Karissa Donkin

Thank you for the chat, Justin! Looking forward to reading more women’s hockey stories on your Substack!

That is so kind! Breakaway is my only book, but if they love women’s hockey, they may also enjoy “The Role I Played” by Sami Jo Small. Glad to hear they’re enjoying reading!

🥹 I love that! Please tell her I say thank you, and I’m so happy to hear how much she loves to read!!

I’m so glad they and you are enjoying it! Thanks again for picking it up! 😊

I love it! Sounds like a future superstar!

Thank you both so much! I hope you like it! 🏒

Next week, Daryl Watts will be at a Canadian pre-Olympic training camp, working to make the team.

Three summers ago, she thought her hockey career was over.

My story on how the Sceptres star found her way back to hockey, better and faster than before:

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Road to Olympics for Canadian women's hockey team begins late August in Calgary | CBC Sports The Canadian women's hockey team will begin its quest to defend its Olympic title with three training camps throughout the country this summer and fall. It will be the first time that Hockey Canada mu...

Thirty players will compete at training camps in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal this fall, in a bid to make the Canadian women's Olympic team.

I talked to GM Gina Kingsbury and head coach Troy Ryan about how they designed the program around the PWHL:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

How Laura Stacey is using road hockey to give back to the 2 cities that have shaped her career | CBC Sports Montreal Victoire forward Laura Stacey is bringing her annual road hockey fundraiser to Montreal, where her pro dreams have blossomed, this August. It's her way of giving back to a city that has welco...

“They've cheered me on more than I ever thought they would have."

My story on why Montreal Victoire forward Laura Stacey has expanded her LS7 Foundation to Montreal, and why she wants to give back to the two cities that have shaped her career:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

A crisis foretold: 3 decades of warnings on N.B.'s aging population | CBC News Governments have known for decades the province’s population was aging and they would have to cope with an ever-growing number of seniors needing care. The waiting list for a nursing home bed is more ...

A crisis foretold: 3 decades of warnings on N.B.'s aging population. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Calm in the crease: Inside Gwyneth Philips's ascension to the Ottawa Charge's starting job | CBC Sports Thrust into the role of starting goalie with the Ottawa Charge this past spring, rookie Gwyneth Philips led the team to the PWHL Finals against Minnesota. She's set to be the team's starter next seaso...

After the season ended, Gwyneth Philips took off to the woods, alone.

It’s how she decompressed after a year that saw her become the Ottawa Charge’s starting goaltender, and a solid option for USA at the Olympics in February.

My feature on Philips:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

An Olympic year and a contract for Fillier: 4 PWHL storylines to watch this summer | CBC Sports For the first time, the PWHL will have to navigate a season with an Olympic break in the middle. It's one of four storylines for PWHL fans to watch this summer.

After an absolutely wild expansion draft, free agent signing window and entry draft, things are slowing down in the PWHL.

But there’s lots to keep an eye on ahead of a big 2025-26 season.

I wrote about four PWHL storylines to watch over the summer:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

PWHL free agency preview: What each team needs this off-season | CBC Sports Top free agents include Toronto Sceptre Natalie Spooner and 2-time Walter Cup champ Michela Cava.

The PWHL’s free agency window opens Monday at 9 am, and it’s sure to be a busy week. Trades can also be made in this window.

With the dust settled from expansion, I took a look at what each team needs to add:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

With PWHL expansion looming, the defending champion Frost go out on top | CBC Sports The Frost will get to celebrate one last time before rosters are thrown in a blender next week. Expansion draft protection lists are due next Tuesday, and teams can only protect 3 players to start.

The Minnesota Frost end the PWHL’s original six era on top. Next week, everything will change.

My story for CBC Sports on how the Frost pulled off back-to-back championships, and what comes next:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

A suspended rookie and a toppled top seed in Game 1. My PWHL playoff notebook looks at what we’ve learned over the first two games of the Walter Cup playoffs:

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Vancouver announced as newest PWHL franchise for 2025-26 season | CBC Sports The Professional Women's Hockey League will expand to Vancouver and begin play next season, the league announced on Wednesday.

The PWHL is expanding to Vancouver ahead of next season.

My story on what it means for Vancouver to be the league’s 7th franchise, and what comes next:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

Expansion uncertainty, outgrowing the reserve player system, and more salary transparency. Those are just a few items on Malaika Underwood's desk.

I chatted with the new executive director of the PWHLPA about a whirlwind first month on the job:

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Breaking down how close Hannah Miller was to being eligible to play for Team Canada, an update on Desbiens, and more.

