These Packs Puck

These Packs Puck

Anyone who's a parent knows how chaotic life with kids can be -- but being a professional athlete and a parent comes with its own unique challenges. On their new podcast, These Packs Puck, Madison and Anya Packer, professional hockey players and moms-of-two, speak candidly about their life on and off the ice. They cover everything from the chaos of raising two kids under four, to conceiving as a queer couple, prioritizing mental health, and parenting while in the spotlight of a sport newly on the rise. Madison and Anya also turn to fellow athletes, parenting experts, and other boundary-breakers to learn about their varied parenthood journeys and collect advice valuable for anyone embarking on the messy, complicated, and joyous journey of parenthood.

Episodes

November 11, 2025 42 mins

Being a professional athlete is hard work, and so is being a mother. Over this past year, Madison and Anya have opened up their lives for the sake of women everywhere, sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly. Whether you’re a mom, an athlete, both, or none of the above, the Packers’ mission with this show was to make audiences feel seen by filling a gap in women's sports media. To celebrate the end of season one, The Pa...

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This week, the Packers play detective as they debate why the PWHL is waiting until next season to release Vancouver and Seattle’s team names and logos. Is this a marketing tactic or a blatant lack of care for women’s hockey? Logos aside, Madison and Anya also get into where each team stands with their training camp roster and predict how the start of the season will play out. All that plus Halloween nostalgia and a Lego...

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October 28, 2025 40 mins

Lately, Madison and Anya have gone all-in on a new role: coaching youth hockey. This challenging yet rewarding job is making the Packers reflect on the ghosts of coaches past from their time on the ice. Madison and Anya discuss how important it was that they started coaching because of the representation it shows to the girls and to chart a new path away from yelling and berating style of coaching that they endured at the youth lev...

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Our next guest is a pillar in the women’s sports community who’s as hilarious as they are hot. It’s actor, comedian, and musician E.R. Fightmaster, who, as co-host of the hit podcast Jockular, has dedicated a huge part of their career to increasing the visibility of women’s sports. Together, E.R. and the Packers cover all the hot debates facing women’s sports today, including how queer women treat prof...

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Author, mother, journalist, these are just a few words that can describe this week’s guest. Kate Rope has been featured in TIME, The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and more for her writing on parenting. Her new book Strong As A Girl, empowers parents and caretakers to raise their girls in a way that allows them to thrive. Join Madison and Anya for this insightful and important conversation that every parent needs t...

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Whether it’s getting overstimulated at a baseball game or needing to settle yourself as a parent while your child is melting down, our newest guest, Sara Hartley, has you covered! In this episode, Madison and Anya sit down with The Neurodiverse Mom to talk about her journey as a neurodivergent mom raising neurodivergent kids. But, before we get into that, the Packers have exciting kid updates straight from Waylon’s skat...

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September 30, 2025 34 mins

This week, the Packers address an issue tough for any parent. This year alone, there have been over 120 school shootings in America. This topic hits home for thousands of families and Madison and Anya are here to share their thoughts as concerned mothers. No matter your political party, all children should feel safe going to school, and no parent should ever have to wonder if their child will make it home. Take a seat for a heavier...

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September 23, 2025 32 mins

Fall feels a little different for the Packers this year. For the first time ever, Madison isn’t at training camp and honestly, she’s not mad about having more free time and not getting her ass kicked on the ice. Anya, on the other hand, is nostalgic for her training camp days–the camaraderie, the euphoria of making the team, and yes, even the soreness. But better than all of that is what comes after training camp:...

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September 16, 2025 37 mins

Everyone is going back to school, including college athletes. Join the Packers in a discussion about the ways the D1 recruitment process has changed drastically since their collegiate careers. The two also share their wildly different recruitment experiences and provide advice to kids and parents who might be in the weeds of this process now. At the end of the day, Madison and Anya are proof that it doesn’t matter where you s...

