[namenloser-held]

I didn't expect the twins to play together for the rest of their lives, that would've been highly unlikely to happen. but it still hurts to see ):

tho it would be kinda fun to see them clash on the ice I suppose. They've never not been on the same line before.

[pwhlottawa]

an interesting notion i've seen is that the expansion teams last year were built like superteams, disparate pieces with not much pre-existing chemistry from previous teams, whereas this year's expansion teams are pulling players with pre-existing chemistry more heavily, thus presumably setting them up better than last year's dumpster fires.

but i just don't think that's true? like the goldeneyes last year, we were Frost West. by the end of the season our top line was all ex-sceptres. before the křížová trade we had 6 ex-frost players (not including boreen or greco), 3 of whom were basically a transplanted d-core, while rn hamilton has 4 ex-charge (not including shokhina or boyd). seattle was a little more team-diverse but they also lifted 3 defenders from the victoire and had 4 former fleet (5 post-schafzahl trade). i simply think the expansion teams last year had the same approximate amount of "pre-existing team chemistry" imported in as the expansion teams this year.

that's not to say that the gms this go around didn't do a better job of roster construction, we'll have to see, but the narrative of "last year they were just pieces thrown together with no chemistry and this year they're bringing in units" just feels kinda lazy to me and a misrepresentation of what actually happened last year

[samtf]

reblog to give a strawberry to the person you reblogged this from

[degrommunism]

They thing about women’s sports is that I think most of us who watch them want a future of all gender sports leagues but unless you have a way to make misogyny go away in the next week and cis men to actually, meaningfully allow other genders to compete with them and share resources without harassment, women’s leagues going away would just mean women do not play sports anymore (or, play it in secret unsanctioned events like it used to be.) And the biggest thing you can do is 1) fight against the idea that these spaces should only be for certain kinds of women (cis women, white women, upper class women, etc) and refocus / realign these spaces to be for anyone experiencing gender marginalization who is denied access to traditional sporting spaces 2) invest enough resources into these athletes until they’re just too good to deny the most predominant spaces in sports that men occupy

[degrommunism]

The thing that annoys me is way too many people, including other people on the left, is acting as if women’s sports came about because some women went up to their college admin like “we want to play basketball but we’re too scared to play with the boys :(“ instead of it mainly being clubs and teams of women who suffered nonstop harassment playing on boys clubs and were refused playin time or resources or were literally barred from competing and had to do it in secret / after hours / etc and were mainly asking for a place to just safely play and work on their craft and saying if you won’t let us in, we’ll create our own. There are obviously some women athletes right now pushing bullshit narratives and getting in on the grift of “well we need this because we’re weaker we know we’re not as good as the boys~” but there’s a lot more that understand these places exist because begging cis men for scraps in their spaces wasn’t working so they created their own

[minnesotafightcaps]

hi okay sorry I'm actually reblogging a second time because I have more thoughts. I feel like a lot of (especially new) women's sports fans rn are going in the "sports should all be gender integrated" because that /feels/ more liberatory, but I think underlying that is (like you're saying) a misunderstanding of history and structure, and it ends up accomplishing the opposite of what I think most of these folks actually want.

To put it simply: I think a lot of fans think of the existence of women's leagues as being like segregation, when really it's a lot more like affirmative action.

In slightly more detail: a lot of people seem to think that men wanted to keep women out of existing sports leagues/orgs, so they created separate leagues to contain women and keep them separate from men. That didn't happen! Keeping women out of men's sports doesn't require providing any alternatives, and men certainly didn't start women's leagues. Women fought for and built their own sports institutions, and the purpose those institutions serve is to create a space where misogyny--not biology, misogyny--doesn't create inequity between athletes. (Though there's still PLENTY of inequity around race, class, nationality, transness, etc.) That's the affirmative action part: a women's league is an organization where it's guaranteed that every roster spot is protected for people experiencing gender-based discrimination. If you've ever interviewed for a job you're qualified for and then found out afterward that they hired some unqualified dude who's going to get that money instead? Women's sports leagues are built to make that material impact of misogyny impossible.

