the pro landscape and your team. But yeah, I'd
say that the only downfall is not having as many
touch points and being as connected I think, like off
the ice and knowing you know, what everyone's going through
in personal lives and stuff. But we kind of just
pick up where we left off when the team gets together.
But yeah, in some ways, you almost want to beat
(21:06):
more now, you know. And in the spillover right, like
it's you know, something happens in an international game, does
it spill over the Pro series? You know, vice versa.
It's it's really interesting to kind of see how this
has become its own beast and you're seeing better games
now at the international level. It's not just US versus Canada.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
And you're you're all learning from each other in practice,
learning what each other does well what each other. Yeah,
all right, let's talk p WHL. Because your Boston Fleet
finished with the same number of points as the third
and fourth place squads, but just missed out on the
postseason after a loss on the very last day of action.
That is a heartbreaking way to see your season and
(21:47):
when you're that close. I'm so sorry to ask, I
have to, I.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Have only like a loss was just it was such
a heartbreaking experience to go through because I love our
fans and God blessed them for continuing to stay and
cheer us on till the very last minute.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
But yeah, like it just goes to show that every
single game, every single point was standings matters, right, Like,
we had an opportunity to close out and secure a
playoff spot, you know, well in advance of that last game,
and unfortunately came down to the last game and the
fashion that we lost was super unfortunate. But yeah, it's
(22:29):
it's frustrating, and then to build off you know, the
year before we got really lucky. New York did some
wonky things for us, and we were able to find
a playoff fit out of nowhere, being what like twelve
or fifteen points back after Worlds something like that. Like
it was insane. So it every game matters, and you know,
I think now being in year two, going to year three,
(22:52):
you know, it's that's definitely gonna be a mindset shift
for us in Boston.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, what did you think was missing this season? I
know you did get some luck on the way to
making it to the finals last year, but you did
end up in the finals. What was missing?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Well, I think you always want to be control of
your own destiny, right, and you never want to leave
it up to chance. And you know two years we
kind of we've done that, and so yeah, it uh,
you know, I joke around talking shop all the time,
but you know, I think it's just every single shift matters,
and I think being able to generate and feed and
(23:26):
build off of one another's momentum will put Boston in
a better place next year.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
So get everyone to understand the urgency, get everyone else there.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yeah, yeah, and you know it's tough, like we were
playing a full contact like it is. It is not
fun sometimes, Like we just came back from break, now
we're up in Toronto against their fans. You know, it's
those are hard games. Like we have tough schedules, but
I think when you realize everyone else has a tough
schedule in the league, it you know, it's go time
and we need to be ready to embrace an opportunity
(23:57):
to really control, you know, where we want to be
in postseason. And yeah, and I think you know it's
hard is we have such a great room and so
like we have that going for us, and so that's
usually the hardest thing to have in a great room.
So we just need that to translate and to the
on ice, and I think we're gonna be in a
(24:18):
great spot.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Season finale leaves a tough taste in your mouth, that
eight to one loss. And it's the Frost who you
lost to in the Walter Cup finals last season, So
safe to say they're the biggest rivals.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, I mean they're big. I think everyone in the
league is, to be honest, like it's small enough. It
feels like a blood bath out there, you know, regardless
of who you're playing against. But yeah, I mean I
was looking at the schedule. I saw Fross as the
last game we're at home. You know, I think everyone's
thinking it. We had the three nothing loss in the
Walter Cup Finals last year, and you know, we were
(24:53):
really excited going into that game, and it just, you know,
it just goes a show, like a bounce here, bounce there.
It's it can be.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
That's the worst part of sports that I always felt
that way, no matter how hype I got, no matter
how prep di I got, no matter how much I
felt like my mindset was right, Like you just don't know,
and that sucks. It sucks, but it teaches you great
lessons for life. The season's now over, which means, of course,
in the hockey world, everyone went to get surgery. Everyone's
lower body injuries and upper body injuries and all the
(25:23):
body injuries get revealed to be like extremely severe and
everyone talks about how were they skating with that? So
tell us what yours was? What was your injury? What
was your surgery?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, you know, I think everyone's just banged up, but
mine is just uh yeah, I had to get surgery
on Thursday, So that was not ideal. But you know,
it's it's just part of the game. I don't know
if hockey players are just like built different. There's like
a level of stoicism, there's a love of craziness where
(25:54):
you just feel so impassioned to fulfill your duty and
responsibility to other teammates, and sometimes you just need to
take a step back and be like you were absolutely crazy.
But yeah, that's taken care of. Yeah, I you know,
felt like I didn't have as big as an impact
towards like the end of the year. So yeah, hopefully,
(26:15):
you know, we'll be going into next year full fully
rolling and having fun and you know, slicing up the
game that I want to.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I noticed you didn't tell me what the injury was,
and I will let that stand and move on. What
do you make of the current p WHL final matchup?
We've got Ottawa versus Minnesota. We're talking to you on
Thursday ahead of game two. So so far, you and
I have just watched one game in the series. The
listeners will have seen Game two by now. But you
played against these teams all seasons, so give us your
(26:44):
quick scouting report on them.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, I mean the Frost plays with crazy transition speed,
you know, They've got some great shooters on that team,
so you want to keep them out of those Grade
A opportunities and limit those. And then on the flip side,
like Ottawa plays with this like controlled chaos and has
(27:06):
some people who can just pull plays out of make
plays out of nothing, which you know obviously tends to
be lethal when you're in these playoff games. So it's
a really exciting matchup. I think Ottawa doesn't necessarily get
enough credit for the type of team that they have,
and I know, like I do not like playing against
(27:27):
Ottawa or Minnesota, so you know, I'm curious to see
how this unfolds. You've got great goaltending on both ends,
and that's I mean, that's why you saw a game
go into overtime.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Yeah, Gwyneth Phillips, that was actually surprising. Best keeper, I guess, tender.
What do we say in hockey? I always mix those up.
Just goalie best goalie, and so soccer and hockey always
get in my in my brain about that. But best
goalie in the league all season, had the best goals
against average, and then she just makes kind of a
boneheaded play coming out of her net, which ultimately lets
the frost get into that game and then thankfully for
(27:58):
Ottawa didn't end up killing them. But that's the whole thing.
Anything can happen, Even the best goalie out there can
make a mistake like that. You mentioned expansion that's set
for the PWHL heading into next season, Seattle and Vancouver
joining the league. What's the most exciting thing to you
about either those two cities or the league growing after
just two seasons.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah, I think both more opportunity for women in sport obviously,
Like that's that's a no brainer. That's I mean off
the hop that's what we get, you know, to see
the success of the league and they make the decision
to say, you know, we're expanding, and obviously they've got
their data and numbers that show that it was successful.
I think as players, when we were all trying to
(28:39):
ide eate this thing, like we knew how successful it
would be, and so when people would ask us like
did you know how successfululd be? Like we've been pushing
for this thing for years, but Mark and kimber Walter
just you know, taking you know, an opportunity and really
building it into this thing that's going to succeed and
go the day since it's just incredible. And then in
(29:02):
terms of the actual locations of expansion, like Vancouver sounds
like it's an unbelievable setup, great hockey market. Obviously played
some awesome games out there, and Seattle is just like
a prime women's sports market. And I think people you know,
on the East in the middle, I like, you forget
like Seattle is here to play, especially with women's sports,
(29:25):
and so that's really cool. I think, you know, as
someone in the league, I'm like, shoot, we don't want
to lose our players. You know, you never want an
expansion draft. So yeah, it is for players, it's depending
on what spot you're in your little it's a little
nerve wracking because there's so much uncertainty. You don't know
what's going to happen. You don't know what our team
is going to look like. And for someone who really
(29:46):
enjoyed our room and the players that we had on
our team, like, it's gonna be very tough. You kind
of have to start from from zero again.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
So well, we talked about that on the show. The
expansion process the other day, five day exclusive signing window
with not protected players. So that's cool. It's sort of
this expansion team free agency before you even get to
the expansion draft. What do you make of that process?
