Women’s Hockey Wednesday: What’s in a name?

Last weekend was the Chicago PWHPA Showcase, which was intended as an all-star event, featuring stars from Team Canada and Team USA, alongside lesser known names and including some extremely exciting guest coaches. It was also Noora Räty’s first stop on the Dream Gap Tour, although she did play goal in the game against the Sharks alumni in October.

The championship game was Team Hefford vs Team Granato, which sounds more like a rematch of the 2002 Olympic gold medal game than a friendly tournament, and it’s available to watch on YouTube. (Unfortunately it seems the other three games from this weekend fell subject to a copyright claim due to some of the in-arena music. You can still see the other eight games from Toronto and Hudson on the PWHPA’s YouTube channel.) Also, everyone should watch Hilary Knight do this:

This goal by @HilaryKnight 🔥#PWHPA #ForTheGame #DreamGapTour @PWHPA pic.twitter.com/rTcCCjPd4c

— Melissa Burgess (@_MelissaBurgess) October 20, 2019

For the Story of the Week, we wanted to point everyone towards this piece by Dr. Courtney Szto from Hockey in Society about the importance of pronouncing players’ names right, and the implications of not taking the time to do it, several examples of which popped up in Chicago. It’s been making the rounds on Twitter and for good reason; it’s an excellent summary of a persistent problem that dogs women’s hockey across leagues, tournaments, and nationalities. When fans or media members complain about mispronounced or misspelled names, it might seem like a big deal being made over a small mistake, but there’s a lot of baggage behind those kind of repetitive small mistakes.

Part of paying these players the respect they’re due, as well as one of the easier ways to ensure they are marketed properly, is to make sure that everyone in the arena, in the broadcast booth, and at home, at least knows how to say their names.

PWHPA

Meet The Players: Hayley Scamurra

Meet The Players: Kali Flanagan

Team Granato, Team Hefford Win On Day One Of Dream Gap Tour

Megan Keller Leads Team Granato To Magellan Corp Showcase Title

Blackhawks, as part of Magellan Corporation Women’s Hockey Showcase, host clinic for female youth hockey players | NBC Sports Chicago
The event was a part of the Magellan Corporation Women’s Hockey Showcase.

STEM, hockey and … ketchup? Kim Sass on her interwoven life - The Ice Garden
If you need an athlete, an artist, an architect or a coach, Kim Sass is your person.

"She definitely gives me a run for my money."

First round draft pick for the @Avalanche, @AlexNewhook_ and his sister @abby_newhook joined us in their hometown of @CityofStJohns to chat about their strong bond, leaving home to pursue their hockey dreams and more. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/M2bCaWbl1t

— Rogers Hometown Hockey (@hometownhockey_) October 21, 2019

International hockey

Team USA will host Team Canada for a Joint Training Camp in November - The Ice Garden
Bitter rivals will share the ice in Pittsburgh for a training camp before the 2019-20 Rivalry Series Begins

NCAA talent populates National Team rosters - The Ice Garden
A look at the NCAA talent fleshing out the recently-released national team rosters for Canada and the United States

Poulin, Spooner, Nurse headline Canada’s hockey roster for two games versus U.S. - 660 NEWS
USA Hockey and Hockey Canada are holding a joint women’s camp Nov. 4-10 near Pittsburgh with exhibition games scheduled for Nov. 8 and Nov. 10.

European club hockey

Behind the Glass: Moose wins it in OT and Brand, Curtis, Sosina, and Nieminen all get hatties - The Ice Garden
That’s a lot of hats

SDHL (Sweden)

SDHL standings week 6

SDHL: Leifby on site at  AIK-Djurgården: Where are you? | Aftonbladet
Djurgården beat AIK by 3-1 in the derby in front of 132 spectators in hall 3 at Ulriksdals Idrottsplats.

SDHL: Djurgården beat AIK 3-1 in the derby, winning their fifth straight | Aftonbladet
Djurgården’s hockey ladies have gained a lot of speed in recent weeks.

SDHL: HV71 drove over Brynäs in the series finale | Aftonbladet
What can stop HV71 in SDHL? The league leader took their tenth victory out of eleven when driving over Brynäs with 5-1 in the early series finale at home in Kinnarps arena.

Räisänen was blown away in a match in Sweden - the next game missed, but there should be no danger of participating in the EHT tournament | Yle Sports | yle.fi
Standard Naisleijonat goalkeeper Meeri Räisänen suffered an injury last week.

