In this week’s episode of The IX Sports Podcast, host Maya Smith is joined by
Seattle Torrent beat writer Silvia Leija Rosas to discuss the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Sweden and Switzerland will play first for the bronze medal and then, the biggest rivalry in sports, Canada and the US, will play for gold. Can the Canadians bounce back from six losses against the Americans, or is the gold medal already in the hands of the US?
Together, Smith and Leija Rosas preview both games and break down how we got here, as well as what each team needs to do in order to take home a medal on Thursday.
Then, they talk about how the Vancouver Goldeneyes and the Seattle Torrent have fared this season as the new expansion teams in the PWHL and what will be key to moving forward and having a strong second-half of the season.
“I think it’ll be very interesting to see how teams fare after the Olympics as well,” Smith said. “We’ve seen in previous seasons where we’ve had an international break and it’s really jostled up the kind of flow that some of the teams have had before they came out of that break. So I think it’ll be super interesting.”
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily. The IX Sports Podcast, Hockey Edition, will now run weekly.