And also teams only being able to protect three players.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, I think it's wild, but you know, it's exciting.
It's exciting for fans. The you know, just the opportunity
of expansion is exciting. You know, as a player, you're like,
what is happening? I don't want to lose you know,
certain you know players on our team because we just
went through this whole process two years now. I'm sure
(30:31):
gms on inauurgural teams are not having as well because
they plan for the future. But it just goes to
show like this is not necessarily development league right now.
It's like a place in bank and you've got to
be ready to go. So from that standpoint, it's exciting
for fans. You know, you're probably gonna see more goal scored,
you know, and all the fun things that come along
(30:51):
with more teams and more spots. So that's that's awesome.
But do you think uncertainty is eating me up?
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I'm just like, yeah, you're essentially such a veteran player
that I would imagine your coaches and GM come to
you wanting thoughts about things. Is there any chance they'll
come to you about who to protect or who to
who to look out for?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Oh gosh, no, that's I don't get paid for that.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Okay, well listen, I do a lot of things. I
don't get paid for.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Hillary.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, that's not how it. I know.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
There's definitely, you know, there's definitely conversations, you know, just like,
you know, how are we feeling kind of thing? You know,
what's your ideal scenario?
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You know, write three names down on a piece of paper,
you hold it and slip it across.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, we don't know, but you're the only submission is that? Yeah? No,
you know it's I think personnel is like super important
in our room too, And so you know, I keep
talking about that, whether it's the US team or the Fleet.
You know, teams win championships. You know, people focus a
(31:56):
lot on top six time on ice, who's scoring goals,
but it is so much the in between that don't
necessarily get those like sexy metrics that win US championships.
So when I'm looking at like, you know, hopefully I'm
staying with Boston, right, and so when I'm looking at
you know, how do we want to win a championship.
How do we bring a championship here to Boston? You know,
what do those pieces look like? And so I think,
(32:19):
like our staff understand like who I am and what
I can bring, and you know what I harp on
sort of like as a leader, and I think all
that will you know, hopefully align. And we're hoping, right
because we don't want to lose anybody.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
But what if they just don't protect you and then
Hillary Knight leads Seattle to their first Walter Cup. Screw you, Boston.
You know the pw W Hotels go ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I was gonna say, like it's it's like a win
win for anybody, right, Yeah, you know, you have opportunity
where you are, and if you know, these things are
completely out of a player's control, and if you go
somewhere else, you have an opportunity there.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yeah, we're not even gonna we're not even going to
talk about you getting an opportunity else. We're not doing that.
We're not doing that. The PWHL's success stems from a long,
hard fight from women's hockey players to demand better from
both the US Hockey Federation and from professional offerings, and
that included a really notable twenty seventeen threat to boycott
the World Championships on home soil if USA Hockey didn't
(33:19):
improve pay and conditions and resources. When you look back
at that fight and you consider where the game is now,
what stands out.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
To you The game wouldn't be where it is today
without that. Yeah, And that's not just saying like that
specific team, but that team went through it to learn
how to stand up and fight for something and do
it so publicly and put everything on the line, but
also the strength of standing on shoulders before us, right.
(33:46):
It was you know, a team, team, team behind the
team effort to get something like that done. And you know,
I want to give credit to Lambreau, Twins and John
langle Megs. You know, there's so many people that went
into being able to galvanize us in that way so
that when we were looking at the horizon what we
(34:10):
wanted for professional hockey, we knew what we wanted and
we could be stern and people looked at us and
said we were really crazy and we should be grateful,
as they always will. And you know, look where we
are for saying no, and it was a good no.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
I have to say, there are some real lessons to
be taken from women's sports for the fights that we
have in the rest of our world in society, because
when you look at how things get done, the hockey team,
the women's soccer team, fighting for equal pay across the board,
in these spaces, people are reaching back and asking for help.
It's people going to Cammi Granado and Billy Jean King
(34:48):
and Julie Foudy. They're looking back and saying, how did
you get this done? To Billy Jean back when you
had the one dollar contract, how did you get this done?
Faudy says to her. And when we look at how
the the connections and the strength and numbers affects the
outcomes of places that feel almost hopeless, like places that
do not seem like they're going to move off of
(35:09):
their spot. And then you get enough people together, and
in your case, you're calling up every hockey player that
exists and saying they're going to call you, Like these
college kids whose dream it is to play for Team USA,
They're gonna call you and they're trying to get you
to be a scab and play in the World Championships
because we're not going to be there. You cannot do that.
You cannot take this dream in this opportunity because it
(35:29):
will hurt the rest of women's hockey forever. And they
didn't do it like that kind of solidarity is the
kind of solidary we probably need to model in the
other fights that we have. And it's just like endlessly
impressive to me how women athletes and of the past
and present rally together for those moments. I wonder what
your relationship with USA Hockey is now.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
I think it's it's good. It is like to think
of the the growth that we've had in such a
small amount of times since twenty seven team because in
some ways like it was a long time ago, but
in many it wasn't. We have an incredible support staff,
you know, fully fully employed behind us, which is awesome.
(36:11):
But you know, I'm always like it's a starting point
kind of thing. But yeah, I think you know, you're
seeing us play on a world stage like we've never
been able to compete before, and so that's exciting to
me that we've made so many strides in such a
short amount of time. And obviously contracts will come up
for renegotiation and we have to go through those battles again.
(36:34):
But I continue to think that we show up and
we prove our worth every single time, and I think
that's one of the hardest things to do. And I'm
so glad you brought up BOUTI because you know, she
in John Laningle like she should be mentioned as a
name because she was the person that started. Here's the
catalyst for us to be like, oh, yeah, we should
do that, and we can do that, you know. Yes,
(36:55):
I think we look at so many other like amazing
women and what they've done and you're like, oh wow,
like that's great, but you don't feel like you can
be a part of that conversation. And so like she
was that that catalyst for us. But yeah, it's you know,
it's incredible what you're able to accomplish as a group.
And as you put it, it was a dream. You know,
it's not nothing tangible really that you can ask someone
(37:16):
not to do. And so I think that was what
was so powerful as we assembled this old fashioned phone
tree and had all these moments if you know, can
you can you say no to this because we promise
it's going to be better?
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Can it even a dream? Ye?
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Sick? So yeah, it's cool, you and I have talked
on my various shows over the years, uh, probably a
decade plus going back, and we've often discussed the pressure
that women athletes feel, not just to be the very
best at their sport and everything that that entails, all
the workouts in time and energy, but also sell tickets,
promote the game, foster growth, be a role model. And
(37:54):
you have been carrying the load for women hockey for decades,
one of the only household names in America in the sport.
That's it's getting better, But do you still feel all
that pressure?
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Honestly, I feel less pressure now that we have the league.
I think the CBA negotiations, I think anybody who was involved,
like every everyone had their own I think lends to it.
But in many ways it almost ruined me, I think
in my human life, because it was so exhausting and
(38:28):
so meaningful, and you felt the weight of all the
other players that you brought on this journey, and you
knew that we could not fail and the worst thing
would be to fail, and so that was that was
really tough and really trying, and now being in your
two to like take a breath and be like I
get to just go play now, you know, that's nice.
(38:50):
There will always be those pressures I think of, you know,
how you carry yourself, how you want to have an
impact on people. I think that's just innatly what comes
along with that Olympic space and being a leader in
your sport, and that's what it is specifically also too
in women's sports. People are going to, you know, really
dive down and look what you are you interested in
(39:12):
and what you believe in, and really pick that apart.
But I think that just comes with the territory.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Yeah, you know, I think about the impression that you
can leave on the next generation of players who are
just starting in the league, and how important it is
for you to make sure that they know how hard
you fought for it, because we're seeing that across so
many women's sports spaces, where the folks who are just
now retiring or maybe retired a year or two ago
(39:37):
are like, damn, look at the money they're making in nil,
look at the contracts they're getting, and it's like they're
proud that they did that, but they're also like, m
you lucky ducks, Like look what we help to make
for you. So you're still around so you can tell
them all, Hey, this is what it looked like when
I started, and this is how different it is. So
be grateful, but also keep pushing because it can all
(39:58):
be taken away. Don't keep fighting for it in the
right ways, which is which is pretty cool. You just
mentioned the CBA, so I'm going to end on this.
