The IX: Hockey Friday with Erica L. Ayala, October 18, 2019

Joint Training Camp before the Rivalry Series - Interview with Corinne Buie - must-click links around women's hockey

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We all want to move on in the women’s hockey world. We all want salaries to be higher, for broadcast to be better and more widespread, for sponsors to be true partners. However, we are still in a place where some people are downright acting a fool.

Two of many examples might be: Aggressively tweeting about headlines (even when the headline came from a player quote). Tweeting about the definition of “professional” while being part of the a non-union and non-league, that is non-paying and also called the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.

Some say, let’s move on. Well, I sure as heck wish I could. But, as a media member, at least part of the job is updating people on the news as it is, not necessarily as we wish it to be.

That said however, I am going to let one particular tweet stand alone and move on to another topic: A joint USA-Canada Training Camp. This camp is a result of the 2019 Four Nations Cup in Sweden be cancelled.

Now, the top two teams in the world will head to Cranberry Township, PA next month for a week-long training (the facility is being shared, but likely not the ice time) and two exhibition games.

I have the opportunity to cover the event for a few outlets, including one in print! It will be good to see and hear how two women’s hockey federations found a way to come together in the wake of the Swedish National Team boycott (now resolved). It is a lot more complicated than that, but for the week of November 4-10th, I’m going to allow myself to keep it simple.


This Week in Women’s Hockey

Reminder: First, the underlined words are the links. Second. CLICK these, even if you’ve already read them. Clicks = Attention from editors, producers and webmasters. Third, if you want to push out stuff you’ve written or read, email me! erica@ericalayala.com.

More about the joint training camp in November.

Jared Book tweeted this article about the Swedish National Team resolving its dispute.

Meghan Chayka with more PWHPA data visualizations.

Alyssa Wohfeiler finds role with Boston Pride.

The PWHPA heads to Chicago this weekend. Nicole Haase ensures women’s sports fans attending the showcase AND the NWSL Semifinals is indeed possible.

You should follow Nicole’s column. Here is a look at Daryl Watts finding her stride after transferring to Wisconsin.

Mike Murphy’s weekly Behind the Glass column for The Ice Garden.

Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle making history for her alma mater.


Tweet of the Week

This tweet caused some debate on Twitter.


Five at The XI: Corinne Buie

Corinne is one of eight NWHL players to compete in all five seasons of the league. She is one of two players (Harrison Browne, retired) to win back-to-back Isobel Cups, each year with a different team. I caught up with Buie in Boston last weekend.

I’d love for you to reflect a little bit on your NWHL career. Your first year was with the Boston Pride. What do you remember from that first year?

It was a great year, just really exciting to be a part of the first year of women’s professional hockey in the United States. And it was just super fun for our team to be able to win that championship and especially for Denna (Laing) as well. It was good to see her yesterday in the stands. So it was a it was a big one for us.

The next year you see the banner raised but you’re on other side of the ice with the Buffalo Beauts. You’d go on to bring home a championship to the to the 716.

Yeah, that was really crazy. It was wild to be here when they rose the banner and to see my teammates doing that. Then to be able to bring home a championship to Buffalo which is another sports crazy town, it was it was just an unbelievable experience.

You’ve been able to be in every final in the history of the league. What stands out to you when you’re getting into that playoff mentality with your team?

We just always try to build momentum as we get towards February and March. That’s always an exciting time of the year, it’s like my birthday month too. So I was just get really excited for playoffs and I love playing in the playoffs and championships. There’s nothing like it.

What are you expecting from the Buffalo team this year? You’ve got a lot of new faces. But already we’ve been able to see some of the rookies step up. What’s the brand of Buffalo Beauts hockey that we’re going to see this year?

Buffalo is always like a hard working team. It’s really exciting to have so many rookies. They’re grateful to be a part of this league and to have like, Lenka (Cermakova) and Iveta (Klimášová) from Slovakia and Brooke Stacey already get their first goals. That was huge for them. I think these girls are all getting a feel for the game. So we’re just excited. I’m excited to see how we develop as a team throughout the year.

What are some of the things you like to do around town, some of your favorite spots in Buffalo?

There’s tons of great food and events and stuff going on in Buffalo. I have a lot of friends there that I’ve built over the past like three years working at a coffee shop. So, I get to know a lot of people. It’s just a great place to live and I’ve enjoyed it for the past few years.


Mondays: Soccer
By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson AP Women’s Soccer
Tuesdays: Tennis
By Lindsay Gibbs, @Linzsports QUEEN OF ALL MEDIA
Wednesdays: Basketball
By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal High Post Hoops
Thursdays: Golf
By Carly Grenfell, @Carlygren PGA.com
Fridays: Hockey
By: Erica Ayala, @ELindsay08 NWHL Broadcaster

Written by Erica L. Ayala