It’s time for another episode of The IX Sports Podcast and there is a lot to talk about in women’s hockey. The Ice Garden‘s Toronto Sceptres beat reporter Melissa Burgess joined host Maya Smith to discuss how women’s hockey is taking advantage of the pop culture spotlight and how PWHL teams are doing since returning to the ice.
They started by discussing Hilary Knight and Megan Keller’s appearance on Saturday Night Live alongside fellow gold medalists Jack and Quinn Hughes. Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie hosted the episode and brought out all four players during his opening monologue.
Then, Knight reunited with her Seattle Torrent teammates to help break a U.S. arena attendance record at a sold-out Climate Pledge Arena.
“That was a really smart move by the PWHL to remind people that these players are playing all year long, this is where you can find them,” Smith said.
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Later in the show, Burgess talked specifically about how Toronto has responded since the Olympic break. They had six members of the team medal in Italy and have won two of three to start the second part of the season.
“I think in this case, Toronto really benefited,” Burgess said. “Some of the players talked about how the beginning of the season was a little tentative because of the Olympics, because the Olympics are a huge opportunity, and you love playing in the PWHL, but you also don’t want to risk getting hurt and then not being able to play in the Olympics.
“Now that’s in the background, they can kind of relax and just play their game and not have to worry about that.”
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.
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