I read an article a couple of years ago where
you said, maybe after hockey you'd like to go back
to school after the CBA negotiations. Is that still something
you want to do or have you decided to hit
in the books? Is maybe not the thing for you? Well?
Speaker 2 (40:19):
So I always like I went to Wisconsin was history major.
I have sort of always been like attracted to the
law right in that way and being able to have
an impact there. And it's funny because during COVID I
ended up getting my MBA because I was like, I
need structure and I went, wow, congrats, yeah thanks, So
(40:40):
like I wanted to, I didn't. It's so funny, like
this imposter syndrome thing. I was like, I've just been
playing hockey my whole life, like I want to make
sure what.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Am I doing with myself.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
I'm a waist exactly. But then all the life lessons
I've learned in this sport are so invaluable and like
I can apply those anywhere. But yeah, so structure was
good for me during COVID with that, but I was
looking this far. I was like, is there an online
law program? But no, I don't think I will. The
(41:09):
LSA to me is just daunting and then.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
You can do it. You can do it, Hillary Knight,
that squire has a real nice ring to if not
in life, it's a TV show. I would watch it.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
I would watch it. There's so many things I want
to do and there's just it feels like there's not
enough time. You know. I love that the same way.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I mean I do for sure, but also I feel
like I love that coming from an athlete. So many
folks are so lost when they're done because they're like,
I'm only forty, but somehow I'm done with this whole
purpose of my life, Like what do I do now?
To me, it sounds like you're both wanting to keep
playing for as long as you can and also very
much like excited about all the time you'll have to
do other things after. Yeah, what a gift. Like that's
(41:47):
such a great place to be.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Yeah, I mean just like h Like, I want to
invest in women's sports, right, and I want to keep
like talking about women's sports. I mean, so those are
like the two like things for me that I just
absolutely love to do. So awesome. Yeah, I think, you know,
obviously there's a transition point in time and I've been
playing for so long, and I will definitely be heartbroken
(42:10):
in my own way for not being able to wake
up and just train and do that for my job.
But you know, I think, you know, I'm so fulfilled
at the same time as well.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Yeah, I love the Walter Cup Championship after bringing the
Walter Cup to Boston, to Boston, yes, and then potentially
helping bring a team to Chicago so all your Lake
Forest fans can watch. That's even Chicago too, and.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Try we're trying to go, you know, honestly to like
Florida would be great. Like I'm just thinking places like
I want to travel, putting back.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
To the list. Yeah, oh yeah, that's easy, good travel
spot throw some places in Europe on there. I've always
wanted to go to Prague. Why not? Well, we always
love catching up with you. Congrats on all the success,
enjoy the recovery from surgery and we look forward to
what's next.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Thanks so much to Hillary for taking the time. We
got to take another break when we come back. Oh,
what the fact from the not too distant past, Welcome
back slices, It's time for another What the fact? We
talked with Hillary about her role helping demand more from
(43:22):
USA Hockey back in twenty seventeen and how important the
collective bargaining negotiations were and getting the PWHL off the ground.
That work has helped create a very different landscape for
women's hockey players compared to the one Hillary played in
after graduating from college. So let's go back in time.
The year is twenty twelve and Hillary Knight just graduated
from the University of Wisconsin as a two time NCAA champion.
(43:43):
She's a regular member of the US national team, but
away from those team camps and tournaments, the women's hockey
landscape is a tough place. She initially joins the Boston Blades,
a team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Want to
know how much money ce WHL players made back then?
Nothing nada. That league operated as a nonprofit and while
some expenses were covered, players were not paid to play hockey.
(44:07):
After a couple seasons with the Blades, Hillary joins the
NWHL's Boston Pride in twenty fifteen. The NWHL was historic
in that it was the first league to pay women's
hockey players, but salaries were low and benefits like health
insurance and housing stipends were not included. Then salaries were
slashed in season two as the league ran into financial trouble.
(44:28):
It was pretty bleak. All that to say, women's hockey
has come a long way in just a few short years,
which makes it all the more exciting to see the
PWHL not only thrive but expand already after just two seasons.
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changethboardgame dot com. We always love to hear from you slices,
so hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork
dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review, y'all. It's easy. Watch the Atlanta dream
play A Society cash App Statement Court rating ten out
(45:32):
of ten Amazing Esthetics review. The Dreams home opener was
against the Indiana Fever Thursday Night at Statefarm Arena, and
the squads hooped on a very special court designed in
collaboration with cash App and the woman owned streetwear brand
play A Society. This court is gorgeous, y'all. We'll link
to pictures of it in our show notes. Between the lines,
(45:53):
the hardwood is black with a slightly darker black, and
the painted area and the space surrounding the court is
a gradient going from an elect green to a forest green.
Mid court is where things really get good. In bold
white letters in the text you typically see on all
of play As Society's popular shirts and other apparel are
the words pay some respect to women's Sports. You might
(46:14):
have seen the shirt that Esther Wallace's brand collabbed on
with cash Apps. Just like that. Shout out to the
dream because this court gives the arena a super intense vibe,
almost like what a court might look like in Gotham City.
And if you got the game, you know it looked
awesome on TV too. The court will now be donated
to a local youth organization and the pay Some Respect
to Women's Sports statement will be featured on the Dreams
(46:36):
practice jerseys and on March that's available to fans on
the play A Society website. We'll link to that in
our show notes. There's some other really great merch there
as well. Now's your turn rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices,
see you tomorrow. Good game, Hillary, Good game to that
uber driver who made sure Hillary got to New York.
Do you expecting players to compete in a contact sport
(46:57):
without ensuring that they have medical coverage? 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 producers are Christina Everett,
(47:18):
Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are
Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and Gianna Palmer. Our
associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're getting
the hell out of Chicago for the holiday weekend. High's
of sixty and low's of forty four for Memorial Day.
It's almost June, Chicago, get your shit together. It's Friday,
May twenty third, and on today's show, we'll be chatting
with legendary hockey player Hillary Knight about her season two
PWHL reflections, her analysis of the current Walter Cup final
(00:22):
series between the Minnesota frosted Outawa charge, and her announcement
this week that next year's Winter Olympics will be her last.
Plus Northwestern's golf team mix history, got the FC's got
a chance at a championship and a women's hockey what
the fact that'll make you say, what the fuck? That's
all coming up right after this Welcome back slices, Happy Friday.
(00:49):
Here's what you need to know today to golf. Northwestern
won the NCAA Women's Golf National Championship on Wednesday, upsetting
top seed at Stanford to win the Wildcat It's first
ever NCAA title in the sport. It was Northwestern junior
Diana Lee who secured the title, making a four foot
putt on the eighteenth hole for the win More Golf.
(01:09):
The LPGA has announced that Craig Kessler has been selected
as the organization's next commissioner. Kessler, the Chief Operating Officer
of the PGA of America, will take over from Molly Marcusseman,
who stepped down from the role in January. In a statement,
Kessler said, he's looking forward to redefining what's possible for
the organization. Quite honestly, we're looking forward to that too.
(01:30):
We believe in you, LPGA, come on to the NWSL.
The Boston Legacy expansion team has announced that the club
will play its inaugural season home games at Gillette Stadium
in Foxboro, Massachusetts, due to delays with the development of
the team's planned home venue, White Stadium. In a statement,
the club said, while construction at White Stadium is underway,
it's not expected to be finished in time for kickoff
(01:51):
in March of twenty twenty six. Little background here, ever,
Since Boston was awarded an expansion team in twenty twenty three,
the club's plans to renovate White Stadium have been mired
in controversy and slowdowns. The project is a public private one,
meaning that renovation costs are being covered by both the
owners of Boston Legacy as well as public taxpayer funding.