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September 9, 2025 35 mins

After discovering the latest self-improvement TikTok trend, The Great Lock In, The Packers are on a mission to optimize the last four months of 2025. But first, they catch us up on the latest with their little ones and school and Madison lets us in on an exciting career shift. Then, the Packers’ Great Lock In, or as they’re calling it, Great Pack Up, begins. Come along on this manifestation journey, whether you’re...

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September 2, 2025 33 mins

This week, the Packers are recording in a quiet, calm household because the kids are finally at school! Madison and Anya debrief the bittersweet sendoff and share their hopes and dreams for their kids as they start to develop their own interests, friends, and personalities. Come for the cute stories and stay for Anya’s most controversial hot take yet where she proposes a way to…heat up…the women’s hockey s...

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School is almost back in session, and for the Packers this means entering a new era of parenting. As the kids get ready to go off to school, Madison and Anya’s plates are full with shopping, scheduling extracurriculars, and the hope of making parent friends. On top of that, the Packers are navigating the never-ending quest to overcome mom guilt. Despite the chaos and the cruel realization that school supplies and athletic gea...

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Back with another solo episode, Madison and Anya kick things off by calling attention to a phallus fad plaguing the WNBA. Dildos have been thrown on the court at multiple games and no one quite knows why. Some think it’s a marketing ploy, others say it’s innocent fun, but many see it as an act of misogyny and disrespect. In light of this, The Packers give a little insight to the sexism experienced during their entire at...

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Chirping, yard sales, and reconnecting. Three words that may seem random, but not after listening to this week’s episode. First, Anya and Madison school us in the world of hockey slang. Whether it’s a play, diss, or luscious head of hair, the Packers teach us how to talk like a hockey vet. Then, the Packers talk about their journey to reconnect with themselves and each other after having kids, featuring details from the...

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The Packers asked for sapphic hockey romances—and Kelly Farmer delivered. Her Out on the Ice series follows love stories set in a fictional women’s hockey league with a surprisingly realistic take on the sport—from access and equity to league politics and locker room chemistry. Madison and Anya talk to Kelly about building such an authentic world and discover that one of her fictional couples might just be ba...

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July 29, 2025 39 mins

The WNBA All-Stars demanded what they’re owed — and the Packers are all in. Madison and Anya dive into the fight for fair pay and the importance of Collective Bargaining Agreements in sports. They revisit the early days of pro hockey, from Anya’s time leading the Players’ Association to the PWHL’s still-imperfect CBA. Finally, they unpack why women athletes keep getting shortchanged — and imagine...

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The Packers are stuck in Michigan and catching up on all things parenting— from hot takes on gentle parenting to the hilarious story of how their one-week vacation turned into three. Then comes the main event: sleep coach and Why Won’t You Sleep?! author Macall Gordon joins to talk about Waylon’s sleep drama (which they spilled a couple weeks ago). Macall specializes in deeply feeling kids and explains why tempera...

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In this solo episode, the Packers get into two very different but equally heated topics. First, they speak out on how horrific it is that the government defunded 988, the suicide hotline that provides support for LGBTQ+ youth. They discuss why this is essentially an attack on the queer community’s mental health and provide resources for where to go if you’re in crisis. Then they discuss the person who always sends women...

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July 8, 2025 42 mins

This week, the Packers talk to someone who has beaten the odds at every turn. Eva Erickson is a lifelong hockey player who holds her own on men’s teams, an engineer who is getting her PhD at Brown University, and most recently the runner-up on season 48 of Survivor. She got there by being authentic in a game usually known for lying and deceit, but that’s not the only way she's defied expectations. As a baby, doctors tol...

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The Packers are tired. Their son, Waylon, is going through a new phase where he won’t sleep. As believers in being transparent about the messy parts of motherhood, they get into what's been going on—the funny stories, the frustrations, and the sleep deprivation. Now they’re turning to you, our listeners, to seek help and solutions for this problem. So please, send advice! 

See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

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