Story of the week

Over the past week, a bunch of marquee hockey games have either been announced or gone on sale or both.

The biggest news for North American women’s hockey fans was the confirmation that Team Canada and Team USA will play a three-game series of “friendlies” (it’s never friendly when it’s Canada-USA, even if they do end up marrying each other later) this February.  Rosters have yet to be announced, and both teams usually have winter camps so we might not know for sure until January or so. Still, the hockey between these two teams is always spectacular, even when the only thing on the line is pride.

The two games in Canada are both weeknight games and they’re both in Ontario. (In our defence none of the games in the pre-Olympic series hit Ontario.) The first game in the series is Tuesday, February 12 at 7:00 pm at Budweiser Gardens (home of the London Knights) in London, Ontario. Tickets go onsale tomorrow morning at 10 am.

The next game is on Valentine’s Day at Scotiabank Arena. Team Canada jerseys are red and white, it works with the theme, right? It takes place at 7:00 pm and tickets are available here. PPPers whose partners enjoy hockey or who are currently without a partner should note that Annie is planning to come up for the game, so we will be having a PPP meetup.

The final game is Sunday, February 17th at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, MI. The game takes place at noon — there’s a Red Wings game later that evening at 6:00 pm. Tickets are available here.

Meanwhile, across the pond, tickets for the 2019 IIHF Women’s World Championships in Espoo, Finland are now on sale. The tournament takes place April 4 - 14, and ticket prices are quite reasonable. It’s the first time that Worlds has involved 10 teams, and the first time that France has played at the top level. History will be made, and the hockey will be extremely entertaining.

Tickets to the  NWHL All-Star Weekend are also on sale. The event takes place on February 9th and 10th at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. Saturday features the Skills Challenge and the Game itself takes place on Sunday afternoon.

Tickets for the CWHL All-Star Game have not yet been released, although you can “reserve” tickets (no payment necessary) through a Google docs form linked from the league’s website or buy a CWHL Mystery box that includes two tickets to the game along with a CWHL puck, a team hat, and three autographed pictures of CWHL players. The game takes place Sunday, January 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, and rosters are being announced throughout this week.

I know a lot of NHL fans are pretty jaded about the NHL All-Star Game but if you’re even vaguely into women’s hockey, the CWHL and NWHL games are a lot of fun - the players are still pretty jazzed about the whole concept and they do put some real effort into the games, while still having a bit of fun with each other. Also just seeing an NHL arena packed with girls hockey teams is a pretty inspiring experience.

No, we are not devoting any more screen time to rich old entitled white men who grossly overstate their own importance. Go out and watch some amazing women’s hockey instead, we’ll all have more fun!

International hockey

IIHF - Ticket sale starts in Espoo
Women’s Worlds tickets available as of 5 December

IIHF - Extra time, extra special
Great women’s OT, shootout games before 2018

Lyndsey Fry is growing hockey in Arizona - The Ice Garden
Fry will continue to give back and grow the game in her home state in her new role with the Coyotes

Returning familiar faces among 44 players at Team USA Winter Training Camp - The Ice Garden
Is this the start of Alex Carpenter’s comeback?

Supertalent misses the national debut | Aftonbladet
She is expected to be the next major Swedish goalkeeper star. But a concussion puts an end to 18-year-old Anna Amholt’s national team debut.

NWHL

The Beauts series against Russia ended with a final tally of  3 - 1 in the series in favour of Russia. Scores were 4-3 Russia, 7-1 Beauts, 4-1 Russia, 4-2 Russia. Hensley was in net for all three losses, while Szabados got the only win.

NWHL Weekend Wrap: Week Seven
The Boston Pride had a huge weekend in NWHL action, ending the Minnesota Whitecaps’ unbeaten streak and capturing two wins of their own. The Connecticut Whale came away with their first regular-season shutout in franchise history.

NWHL’s latest game in Pittsburgh another success
The NWHL’s Connecticut Whale shut out the Metropolitan Riveters, 4-0, in front of a standing-room only crowd at the Lemieux Complex on Sunday evening.

From the field to the rink: How one hockey pro is bringing politics to the ice – ThinkProgress
After serving as a field organizer for a congressional campaign, Miye D’Oench hopes to challenge hockey’s “privileged” culture.

Metropolitan Riveters: Alexa Aramburu’s Incredible Journey
Alexa Aramburu: “I’m proud to wear the Riveters jersey that they won in last year. They showed so much heart and it continues on into this year.”