The long term plan is for the Boston Legacy to
(02:12):
share the facility with other community and school teams. The
city and Boston Public Schools will be the owners of
the renovated stadium and will have priority in scheduling games there,
which could cause additional scheduling challenges for the Legacy down
the road. More soccer, The inaugural final of the CONCACAF
Women's Championship Cup is set. The NWSL's Gotham FC will
compete against Tigris UNL of Lega Mxfeminil this Saturday ten
(02:37):
pm Eastern kickoff. This tournament actually began last year, with
club teams from North, South and Central America competing in
the group stage from August through October in order to
advance to this week's semifinals and final. To reach the final,
Gotham defeated Club America of Lega Mxfeminial three to one
on Wednesday, while Tigris Unal beat the Portland Thorns two ozho.
(02:59):
The winner of Saturday's championship game we'll secure a spot
in both the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup in twenty
twenty six and the FIFA Women's Club World Cup in
twenty twenty eight. More soccer. Just because Gotham's competing for
NWSL Pride down in Mexico doesn't mean the rest of
the league is on pause. There are two NWSL regular
season games tonight, with the Utah Royals hosting the Orlando
(03:21):
Pride at nine to thirty pm Eastern and the Seattle
Rain hosting the Washington Spirit at ten pm Eastern. Then
there are three games on Saturday, including one between the
top ranked Kansas City Current and last place Chicago Stars.
Gee wonder who's going to win that one? That's right, Chicago, baby,
I can feel it him a bones. We'll link to
(03:42):
the full NWSL weekend schedule in our show notes to
the PWHL where Minnesota and Ottawa met for Game number
two of the Walter Cup Finals on Thursday night, and
Ottawa now leads the series two oh or maybe Minnesota
even at up one to one. Clearly we're recording this
before the final, but no matter what happened, we're excited
(04:02):
to see what happens in Game three on Saturday, when
the series heads to Minnesota. We'll link to the full
PWHL playoff schedule and results in the show notes, and
they should hopefully be a little more up to date
than this recording. Plus we'll have plenty more on the
PWHL later in this episode with Boston Fleet captain Hillary Knight. Also,
a fun little music and hockey crossover just happened in
Mini where a member of Jelly Rolls band was rocket
(04:25):
a Minnesota Frost jersey on stage as the band performed
in Minneapolis this week, and my friend Brant Feldbin, who's
an agent over in the PWHL, sent over some photos
of a few of jelly Roll's band members skating with
Minnesota Frost coaches and reserve players who didn't make the
trip to Ottawa. Very cool to tennis, the French Open
gets underway on Sunday, with top seed Arena Sabalnka opening
(04:46):
her tournament against Kamila Rahimova and second seeded Coco Golf
set to take on Olivia Gadeki. Meantime, Igaspontek will be
aiming for her fourth straight title at Roland Garros, but
after a few months of rocky play, she fell out
of the top four heading into this year's competition, so
she's seated fifth overall. More French Open News, TNT, the
new US rights holder, has plans to shake things up
(05:08):
a little in the tennis world. They want to mike
up players for interviews with TNT's broadcast team during warmups,
as well as coaches for conversations in between sets, but
we'll have to wait and see how it actually pans out,
per Offle announcing TNT has not yet approached players to
get their side off, to mikee them on the practice courts,
or to make up their coaches who are employees of
those players during matches. We'll see how it goes to
(05:30):
the WNBA. And an update on a story you might
have seen on social media. Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham
has denied allegations that she was involved in an affair
with Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury CEO Josh Bartlestein during
her time playing for the franchise, saying that the accusation
is false and calling out media organizations who published the
accusation without asking her for comment first. In a post
(05:53):
on social media, Cunningham wrote, in part quote, I am
deeply saddened by the recent false accusations made against me
by Jane Trailer, someone I do not know and have
never met. Let me be clear, his statements are untrue
and extremely hurtful. End quote. Cunningham's anger is warranted, but
I just want to be clear on the fact. So
Trailer didn't make the accusation, though it was surfaced via
(06:14):
his lawsuit. Let me explain. The mnba's Phoenix Suns organization
has been under fire for several years, dating back to
previous ownership, with accusations of workplace misconduct and discrimination. Now
promises a big change were made by new owner Matteshbia,
who bought the Sons In Mercury in twenty twenty three,
but the accusations have continued, and a lawsuit filed earlier
(06:34):
this month by Trailer mentions cunning him in it. Trailer,
the Sun's director of safety, security and risk management, accuses
the organization of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and one of
his claims is that he warned the franchise that another
member of the organization was spreading that rumor about Cuttingham
and Bartolstein. He says his concerns were ignored even after
(06:54):
he told Bartlestein himself about the rumors. Earlier this week,
the Suns issued a denial to the statement of the lawsuit, saying,
on Tuesday, quote the recent reports concerning Josh Bartlestein and
Sophie Cunningham are entirely false and morally reprehensible. End quote
more WNBA news. According to multiple reports, on Thursday, owners
of the New York Liberty sold shares in the team
(07:15):
at a record valuation of four hundred and fifty million dollars,
the highest valuation for a women's pro sports franchise. Per
the reports, the capital raised from the sale represents a
percentage share in the mid teens, and the money will
be applied toward construction of a practice facility in Brooklyn.
More hoops. This weekend is chock full of WNBA games
(07:36):
to enjoy. Tonight's selection starts off strong with the Connecticut
Sun visiting the undefeated Minnesota Links at seven thirty pm Eastern.
Tune in as the Sun try to pick up their
first win of the season on Ion or WNBA League Pass.
Then there are two games on Saturday, one of which
is the Indiana Fever hosting the defending champion New York
Liberty at one pm. Eastern on Ion that should offer
(07:57):
some great pace and offensive fireworks. Then on side Monday,
four more games, all available on League Pass or local
broadcast channels. Will link to that full WNBA schedule in
our show notes. A little motorsports news friend of the show,
Catherine leg is racing this Saturday in the NASCAR Expinity
Series bet MGM three hundred event at the Charlotte Motor
Speedway in North Carolina. She'll be racing in an ELF
(08:19):
branded car and fire suit, competing with the Jordan Anderson
Racing Team. Good luck Catherine, and good luck Elf. By
the way, shout out to ELF for sending me a
goodie bag of stuff, including this yummy gummy Glow Reviver
melting lip balm, which has quickly become my new favorite.
I'm obsessed. Finally, a little news for the put women's
sports on TV and make am easy to find. Crowd
(08:40):
streaming platform Fubo TV now has a women's sports hub,
making it easier for fans to find live games and documentaries.
The streaming platform already offered comprehensive WNBA coverage, as users
could already stream games on Ion, ABC, ESPN, CBS, and
NBA TV, but the new hub means that those games
will be easier to find. We got to take a
(09:03):
quick break slices when we come back. It's Hillary Knight.
I caught up with her yesterday. I had of game
two of the PWHL finals stick around joining us now.
She's one of the greatest hockey players of all time,
at Olympic gold medalist and three time Olympic silver medallist,
a ten time world champion and five time world runner up.
(09:24):
She's a member of Team USA, the captain of the
PWHL's Boston Fleet, and one of three finalists for the
PWHL's top honor, the Billie Jean King MVP Award. She
won the inaugural Isabelle Cup in the now defunct NWHL
with the Boston Pride. Was a two time national champion
with the Wisconsin Badgers, and she spent part of her
childhood living in my hometown of Lake Forest, Illinois. Her
(09:46):
girlfriend is an Olympic speed skater. Her dog is a
cutie patuna named Bain. She coats her floors and pledged
so she can skate around on her socks, and she'll
cook you a meal using her patented slap chopped method.
Google it people, It's Hillary Knight. What's up, Hillary?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
How's it going? What an intro?
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Thank you? Thank you? Is slap chopped? The most ridiculous
video you've ever done? Or is there another that comes
to mind?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
No, honestly, I keep you know, my younger teammates find
these gems and they bring them up, and I was
hoping that they were buried. But the internet's a weird
place where, you know, it just keeps rolling, lives forever.
