Tag: Women's Hockey
Chasing a hockey dream together: How Luke and Sophia Kunin make the first NHL-PWHL marriage work
ST. PAUL, Minn. — For years, Luke Kunin watched as his girlfriend, then fiancée, then wife, Sophia, supported his career.
She was a shoulder to lean on when things got tough in Minnesota. Moved to Nashville when he was traded there. Was a constant during the toughest season of his pro career — last year with the San Jose Sharks, when he tore his ACL.
So Kunin can’t wait to walk into Xcel Energy Center — the arena where he
The business of Sarah Nurse: She’s one of the faces of hockey, but her sights are set on more
TORONTO — Sarah Nurse was driving home from a recent PWHL Toronto practice when she got a bit of sage advice.
It wasn’t from a podcast or a friend on the phone. The advice came courtesy of a billboard on the side of the road in Canada’s most populous city, featuring her own face with the Adidas slogan “You got this.”
“I was like, yeah, I do,” Nurse said with a laugh.
The billboard she drove past is one
How the PWHL’s youngest player is adjusting to a new league — and a new language
OTTAWA — Nearly 6,000 miles away from her hometown in Hokkaido, Japan, Akane Shiga was being asked about the weather.
Mike Hirshfeld, general manager of Ottawa’s PWHL team, was sitting with Shiga and coach Carla MacLeod in the team office at TD Place Arena, speaking to the 22-year-old forward and Japanese national team member through her interpreter.
“She’s looking at me like, ‘What is he talking about?’” Hirshfeld said about the playful preamble to an important bit of news ahead
Six teams, one draft and loads of Ikea furniture: How the PWHL was made in six months
TORONTO — The line began at the gates of Mattamy Athletic Centre and stretched a full city block. Women’s hockey fans, after decades of waiting for a best-on-best league, were happy to wait a little longer for the doors to open for the first-ever Professional Women’s Hockey League game.
The line was dotted with reminders of the past. There was a Natalie Spooner Toronto Furies jersey from her time in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Several Toronto Six jerseys representing