Everything you need to know about Canada’s team at the women’s world hockey championship:

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I got the chance to visit Halifax Tides FC training camp a couple of weeks ago. I also got to see the fabulous Jawslyn up close 🦈 ⚽️

My piece for CBC Sports on how the city is embracing the team ahead of the inaugural Northern Super League (NSL) season:

t.co/tMcvD7EbyU

A mark once thought unbreakable, can Poulin eclipse Wickenheiser's Canadian points record? | CBC Sports Over more than two decades wearing the maple leaf, icon Hayley Wickenheiser amassed a whopping 379 points for her country. While the record seems safe, one active player continues to keep climbing the...

We've been talking a lot about Ovechkin's pursuit of Gretzky's NHL goal record, once thought to be untouchable.

What's the untouchable record in women's hockey? One might be Hayley Wickenheiser's Canadian team points.

But there's someone chasing her:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

Canada-U.S. Rivalry Series's final stop resumes set against backdrop of off-ice political tension | CBC Sports The final leg of the women's hockey Rivalry Series begins on Thursday in Halifax. It's the latest chapter in one of the most bitter rivalries in all of sport.

One of the best rivalries in sports resumes on Thursday when the Canada-USA Rivalry Series picks up in Halifax.

My dispatch from the Maritimes on the final leg of this season's Rivalry Series, playing out amid the threat of a trade war between the two countries:

www.cbc.ca/sports/olymp...

How hockey helped Toronto Sceptres coach Troy Ryan find a way out of poverty | CBC Sports Community helped Ryan find a way to play hockey in Spryfield, N.S., when money was tight. Sticking with the sport took him to the Olympics and the Professional Women's Hockey League.

Troy Ryan has an Olympic gold medal, 3 world championships and PWHL coach of the year on his resume. But the Sceptres coach almost didn't make it here.

How hockey helped Ryan find a way out of poverty, and how his community in Spryfield, Nova Scotia helped him get here:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

A hockey town: Inside the push to bring pro women's hockey back to Quebec City | CBC Sports A PWHL Takeover Tour game between Montreal and Ottawa set for Sunday is poised to sell out Quebec City's Videotron Centre, as the city makes a pitch for an expansion team.

The Victoire and Charge are poised to play in front of a sold-out crowd inside Quebec City's Videotron Centre on Sunday.

The push to bring pro women's hockey back to the city started more than a year ago, with a political assistant from Marie-Philip Poulin's hometown:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

Sounds like there are fewer than 1,000 tickets left for this Sunday's PWHL Takeover Tour game in Quebec City between the Montreal Victoire and Ottawa Charge.

Videotron Centre seats more than 18,000 for hockey.

Expansion, growing U.S. attendance top list of challenges for PWHL in year 2 | CBC Sports The PWHL's focus has shifted to hockey after celebrating a year of milestones and firsts.

At this time last year, we were talking about firsts and milestones in the PWHL.

But this New Year's Eve, we were talking about hockey, and who won a blockbuster trade between Toronto and Ottawa.

My look at the PWHL's first season and the challenges ahead in 2025:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

PWHL game in Vancouver could be test run for possible expansion team | CBC Sports As the PWHL considers expanding by as many as two teams as soon as next season, a regular-season game in Vancouver on Jan. 8 could help the province's hope for a team of its own.

Toronto and Montreal will face off inside Rogers Arena, typically home to the Vancouver Canucks, in January. The tickets are already sold out.

A look at the case for PWHL western expansion, and why pro women's hockey could return to Vancouver:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

How 'understated' Izzy Daniel found her way to the Toronto Sceptres top line | CBC Sports Smarts and skating helped Izzy Daniel carve out a role, even when invites to top USA Hockey teams didn't come while growing up.

Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury was surprised Izzy Daniel was still available in the third round of the 2024 draft.

It wasn't the first time she's had to prove she can play with the best in the world.

My profile on "understated" Sceptres forward Izzy Daniel for CBC Sports:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

Never backing down: How Montreal Victoire forward Kristin O'Neill found her confidence | CBC Sports 'Fearless' centre Kristin O'Neill plays a key role on both sides of the puck for the Montreal Victoire.

When Cornell head coach Doug Derraugh watched a teenage Kristin O'Neill play, he saw a player who was small, but relentless and unafraid.

That's the same role she plays on the Montreal Victoire in the PWHL, where her game can fly under the radar.

My profile on O'Neill:

www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

Jackie Brewer, the 2-year-old who was ignored to death | CBC News Jackie Brewer lived and died in a dark room in Saint John's south end, where she died from neglect in 1996. Twenty years later, her aunt wants the little girl's tragic death to mean something.

The province now says it will improve transparency and public reporting by the end of March 2025, according to the auditor general report.

The child death review system was created in the late 90s following the death of two-year-old Jackie Brewer in Saint John:

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Committee set up to study children's deaths hasn't reported publicly in more than 2 years | CBC News The New Brunswick chief coroner, who oversees the child death review committee, hasn't filed a public report on the committee's work in more than two years.

But by August 2023, the committee had stopped regular news releases to the public, something a former child and youth advocate said was undermining credibility in the child death review system:

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...