I'd like to say yes, but I know you never know.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Are we still coating the floors with pledge?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
We are not? We are not. Yeah, that was a
good learning experience. It was fun for a while, and
then when the dog starts slipping, it's just it's not
worth it.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I had a feeling the dog might have come into
play there. What's the most fun thing you've gotten to do?
Because you've done a lot of cool stuff in addition
to the silly and ridiculous. Was it a TV show,
an awards show, a movie premiere? Like something cool you've
been asked to do or gotten to do over the
many years of being the face of hockey.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Oh my gosh, I've I mean, I've had the privilege
to do so many fun things. I'd say the first
thing that pops to mind, and I know afterwards and
be like, oh, I should have thought of this. But
I was able to meet Obama and that was like
the coolest thing. A friend like worked in the White
House at the time and he's like, oh, like, can
you just like come visit me for this thing? And
(11:13):
I was like, yeah, no problem, would love to just
like follow you around for the day. And he's like, oh,
just wait right here, and I'm like looking around. I
was like, this office looks like mighty important. And Obama
comes in. I was like, what.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Is so cool?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, So that was That's definitely the top of mind
thing because I was like, it wasn't like the you know,
you get to meet the president's you know, after the
Olympics and stuff, and you kind of go through the
handshake line and you meet all of them. But to
kind of have that touch point.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
At one on one out of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
I was just like, holy moment. And then I was like,
please be a hockey.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Fan, right right. I was going to tell you that
no matter what you said, it couldn't top being on
Saturday Night Live, because that's my dream, but meeting Obama
might be the only thing, might be the only thing.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I knew it like as soon as I said one thing,
another thing would pop up. But yeah, like Leslie Jones like,
oh my gosh, Leslie Jones like Olympic coverage is epic.
And then when she was over there, I was like,
no way, no way, this is happening. And so like
when that invite came through, it was crazy because there
was some sort of not a snowstorm, but something happened
(12:22):
and the train stopped running and I was in DC
at the time, like the day before, and I was
supposed to take the train into the city. And I
remember calling my agent being like, oh my gosh, like
I think, like all the trains are down, but I
am not missing this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
So I had an uber Oh my gosh, and.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I uber to New York City and I messaged the
guy like when he came to pick me up, I
was like just so you know, like is it okay
we drive to New York City? I know it's really
far away, and he's like yeah, sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
That's another level. Like sometimes they cancel when you're like
going to the airport, but Neil kidding, who'd you expense
that one?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
To? Oh? I sent now perfect, perfect, But we had
to stop like halfway a long way and I remember
being like, oh, this is like he could just like
leave me here. Yeah, this rest strap if you really
wanted to, oh man, And he gave me like the
second key to the car, and I was like cool.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Whoa, Okay, that's pretty epic. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I wore my metal underneath my sweatshirt when I went
in to use the restroom because I was like in
the cars right, yeah, yeah, yeah, Oh my gosh, memory.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah that's really bad ass. I'm one day I'm gonna
do it. I'm gonna I've gone to watch twice. I
am going to be on it. I'm putting that in
the universe for the eight millionth time. If there is
a god, she must hear me now, and that will
need to happen before the day I die. Okay, let's
talk the news of the week, because you have just
recently announced that the Milan Courtina Olympics will be your last.
Tell me about that decision.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I mean, quite a heavy decision for me, just because
I've grown up in this program and been with USA
Hockey for so many years literally kind of while to
think about, like how long I've played so far, And
my team kind of brought it up to me, like
our like agency, it's like, what do you think, like
will this be your last one? Just like prompting questions, right,
(14:03):
And I was like, oh my gosh, like I haven't
even thought about that, And so I thought about it
a lot throughout this year and I was like, I mean, yeah,
you know, I feel so fulfilled. I'm really confident with
where we are on the world stage. Obviously I want
to continue to keep on winning, but yeah, I think
it's just it's time and the prospect of signing up
(14:25):
for another quad, I don't know, you know, so a
long time. Yeah, So in terms of Olympics, like, yeah,
definitely twenty twenty six, and I would love to go
out with a bang. That way would be ideal. I mean,
anything can happen, right, Like, I still need to plot
my way and make the team and all that fun
things and stay healthy. But yeah, I'm really fulfilled from
(14:48):
an Olympic standpoint. Good, So that's exciting.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
But you have said you planned to play in the
PWHL after Milan. No need to put a timeline on
that just yet. But what about Team Usay, if you're
not gonna play for another full cycle, will you stick
around after Olympics or does it feel cleaner to be
done after Milan?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah? I think I think I might stick around. You know,
I've always had this if I can continue to make
a positive impact in that program, you know, and sort
of pass the torch in that way, make sure we're
in a good spot with you know, all the turnover
that naturally just happens after the Olympics. And yeah, I
think you know, I'm still one of the best players
(15:26):
in the world, so I'd love to continue that dominance
and bring more World Championship trophies back to the US.
But yeah, no, I think it's just it's exciting. I mean,
at first, it was really daunting to even think about
like an end point for anything. And I was like, well,
I don't know, would it feels weird to sam done
after twenty twenty six and then keep playing pro And
(15:48):
you know, to me, now those are two very separate things.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, so, which is nice. You know, you also have
some records you can add too, so if you could
keep playing in World Championships, we can build those leads
you've got because recent World Championships. Just a couple of
months ago, you helped Team USA to another win four
three o two win over Canada, your tenth World title,
which is insane, and then during the tournament you break
the record for most career assists at Worlds. You now
(16:12):
have the record at World's four assists, goals and points.
What's the predominant feeling you have when I read that,
when I say all that you've accomplished there, Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
No, I mean I've played with some amazing players. I've
been on some great teams, so like the individual awards
feel uncomfortable, I'd say to me, And I think definitely,
at some point in my life when I'm able to
have like a healthy reflection on everything, be like wow,
like I was a total badass. But no, the World
(16:44):
Championship wins like that to me is just epic. You know,
having ten is just I mean, that's a that's a
body of work right there. And to be a part
of those teams, to help lead those teams, to be
a small or big piece in those teams. Yeah, it's
really cool to have that number for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, And you know, I think it's really hard for
athletes who are as great as you have been and
continue to be to figure out do I want to
just be done at some point, or do I want
to tell people when I'm going to be done and
know that everyone at every one of my last games
will know that this is it. It's going to feel
like a lot. Maybe all the opponents will give me
a gift and then it'll feel like a big deal
and I can't just focus on the hockey. But it
(17:25):
sounds like you are in a really a place of
peace about how it all goes down, and it's cool
that you do get to keep playing after the Olympics
for something meaningful, Like a few years ago, it would
have been a lot harder to know whether it was
worth returning to something like the professional league that you
were in, whether it was the money or the resources,
or the interest or the fans. Because the PWHL has
gotten off to such an incredible start when you choose
(17:47):
to say goodbye to the Olympics, you can still play
in a meaningful way after and not have it be
three years earlier than you want, because that just happens
to be what the Olympics cycle is.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
That's cool totally, and I think too, like it's no
like I like to win, right, Like I love winning.
And you know, when I think about the inaugural season
with the PWHL, when I think about the landscape of
pro sports in the city of Boston, I want to
bring a Walter cumb back to that city. And that
(18:19):
is like that's gonna be the new Crosshairs, right.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
So okay, look out.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah yeah so and obviously this expansion, everything's gonna get
blown up and you know, who knows what's gonna happen.
But I want that so bad for this city too.