The second layer of this that I really wish more people understood is that when you see "women's" sports leagues not as single-gender segregation but instead as affirmative action meant to combat gender-based discrimination, you also get *the strongest possible argument for including trans people--especially trans women--in women's sports.* That's something I think (I hope!) we are all fighting for, and I think a lot people saying "we should just integrate sports!" are really doing that out of an anxiety or uncertainty about how to reconcile their enjoyment of "women's" sports with their desire to include trans people. But if you frame what we currently call "women's" sports as "sports spaces set aside for people experiencing gender discrimination" then nobody who's even a little bit worth talking to can tell you that trans people (again, especially women) don't 100% belong there.

[degrommunism]

100%, also like not a 1:1 on any sense as the social context and systems of oppression were very different but in a philosophical sense / understanding how these sporting spaces can be born as a response to oppression without endorsing said oppression, another historical example would be the existence of the Negro Leagues in baseball. They existed because of the color line in baseball, Jim Crow laws, and segregation meant they could not participate in the existent major leagues, but the Negro Leagues themselves were not created by white people or pro-segregation, they were spaces in which Black people could continue their athletic careers / crafts with less harassment, a better chance at controlling the resources within the playing field even if there were less resources than their white counterparts, and the ability to keep making money from the sport. It also meant that once integration did happen, there were players ready to compete right away in terms of skill level because the leagues got better with time and players got better. It was not perfect and they were still given less pay, resources, and respect than white teams and faced intense harassment, but it was an improvement from either playing on the majority white teams in the indie leagues where they got treated horribly or not playing at all, and Black baseball players were able to form their own communities and make their own history in that time

[werewolfbneimitzvah]

i hate the pwhl schedule. why don't you play at the same time as literally every other northern hemisphere women's league so the players cut from the roster in preseason aren't completely fucked over for roster spots and a bunch of woho coaching staff haven't already been claimed by other leagues by the time the pwhl is hiring. pwhl why do you suck so fucking much

[werewolfbneimitzvah]

since I've seen people posting about missing women's hockey, i want to remind everyone of the good news that the SDHL season starts in only 1 month, on September 9th! and if you can't watch it live (as many of us with jobs/school/etc who live in the north america time zones can't), some of us do delayed liveblogs that start at specific times so that people can watch and liveblog together if they want.

the SDHL is a top league with a lot of players who have played and will play in the PWHL, so you can see some old PWHL faves, see some future PWHL faves (did you like watching Swiss goalie Andrea Brändli in the olympics? did you miss Akane Shiga when she was gone? did you not know initially why the Sirens picked Elisa Holopainen that high in the draft? are you wondering about the new hot masc Viivi Vainikka and the 2026 championship she won? they were all in the SDHL last season!), and find some women to fall in love with who might never even want to go to the p-dub!

don't despair! the women will play hockey sooner than you think!

[regularseason]

[grantmentis]

Women's International Hockey News Roundup: July 2026

Signings begin to slow, but hirings do not. Here are July's biggest headlines for PWHL, SDHL, PFWL, and Auroraliiga

Coach hirings dominate the news cycle while turmoil hits the Swiss league. Here is what you need to know for women’s hockey in July.

[pwhlottawa]

my main argument during the whole "omg we could be the vancouver valkyries 🤩" era was just pointing at the wnba so it is kind of funny that wnba cleveland did Not reciprocate but on the other hand the cleveland sirens are doing the theme/branding in a very different much more compelling way so. i like it

[pwhlottawa]

fantin levels harvey during the 2026 frozen four semi-final

[betapark]

It's amazing when you love a player

[unoqlo]

Caroline Harvey x Bauer's Supreme Fuse (-/-)

[caitthegreatest]

i've been working at this long and hard and i think it's finally ready to share with the world....a draft distraction....may i introduce pwhl teams as Really Small Frogs? (i will be so fr y'all detailed image IDs/alt text will be in a reblog bc i want to post this before the draft actually starts)

congrats to first team all frog pun: Aerin Frogkel; Nina Hops-Smith; Ally Swampson; Erin Ambtoad; Kelly Pondek; Abby Croque; Elle Wartje; Rebecca Legslie; Maddi Wheeleap; Mikyla Grant-Marshes; Blayre Tadpole; and Emerance Marshmeyer!

