I’ve been more or less brought up in a hockey rink, it’s a safe space I guess. I wouldn’t call myself a team fan (mind you I do cheer for the Habs) as much as a hockey fan. When I’m unable to play, it doesn’t help my mental space. Hockey has brought a lot to my life – friendships, confidence, good habits, challenges, and thankfully a very small amount of injuries. I would guess most people who play team sports would say something similar. I’ve been fortunate enough to share that passion with my wife and girls, and better, coach them along the way. Since mid-August I’d guess there are maybe 30 days total that I haven’t spent in a rink.

One thing I take for granted is the sheer amount of hockey in Canada. It’s everywhere and often a more popular topic than the weather. The NHL is baked into our conscious, and the Stanley Cup runs take up hours of our lives. Young boys dream of making the big leagues (better chance of winning the lottery) so that they just play all the time. Girls… well they haven’t really had options other than a potential scholarship or maybe some smaller work in a European circuit. And truly, the hockey wasn’t very good compared to what men were able to showcase.

Last year the PWHL finally consolidated a bunch of disparate women’s leagues into a single North American circuit. 6 teams and maybe 80% of the top global talent. The league was announced and the puck dropped in less than 6 months, which is bonkers. We naturally bought season tickets.

Back to the point of me taking this for granted. The first game, the game was OK with a lot of women experiencing top caliber hockey for the first time. Wasn’t a good game by any stretch. But the kicker here is that when the home team scored, my wife and kids celebrated like it was uber-Christmas. It took that event for me to glimpse at the impact of that event. I won’t claim to fully understand it, just happy to experience their joy. So season ticket holders we remain, and it’s frigging awesome to just be around happy people!

In the year’s I’ve been involved in women’s hockey, I’ve seen it grow by leaps and bounds. The girls starting when the U18s were leaving are significantly better hockey players, due to a wide range of factors. Better coaching, ice time, development, equipment, visibility, stigma, you name it, all of it factors into this.

What is means it that the professional game on the ice today is also getting better. Last year was very hodge podge, where there were 3 or 4 elite players and then arguably ‘filler’ per team. This year, the talent gap still remains but the skaters have figured out how to apply systems to defend against the opponent’s elite players. The end result is that this year’s product is substantially better than last year’s. It’s unfair to compare to men’s hockey which has had frankly a hundred years to figure their stuff out, so I’ll avoid that. If you understand hockey, you can draw your own comparisons.

So for now, I get to watch some quality hockey and moreso get to watch my wife and kids have near permanent smiles getting to build their own hockey stars that look like them. It’s really cool to share, and makes me appreciate things even more.