And so you know when I was like, ah, like
being done with the Olympic and I still play pro
kind of thing, like is that weird? And it's like,
how is that weird? You know, I'm just saying, like
I'm not signing up for another quad. So I really
(18:46):
want to embrace this twenty twenty six cycle for sure
and really take it all in. And I'm really glad
that that question was prompted months ago so I could
now be more at peace with it. Yeah, and just hey,
you know, and it too, like it's great for like
our younger players on the team now, like you know,
it's whoa like we're gonna step up, you know. So
(19:08):
I think there's so many great things that come out
of it. Obviously it's my career is something also to
be celebrated, and it's cool because you know, even looking
I don't usually go into dms for Instagram or anything,
but someone sent me one. But I was just like
on the couch the older day. I was like, what,
you know, what does this look like? And they just
said like thank you, like I inspired them in some
(19:29):
sort of way, and it was just it was cool
because we lace up, we play this game that we
love and sometimes, you know, we talk about it, but
sometimes we lose that perspective of having that impact through
the thing that we love, and so like that was
like a really cool moment where it's like, you know,
it was sort of bittersweet, right, like yeah, but it
(19:49):
just goes to show like what these careers can do
for people. Obviously given me everything, but you know, I'd
like to think that it's had positive impact on other
people's wealth.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
So absolutely, you know, I want to get to your
goals with Boston. But just to wrap on the international stuff,
I'm curious how it's felt playing Canada in the last
couple of major international tournaments. Now that you're not relying
on centralization camps with national teams to prep, but you're
prepping sort of together against the enemy, has it been
hard to hate them as much as you used to.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Kind of and then know? At the same time, I
will say, like, it's hard from like a you don't
have the same touch points with like just Team USA
teammates all the time, and because of the ebbs and
flows of the pro season, it's like sometimes you're in
survival mode trying to get to the next game and
recovering and whatnot, and you really have to be focused
(20:44):
on the pro landscape and your team. But yeah, I'd
say that the only downfall is not having as many
touch points and being as connected I think, like off
the ice and knowing you know, what everyone's going through
in personal lives and stuff. But we kind of just
pick up where we left off when the team gets together.
But yeah, in some ways, you almost want to beat
(21:06):
more now, you know. And in the spillover right, like
it's you know, something happens in an international game, does
it spill over the Pro series? You know, vice versa.
It's it's really interesting to kind of see how this
has become its own beast and you're seeing better games
now at the international level. It's not just US versus Canada.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
And you're you're all learning from each other in practice,
learning what each other does well what each other. Yeah,
all right, let's talk p WHL. Because your Boston Fleet
finished with the same number of points as the third
and fourth place squads, but just missed out on the
postseason after a loss on the very last day of action.
That is a heartbreaking way to see your season and
(21:47):
when you're that close. I'm so sorry to ask, I
have to, I.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Have only like a loss was just it was such
a heartbreaking experience to go through because I love our
fans and God blessed them for continuing to stay and
cheer us on till the very last minute.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
But yeah, like it just goes to show that every
single game, every single point was standings matters, right, Like,
we had an opportunity to close out and secure a
playoff spot, you know, well in advance of that last game,
and unfortunately came down to the last game and the
fashion that we lost was super unfortunate. But yeah, it's
(22:29):
it's frustrating, and then to build off you know, the
year before we got really lucky. New York did some
wonky things for us, and we were able to find
a playoff fit out of nowhere, being what like twelve
or fifteen points back after Worlds something like that. Like
it was insane. So it every game matters, and you know,
I think now being in year two, going to year three,
(22:52):
you know, it's that's definitely gonna be a mindset shift
for us in Boston.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, what did you think was missing this season? I
know you did get some luck on the way to
making it to the finals last year, but you did
end up in the finals. What was missing?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Well, I think you always want to be control of
your own destiny, right, and you never want to leave
it up to chance. And you know two years we
kind of we've done that, and so yeah, it uh,
you know, I joke around talking shop all the time,
but you know, I think it's just every single shift matters,
and I think being able to generate and feed and
(23:26):
build off of one another's momentum will put Boston in
a better place next year.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
So get everyone to understand the urgency, get everyone else there.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yeah, yeah, and you know it's tough, like we were
playing a full contact like it is. It is not
fun sometimes, Like we just came back from break, now
we're up in Toronto against their fans. You know, it's
those are hard games. Like we have tough schedules, but
I think when you realize everyone else has a tough
schedule in the league, it you know, it's go time
and we need to be ready to embrace an opportunity
(23:57):
to really control, you know, where we want to be
in postseason. And yeah, and I think you know it's
hard is we have such a great room and so
like we have that going for us, and so that's
usually the hardest thing to have in a great room.
So we just need that to translate and to the
on ice, and I think we're gonna be in a
(24:18):
great spot.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Season finale leaves a tough taste in your mouth, that
eight to one loss. And it's the Frost who you
lost to in the Walter Cup finals last season, So
safe to say they're the biggest rivals.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, I mean they're big. I think everyone in the
league is, to be honest, like it's small enough. It
feels like a blood bath out there, you know, regardless
of who you're playing against. But yeah, I mean I
was looking at the schedule. I saw Fross as the
last game we're at home. You know, I think everyone's
thinking it. We had the three nothing loss in the
Walter Cup Finals last year, and you know, we were
(24:53):
really excited going into that game, and it just, you know,
it just goes a show, like a bounce here, bounce there.
It's it can be.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
That's the worst part of sports that I always felt
that way, no matter how hype I got, no matter
how prep di I got, no matter how much I
felt like my mindset was right, Like you just don't know,
and that sucks. It sucks, but it teaches you great
lessons for life. The season's now over, which means, of course,
in the hockey world, everyone went to get surgery. Everyone's
lower body injuries and upper body injuries and all the
(25:23):
body injuries get revealed to be like extremely severe and
everyone talks about how were they skating with that? So
tell us what yours was? What was your injury? What
was your surgery?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, you know, I think everyone's just banged up, but
mine is just uh yeah, I had to get surgery
on Thursday, So that was not ideal. But you know,
it's it's just part of the game. I don't know
if hockey players are just like built different. There's like
a level of stoicism, there's a love of craziness where
(25:54):
you just feel so impassioned to fulfill your duty and
responsibility to other teammates, and sometimes you just need to
take a step back and be like you were absolutely crazy.
But yeah, that's taken care of. Yeah, I you know,
felt like I didn't have as big as an impact
towards like the end of the year. So yeah, hopefully,
(26:15):
you know, we'll be going into next year full fully
rolling and having fun and you know, slicing up the
game that I want to.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I noticed you didn't tell me what the injury was,
and I will let that stand and move on. What
do you make of the current p WHL final matchup?
We've got Ottawa versus Minnesota. We're talking to you on
Thursday ahead of game two. So so far, you and
I have just watched one game in the series. The
listeners will have seen Game two by now. But you
played against these teams all seasons, so give us your
(26:44):
quick scouting report on them.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, I mean the Frost plays with crazy transition speed,
you know, They've got some great shooters on that team,
so you want to keep them out of those Grade
A opportunities and limit those. And then on the flip side,
like Ottawa plays with this like controlled chaos and has
(27:06):
some people who can just pull plays out of make
plays out of nothing, which you know obviously tends to
be lethal when you're in these playoff games. So it's
a really exciting matchup. I think Ottawa doesn't necessarily get
enough credit for the type of team that they have,
and I know, like I do not like playing against
(27:27):
Ottawa or Minnesota, so you know, I'm curious to see
how this unfolds. You've got great goaltending on both ends,
and that's I mean, that's why you saw a game
go into overtime.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Yeah, Gwyneth Phillips, that was actually surprising. Best keeper, I guess, tender.
What do we say in hockey? I always mix those up.
Just goalie best goalie, and so soccer and hockey always
get in my in my brain about that. But best
goalie in the league all season, had the best goals
against average, and then she just makes kind of a
boneheaded play coming out of her net, which ultimately lets
the frost get into that game and then thankfully for
(27:58):
Ottawa didn't end up killing them. But that's the whole thing.
Anything can happen, Even the best goalie out there can
make a mistake like that. You mentioned expansion that's set
for the PWHL heading into next season, Seattle and Vancouver
joining the league. What's the most exciting thing to you
about either those two cities or the league growing after
just two seasons.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah, I think both more opportunity for women in sport obviously,
Like that's that's a no brainer. That's I mean off
the hop that's what we get, you know, to see
the success of the league and they make the decision
to say, you know, we're expanding, and obviously they've got
their data and numbers that show that it was successful.