[pwhlottawa]

need women's hockey back. now

[grantmentis]

Mathea Fischer going to Toronto camp! Another good invite imo in that she has a possible high ceiling, great Norwegian player and former UBC player for my USports pals :-)

[rubberpuckies]

Color of Hockey: Taylor touted as being next great women's player

16-year-old Wisconsin-bound defenseman 'more excited than overwhelmed' by accolades

William Douglas | January 04, 2026 (link) (archived)

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Chyna Taylor, a 16-year-old defenseman who was named Sports Illustrated Kids 2025 SportsKid of the Year. Taylor plays for Lovell Academy in Massachusetts and will skate for the United States at the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship in Cape Breton Jan. 10-18.

The new year is off to a flying start for Chyna Taylor.

The 16-year-old defenseman from Louisville, Kentucky, is headed to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to represent the United States for the second time at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship from Jan. 10-18, looking to add a gold medal to the silver she won last year.

She arrives at the tournament fresh from being named Sports Illustrated Kids 2025 SportsKid of the Year on Dec. 30, and joined a roster of previous winners that includes NBA star LeBron James (2000), women’s college basketball phenom JuJu Watkins (2020), retired NFL quarterback Eli Manning (1992), Olympic gymnast Dominque Dawes (1989), Major League Baseball slugger Bryce Harper (2004) and former Little League baseball pitcher/turned New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury (1991).

“I would definitely say it's overwhelming,” Taylor said of the award and returning to the U.S. women’s U18 team. “I mean, it's super exciting for all these opportunities I've been receiving. I mean, I would say I'm more excited than overwhelmed with all of it.”

Taylor is in her fourth season at Lovell Academy in Rockland, Massachusetts, where she has 116 points (46 goals, 70 assists) in 61 games for their U16 AAA and high school hockey teams, eclipsing totals from her previous three seasons. She has 371 points (114 goals, 257 assists) in 301 games at Lovell.

“She’s on pace for a 255-point season,” Lovell coach Caitrin Lonergan said. “For defensemen, she’s broken the goals, assists, points record for boys and girls at Lovell Academy.”

The new year is off to a flying start for Chyna Taylor.

The 16-year-old defenseman from Louisville, Kentucky, is headed to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to represent the United States for the second time at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship from Jan. 10-18, looking to add a gold medal to the silver she won last year.

She arrives at the tournament fresh from being named Sports Illustrated Kids 2025 SportsKid of the Year on Dec. 30, and joined a roster of previous winners that includes NBA star LeBron James (2000), women’s college basketball phenom JuJu Watkins (2020), retired NFL quarterback Eli Manning (1992), Olympic gymnast Dominque Dawes (1989), Major League Baseball slugger Bryce Harper (2004) and former Little League baseball pitcher/turned New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury (1991).

“I would definitely say it's overwhelming,” Taylor said of the award and returning to the U.S. women’s U18 team. “I mean, it's super exciting for all these opportunities I've been receiving. I mean, I would say I'm more excited than overwhelmed with all of it.”

Taylor is in her fourth season at Lovell Academy in Rockland, Massachusetts, where she has 116 points (46 goals, 70 assists) in 61 games for their U16 AAA and high school hockey teams, eclipsing totals from her previous three seasons. She has 371 points (114 goals, 257 assists) in 301 games at Lovell.

“She’s on pace for a 255-point season,” Lovell coach Caitrin Lonergan said. “For defensemen, she’s broken the goals, assists, points record for boys and girls at Lovell Academy.”