Harrison Browne’s relationship with hockey is far from over - The Ice Garden
Browne spoke on Tuesday to students and faculty at American University about his experiences and future plans

Bright future ahead for Boston Pride netminder Katie Burt - The Ice Garden
The Boston College star is excelling at the next level of hockey...and don’t be surprised if you see her on the next Team USA roster, either

CWHL

Canadiennes win twice against lowly Blades | National Post
The Canadiennes racked up the points against the visiting Worcester Blades this weekend in Canadian Women’s Hockey League action.

Inferno Report: Splitting weekend series against Markham Thunder – Flamesnation
The Calgary Inferno were back in the city for another weekend series as they faced the defending Clarkson Cup champs, the Markham Thunder.

CWHL announces first 11 All-Stars - The Ice Garden
12 more players will be announced on Wednesday.

‘I don’t want to like [them] but then you end up being friends’: Club play adds a new wrinkle to USA-Canada rivalry - Eyes On The Prize
Mixing up Americans and Canadians has created an interesting dynamic when it comes to the women’s hockey landscape.

Hilary Knight and the Standards for Pro Women’s Hockey
I caught up with Knight before the American Thanksgiving holiday to talk about what has changed since that night in 2014 with pro women’s hockey, and Team USA’s performance in Four Nations.

A look at some possibilities for the next coach of Les Canadiennes - Eyes On The Prize
As Montreal looks to devise a coaching plan for the rest of the season, we look at some potential options.

Canadiennes Notebook: Among some chaos, a ray of Sunshine - Eyes On The Prize
Canadiennes Notebook: Among some chaos, a ray of Sunshine

The fall and rise of Emerance Maschmeyer - Eyes On The Prize
After a tough year, Les Canadiennes’ goaltender is looking ahead.

Inferno-Thunder Game Inspiring to Budding Players - CochraneNow.com
Many wide-eyed girl hockey players, fans and first-time spectators got a taste of the high-calibre play of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) when the Calgary Infernos took on the Markham Thunder here at the Cochrane Arena, Dec. 2.

NCAA

Polls: USCHO - USA Today - The Ice Garden

We Should Probably Talk About That Disastrous Week In BC Women’s Hockey - BC Interruption
What the hell happened?

Emma Polaski “picking up where she left off” with sophomore leap - The Daily Orange - The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York
Last year as a freshman, Emma Polaski played too passively. She often deferred to more experienced teammates. She was just “learning the ropes” like most freshmen, SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. Both Polaski and Flanagan agreed she had all the necessary offensive skills and instincts, and she didn’t necessarily need to address specific flaws in her stickwork or fundamentals.

Knights women’s hockey falls at Colgate | NorthCountryNow
Clarkson University won the 2018 NCAA and ECAC Tournament Championships with wins over Colgate, but the Raiders gained a measure of revenge on Friday night by defeating the Golden Knights 4-1 in Hamilton, NY.

Women’s D-I weekend wrap Dec. 2: Holy Cross and other stunners | College Hockey | USCHO.com
Previously winless Holy Cross stunned No. 5 Northeastern, Boston University swept No. 4 Boston College for the first time ever, and No. 3 Clarkson fell to No. 7 Cornell and Colgate in a wild weekend of unexpected events.

European club hockey

SDHL (Sweden)Djurgården: Hanna Olsson criticizes their fans | Aftonbladet
There was a free entrance to Djurgården’s SDHL match at Hovet. Still, there were no more than 432 people and saw the 2-5 loss against HV71.

Wakefield a match winner in her comeback game | Aftonbladet
Just over two months had passed since Jennifer Wakefield’s latest match.

Naisten Liiga (Finland) Q&A with Tanja Niskanen - The Ice Garden
KalPa captain chats Naisten Liiga, goals, and more

U Sports

TOP 10 Tuesday — U SPORTS
U de M reigns supreme!

Bisons centre looking to life on the farm | The Manitoban
With a national championship ring already in hand, U of M Bisons women’s hockey forward Lauryn Keen is ready for her next test.

AWIHL (Australia)

2018-19 AWIHL season: Round 5 | Ice Hockey News Australia
Round 5 of the 2018-19 Australian Women's Ice Hockey League season has finished with the Sydney Sirens defeating the Brisbane Goannas in both games of their double header.

AWIHL news: 30 November 2018 | Ice Hockey News Australia
The Goannas have added Brittany Gibbs to their roster for the upcoming games against the Sydney Sirens in Brisbane.

Women's HockeyCanadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)