I think as players, when we were all trying to
(28:39):
ide eate this thing, like we knew how successful it
would be, and so when people would ask us like
did you know how successfululd be? Like we've been pushing
for this thing for years, but Mark and kimber Walter
just you know, taking you know, an opportunity and really
building it into this thing that's going to succeed and
go the day since it's just incredible. And then in
(29:02):
terms of the actual locations of expansion, like Vancouver sounds
like it's an unbelievable setup, great hockey market. Obviously played
some awesome games out there, and Seattle is just like
a prime women's sports market. And I think people you know,
on the East in the middle, I like, you forget
like Seattle is here to play, especially with women's sports,
(29:25):
and so that's really cool. I think, you know, as
someone in the league, I'm like, shoot, we don't want
to lose our players. You know, you never want an
expansion draft. So yeah, it is for players, it's depending
on what spot you're in your little it's a little
nerve wracking because there's so much uncertainty. You don't know
what's going to happen. You don't know what our team
is going to look like. And for someone who really
(29:46):
enjoyed our room and the players that we had on
our team, like, it's gonna be very tough. You kind
of have to start from from zero again.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
So well, we talked about that on the show. The
expansion process the other day, five day exclusive signing window
with not protected players. So that's cool. It's sort of
this expansion team free agency before you even get to
the expansion draft. What do you make of that process?
And also teams only being able to protect three players.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, I think it's wild, but you know, it's exciting.
It's exciting for fans. The you know, just the opportunity
of expansion is exciting. You know, as a player, you're like,
what is happening? I don't want to lose you know,
certain you know players on our team because we just
went through this whole process two years now. I'm sure
(30:31):
gms on inauurgural teams are not having as well because
they plan for the future. But it just goes to
show like this is not necessarily development league right now.
It's like a place in bank and you've got to
be ready to go. So from that standpoint, it's exciting
for fans. You know, you're probably gonna see more goal scored,
you know, and all the fun things that come along
(30:51):
with more teams and more spots. So that's that's awesome.
But do you think uncertainty is eating me up?
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I'm just like, yeah, you're essentially such a veteran player
that I would imagine your coaches and GM come to
you wanting thoughts about things. Is there any chance they'll
come to you about who to protect or who to
who to look out for?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Oh gosh, no, that's I don't get paid for that.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Okay, well listen, I do a lot of things. I
don't get paid for.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Hillary.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, that's not how it. I know.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
There's definitely, you know, there's definitely conversations, you know, just like,
you know, how are we feeling kind of thing? You know,
what's your ideal scenario?
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You know, write three names down on a piece of paper,
you hold it and slip it across.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, we don't know, but you're the only submission is that? Yeah? No,
you know it's I think personnel is like super important
in our room too, And so you know, I keep
talking about that, whether it's the US team or the Fleet.
You know, teams win championships. You know, people focus a
(31:56):
lot on top six time on ice, who's scoring goals,
but it is so much the in between that don't
necessarily get those like sexy metrics that win US championships.
So when I'm looking at like, you know, hopefully I'm
staying with Boston, right, and so when I'm looking at
you know, how do we want to win a championship.
How do we bring a championship here to Boston? You know,
what do those pieces look like? And so I think,
(32:19):
like our staff understand like who I am and what
I can bring, and you know what I harp on
sort of like as a leader, and I think all
that will you know, hopefully align. And we're hoping, right
because we don't want to lose anybody.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
But what if they just don't protect you and then
Hillary Knight leads Seattle to their first Walter Cup. Screw you, Boston.
You know the pw W Hotels go ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I was gonna say, like it's it's like a win
win for anybody, right, Yeah, you know, you have opportunity
where you are, and if you know, these things are
completely out of a player's control, and if you go
somewhere else, you have an opportunity there.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yeah, we're not even gonna we're not even going to
talk about you getting an opportunity else. We're not doing that.
We're not doing that. The PWHL's success stems from a long,
hard fight from women's hockey players to demand better from
both the US Hockey Federation and from professional offerings, and
that included a really notable twenty seventeen threat to boycott
the World Championships on home soil if USA Hockey didn't
(33:19):
improve pay and conditions and resources. When you look back
at that fight and you consider where the game is now,
what stands out.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
To you The game wouldn't be where it is today
without that. Yeah, And that's not just saying like that
specific team, but that team went through it to learn
how to stand up and fight for something and do
it so publicly and put everything on the line, but
also the strength of standing on shoulders before us, right.
(33:46):
It was you know, a team, team, team behind the
team effort to get something like that done. And you know,
I want to give credit to Lambreau, Twins and John
langle Megs. You know, there's so many people that went
into being able to galvanize us in that way so
that when we were looking at the horizon what we
(34:10):
wanted for professional hockey, we knew what we wanted and
we could be stern and people looked at us and
said we were really crazy and we should be grateful,
as they always will. And you know, look where we
are for saying no, and it was a good no.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
I have to say, there are some real lessons to
be taken from women's sports for the fights that we
have in the rest of our world in society, because
when you look at how things get done, the hockey team,
the women's soccer team, fighting for equal pay across the board,
in these spaces, people are reaching back and asking for help.
It's people going to Cammi Granado and Billy Jean King
(34:48):
and Julie Foudy. They're looking back and saying, how did
you get this done? To Billy Jean back when you
had the one dollar contract, how did you get this done?
Faudy says to her. And when we look at how
the the connections and the strength and numbers affects the
outcomes of places that feel almost hopeless, like places that
do not seem like they're going to move off of
(35:09):
their spot. And then you get enough people together, and
in your case, you're calling up every hockey player that
exists and saying they're going to call you, Like these
college kids whose dream it is to play for Team USA,
They're gonna call you and they're trying to get you
to be a scab and play in the World Championships
because we're not going to be there. You cannot do that.
You cannot take this dream in this opportunity because it
(35:29):
will hurt the rest of women's hockey forever. And they
didn't do it like that kind of solidarity is the
kind of solidary we probably need to model in the
other fights that we have. And it's just like endlessly
impressive to me how women athletes and of the past
and present rally together for those moments. I wonder what
your relationship with USA Hockey is now.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
I think it's it's good. It is like to think
of the the growth that we've had in such a
small amount of times since twenty seven team because in
some ways like it was a long time ago, but
in many it wasn't. We have an incredible support staff,
you know, fully fully employed behind us, which is awesome.
(36:11):
But you know, I'm always like it's a starting point
kind of thing. But yeah, I think you know, you're
seeing us play on a world stage like we've never
been able to compete before, and so that's exciting to
me that we've made so many strides in such a
short amount of time. And obviously contracts will come up
for renegotiation and we have to go through those battles again.
(36:34):
But I continue to think that we show up and
we prove our worth every single time, and I think
that's one of the hardest things to do. And I'm
so glad you brought up BOUTI because you know, she
in John Laningle like she should be mentioned as a
name because she was the person that started. Here's the
catalyst for us to be like, oh, yeah, we should
do that, and we can do that, you know. Yes,
(36:55):
I think we look at so many other like amazing
women and what they've done and you're like, oh wow,
like that's great, but you don't feel like you can
be a part of that conversation. And so like she
was that that catalyst for us. But yeah, it's you know,
it's incredible what you're able to accomplish as a group.
And as you put it, it was a dream. You know,
it's not nothing tangible really that you can ask someone
(37:16):
not to do. And so I think that was what
was so powerful as we assembled this old fashioned phone
tree and had all these moments if you know, can
you can you say no to this because we promise
it's going to be better?
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Can it even a dream? Ye?
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Sick? So yeah, it's cool, you and I have talked
on my various shows over the years, uh, probably a
decade plus going back, and we've often discussed the pressure
that women athletes feel, not just to be the very
best at their sport and everything that that entails, all
the workouts in time and energy, but also sell tickets,
promote the game, foster growth, be a role model. And
(37:54):
you have been carrying the load for women hockey for decades,
one of the only household names in America in the sport.