Vote: Goal of the week - SDHL.se
Some pretty scoring this week from Wilma Johansson, Jennifer Wakefield and Lara Stalder.

Naisten liiga (Finland) Riikka Noronen’s record breaking career was nearly cut short by injury. Now the forward seeks a rare prize with HPK | Yle Urheilu | yle.fi
Riikka Noronen, 36, returned to HPK after two seasons. After a difficult last season, she is happy to continue her playing career.

NCAA

Polls: USCHO - USA Today - The Ice Garden

Women’s DI: Confident, comfortable senior class looks to leave New Hampshire with a legacy of success | College Hockey | USCHO.com
The New Hampshire women’s hockey team started last season 1-9-2. It was a brutally tough stretch where Coach Hillary Witt said her team was playing pretty

Teammates' respect for Wisconsin Badgers captain Mekenzie Steffen shows: 'People want to be like that' | Wisconsin Badgers Hockey | madison.com
Through audio and action, Steffen has carved out a niche as not only a leader but a dependable defenseman who quarterbacks a dangerous Badgers top power-play unit.

5-1 loss to Colgate cements worst start in Syracuse program history - The Daily Orange - The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York

LIU Women's Hockey Team Relishes Opportunity To Play At Nassau Coliseum | NY Sports Day
Rob Morgan grew up in Medicine Hat, Alberta, about three hours down the road from where Islanders Hall of Fame center Bryan Trottier played junior hockey

U Sports

Top 10 Tuesday — U SPORTS
Concordia opens the season in the top spot.

Defending champion Gryphons begin a new season | CTV News Kitchener
The Guelph Gryphons women’s hockey team dominated the OUA last season.

Stingers women’s hockey team welcomes new recruits - The Concordian
As the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team prepares to kick off their 2019-20 season against their crosstown rivals the McGill Martlets, there’s a sense that there’s some unfinished business after the Stingers were knocked out of the playoffs last year by McGill.

Hockey féminin : atteindre le sommet et y rester
Il y a 10 ans, l’équipe de hockey féminin de l’Université de Montréal disputait son premier match. Le projet mis sur pied par Manon Simard et Danièle Sauva...

Les Carabins retirent le numéro de Kim Deschênes
Kim Deschênes avait l’embarras du choix lorsqu’elle a accepté l’offre des Carabins de l’Université de Montréal, qui venaient à peine de lancer leur

Hockey féminin : quelles leçons tirer des dix premières années des Carabins? | ICI Radio-Canada.ca
BILLET - Il y a dix ans, l’Université de Montréal a lancé son programme de hockey féminin pour donner la chance aux meilleures hockeyeuses québécoises d’étudier en français et pour assurer la survie du hockey francophone de haut niveau. Mission accomplie! Maintenant, quelle sera la suite?

AWIHL (Australia)

Goannas reveal new uniforms | Ice Hockey News Australia
The Brisbane Goannas have revealed their new team uniform ahead of the 2019-20 AWIHL season.

Melbourne Ice Women 2019-20 roster | Ice Hockey News Australia
The Melbourne Ice have released their roster for the 2019-20 AWIHL season.

Brisbane Goannas 2019-20 roster | Ice Hockey News Australia
The Brisbane Goannas have released their roster for the 2019-20 AWIHL season.

Sydney Sirens 2019-20 roster | Ice Hockey News Australia
The Sydney Sirens have released their roster for the 2019-20 AWIHL season.

NWHL

NWHL: Pride Remain On Top, Beauts Win
The Boston Pride remain undefeated in NWHL action this season after sweeping their weekend series against the Minnesota Whitecaps, while the Buffalo Beauts captured a pair of wins over the Connecticut Whale.

NWHL names Rocket Sport as its latest sponsor | SportBusiness
The National Women’s Hockey League has signed the Montreal-based Rocket Sport as its latest commercial partner. The company makes sports equipment drying…

Whitecaps Amanda Boulier starts the season with a bang - The Ice Garden
No one does what Bou do quite like Bou do

Men’s Hockey

Robert Morris women’s Olympian now coaching goalies on men’s hockey team | TribLIVE.com
The Robert Morris men’s hockey team made a little history recently. By adding a woman to its coaching staff. Based on information released by the RMU Department of Athletics website, Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle “is believed to be the first female assistant coach in the history of NCAA men’s hockey, Division I.