Taylor committed to the University of Wisconsin in June after she had 107 points (26 goals, 81 assists) in 83 games with Lovell’s U16 AAA team last season.

Mark Bechtel, a managing editor for SIKids, said Taylor was the bi-monthly publication’s choice for SportsKid of the Year because of her rapid and improbable rise from a neophyte who began skating and playing hockey in a non-traditional market at 4 years old to the first Kentuckian to play for a U.S. men’s or women’s national team.

“What we try to do with the with SportsKid of the Year is obviously find and tell a good story," Bechtel said, "but we'd also like it to be inspirational and also hopefully aspirational.

“And I think the message here is, ‘There's going to be some point in your life you're going to try to do something, and you might not fit the traditional mold for what it is you're trying to do.' But it's possible. It can be done, because she's showing us.”

U.S. U18 women’s coach Courtney Kennedy said Taylor is more than a feel-good story.

She played her way onto the U.S. team at the 2025 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship as a 15-year-old, something rare. She had two assists in six games at the tournament and was selected as the best U.S. player in a 3-0 loss to Canada in the gold medal game in Vantaa, Finland on Jan. 12.

“She's a special player,” Kennedy said. “She's humble, and she plays the game with ease. What I mean by ‘ease’ is players like that, they have power, she has a natural power to her, and she knows how to load her power and use her power. She’s so athletic that when she loads up on a pivot, she’s so effortless. She’s got speed, power and the ability to squash a play defensively.”

Kennedy said she believes Taylor is just getting started.

“She's not even close to done cooking, not even close,” Kennedy said. “What we see right now is great, but there is another level, if not a few levels, for her to get through.”

Which is why Taylor said she selected to attend Wisconsin, which has produced a bevy of Olympians, NCAA Frozen Four champions and Black women’s players like sisters Laila and Chayla Edwards and Sarah Nurse.

“They've been a top school for so long, and just like, all these top players that come from the program,” she said. “I just thought they could definitely help me with becoming Olympian and all that.”

Taylor credits a pit crew of supporters for her rise in hockey, including family, teammates and coaches in Kentucky and Massachusetts.

She said she’s also grateful for grants and scholarships she received from organizations like the Black Girl Hockey Club, the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, Bauer Hockey, the Ritchie Hockey Foundation and the Black Bear Youth Hockey Foundation.

“Chyna is an outstanding player, a wonderful person and a shining example of how far dreams can soar if we invest in the next generation,” said Taylor Green, a BGHC board member and director of digital marketing. “From our first interaction with Chyna, we knew instantly that she was determined for greatness. We are certain this will not be Chyna's last accolade, but we certainly hope she takes the time to reflect on all that she has achieved thus far."

[hrst-boruvek]

some translations under the cut👇

Noemi Neubauerová: *in an american accent* Good?

🙍‍♂️: Good. And now, goal emotions

Noemi Neubauerová: For real?

Klára Hymlárová: Goal! I'm leaving.

🙍‍♂️: That's going to be a hat trick. I can see it already.

Adéla Šapovalivová: Should I wave?

🙍‍♂️: You can.

Dominika Lásková: Can you see that roll* that I had for breakfast?

🙍‍♂️: You can just do some arms.

Tereza Vanišová: 😁

🙍‍♂️: And maybe lower the arms.

Tereza Vanišová: 😐

🙍‍♂️: You got to sell it.

🙍‍♀️: Show some teeth!

Klára Peslarová: Oh wow!**

🙍‍♂️Shout as if you were scoring a goal

Klára Šrámková: *the least enthusiastic* Goal?

* A roll is a pastry common in Central Europe and is greatly missed by every Czech living abroad

** A literal translation of what she said is You cow. It's an expression of shock not aimed at anyone. The point of this note is that 'oh wow' is a bit watered-down version of it. It's lays somewhere in between oh wow and oh fuck.