That's it's getting better, But do you still feel all
that pressure?
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Honestly, I feel less pressure now that we have the league.
I think the CBA negotiations, I think anybody who was involved,
like every everyone had their own I think lends to it.
But in many ways it almost ruined me, I think
in my human life, because it was so exhausting and
(38:28):
so meaningful, and you felt the weight of all the
other players that you brought on this journey, and you
knew that we could not fail and the worst thing
would be to fail, and so that was that was
really tough and really trying, and now being in your
two to like take a breath and be like I
get to just go play now, you know, that's nice.
(38:50):
There will always be those pressures I think of, you know,
how you carry yourself, how you want to have an
impact on people. I think that's just innatly what comes
along with that Olympic space and being a leader in
your sport, and that's what it is specifically also too
in women's sports. People are going to, you know, really
dive down and look what you are you interested in
(39:12):
and what you believe in, and really pick that apart.
But I think that just comes with the territory.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Yeah, you know, I think about the impression that you
can leave on the next generation of players who are
just starting in the league, and how important it is
for you to make sure that they know how hard
you fought for it, because we're seeing that across so
many women's sports spaces, where the folks who are just
now retiring or maybe retired a year or two ago
(39:37):
are like, damn, look at the money they're making in nil,
look at the contracts they're getting, and it's like they're
proud that they did that, but they're also like, m
you lucky ducks, Like look what we help to make
for you. So you're still around so you can tell
them all, Hey, this is what it looked like when
I started, and this is how different it is. So
be grateful, but also keep pushing because it can all
(39:58):
be taken away. Don't keep fighting for it in the
right ways, which is which is pretty cool. You just
mentioned the CBA, so I'm going to end on this.
I read an article a couple of years ago where
you said, maybe after hockey you'd like to go back
to school after the CBA negotiations. Is that still something
you want to do or have you decided to hit
in the books? Is maybe not the thing for you? Well?
Speaker 2 (40:19):
So I always like I went to Wisconsin was history major.
I have sort of always been like attracted to the
law right in that way and being able to have
an impact there. And it's funny because during COVID I
ended up getting my MBA because I was like, I
need structure and I went, wow, congrats, yeah thanks, So
(40:40):
like I wanted to, I didn't. It's so funny, like
this imposter syndrome thing. I was like, I've just been
playing hockey my whole life, like I want to make
sure what.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Am I doing with myself.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
I'm a waist exactly. But then all the life lessons
I've learned in this sport are so invaluable and like
I can apply those anywhere. But yeah, so structure was
good for me during COVID with that, but I was
looking this far. I was like, is there an online
law program? But no, I don't think I will. The
(41:09):
LSA to me is just daunting and then.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
You can do it. You can do it, Hillary Knight,
that squire has a real nice ring to if not
in life, it's a TV show. I would watch it.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
I would watch it. There's so many things I want
to do and there's just it feels like there's not
enough time. You know. I love that the same way.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I mean I do for sure, but also I feel
like I love that coming from an athlete. So many
folks are so lost when they're done because they're like,
I'm only forty, but somehow I'm done with this whole
purpose of my life, Like what do I do now?
To me, it sounds like you're both wanting to keep
playing for as long as you can and also very
much like excited about all the time you'll have to
do other things after. Yeah, what a gift. Like that's
(41:47):
such a great place to be.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Yeah, I mean just like h Like, I want to
invest in women's sports, right, and I want to keep
like talking about women's sports. I mean, so those are
like the two like things for me that I just
absolutely love to do. So awesome. Yeah, I think, you know,
obviously there's a transition point in time and I've been
playing for so long, and I will definitely be heartbroken
(42:10):
in my own way for not being able to wake
up and just train and do that for my job.
But you know, I think, you know, I'm so fulfilled
at the same time as well.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Yeah, I love the Walter Cup Championship after bringing the
Walter Cup to Boston, to Boston, yes, and then potentially
helping bring a team to Chicago so all your Lake
Forest fans can watch. That's even Chicago too, and.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Try we're trying to go, you know, honestly to like
Florida would be great. Like I'm just thinking places like
I want to travel, putting back.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
To the list. Yeah, oh yeah, that's easy, good travel
spot throw some places in Europe on there. I've always
wanted to go to Prague. Why not? Well, we always
love catching up with you. Congrats on all the success,
enjoy the recovery from surgery and we look forward to
what's next.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Thanks so much to Hillary for taking the time. We
got to take another break when we come back. Oh,
what the fact from the not too distant past, Welcome
back slices, It's time for another What the fact? We
talked with Hillary about her role helping demand more from
(43:22):
USA Hockey back in twenty seventeen and how important the
collective bargaining negotiations were and getting the PWHL off the ground.
That work has helped create a very different landscape for
women's hockey players compared to the one Hillary played in
after graduating from college. So let's go back in time.
The year is twenty twelve and Hillary Knight just graduated
from the University of Wisconsin as a two time NCAA champion.
(43:43):
She's a regular member of the US national team, but
away from those team camps and tournaments, the women's hockey
landscape is a tough place. She initially joins the Boston Blades,
a team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Want to
know how much money ce WHL players made back then?
Nothing nada. That league operated as a nonprofit and while
some expenses were covered, players were not paid to play hockey.
(44:07):
After a couple seasons with the Blades, Hillary joins the
NWHL's Boston Pride in twenty fifteen. The NWHL was historic
in that it was the first league to pay women's
hockey players, but salaries were low and benefits like health
insurance and housing stipends were not included. Then salaries were
slashed in season two as the league ran into financial trouble.
(44:28):
It was pretty bleak. All that to say, women's hockey
has come a long way in just a few short years,
which makes it all the more exciting to see the
PWHL not only thrive but expand already after just two seasons.
This what the fact brought to you by Elf Beauty.
And here's another fact. Companies with diverse leadership make more money.
Elf Beauty credits part of its success to its diverse
(44:50):
board seventy eight percent women and forty four percent diverse,
and because of that diversity, Elf has delivered twenty four
consecutive quarters of sales growth, the only medics brand to
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because when you do, everyone wins. Learn more about what
ELF Beauty is doing to help diversify corporate boards. Visit
(45:10):
changethboardgame dot com. We always love to hear from you slices,
so hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork
dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review, y'all. It's easy. Watch the Atlanta dream
play A Society cash App Statement Court rating ten out
(45:32):
of ten Amazing Esthetics review. The Dreams home opener was
against the Indiana Fever Thursday Night at Statefarm Arena, and
the squads hooped on a very special court designed in
collaboration with cash App and the woman owned streetwear brand
play A Society. This court is gorgeous, y'all. We'll link
to pictures of it in our show notes. Between the lines,
(45:53):
the hardwood is black with a slightly darker black, and
the painted area and the space surrounding the court is
a gradient going from an elect green to a forest green.
Mid court is where things really get good. In bold
white letters in the text you typically see on all
of play As Society's popular shirts and other apparel are
the words pay some respect to women's Sports. You might
(46:14):
have seen the shirt that Esther Wallace's brand collabbed on
with cash Apps. Just like that. Shout out to the
dream because this court gives the arena a super intense vibe,
almost like what a court might look like in Gotham City.
And if you got the game, you know it looked
awesome on TV too. The court will now be donated
to a local youth organization and the pay Some Respect
to Women's Sports statement will be featured on the Dreams
(46:36):
practice jerseys and on March that's available to fans on
the play A Society website. We'll link to that in
our show notes. There's some other really great merch there
as well. Now's your turn rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices,
see you tomorrow. Good game, Hillary, Good game to that
uber driver who made sure Hillary got to New York.
Do you expecting players to compete in a contact sport
(46:57):
without ensuring that they have medical coverage? 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 producers are Christina Everett,
(47:18):
Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are
Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and Gianna Palmer. Our
associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Host
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