Women Know Hockey, Stop Pretending They Don't

Gather 'round, readers! Today is International Women's Day, and I have a story to tell.

In 2014, I watched and followed the hockey games from that year's Winter Olympics. I watched the US men's team reach the semifinals of the tournament, which are the medal rounds. We faced Canada. We lost to Canada, because of course we do. So we had to play for Bronze. We faced off against Finland. Finland beat us like we stole something. A 6-0 loss in the Bronze Medal Game, while Canada defeated Sweden to get the Gold.

Fast forward four years to the 2018 Winter Olympics. I decided beforehand that I would watch the women's hockey, and only the women's hockey. My reasons were simple: first, I had never seen women's hockey before, so my interest was piqued. Secondly, I was sick and tired of seeing the men let this country down. The US is a hockey superpower, but even with NHL ringers, we haven't really played like it since the day Al Michaels famously shouted, "Do you believe in miracles?!"

So I solely watched the women's action that year, and I got to learn about a number of the stars on that team, such as Hilary Knight, who is just amazing as hell. The top stars on that team, IMO, were the Lamoreaux Twins--Monique and Jocelyne. They are definitely the American equivalent of the Sedins, just absolutely dominant on the ice. Kendall Coyne-Schofield, loved watching her, and of course, there's Amanda Kessel. If that surname sounds familiar, it should. Amanda Kessel is the younger sister of three-time Stanley Cup Champion Phil Kessel. In 2018, it was the US vs Canada for the Gold, it went a shootout, and the US won it! I was so happy and elated, I stood when the anthem was played, and I was in tears--absolute joy.

Ever since then, I've been more and more upset over the unfair gender wage gap. The guys were making more than the women. Yet the women actually win for this country. So basically, the losers were making more than the winners. Yikes.

Which brings us to now--well, the last few years or so. We are seeing an increase of female talking heads in the NHL, and I've been here for it. It's not just in Canada's Sportsnet, we are seeing it here in the US as well. Yet how do we respond? With hatred. With sexism. Because despite this being 2024, we still have morons who tend to think that women don't know anything about hockey. Seriously?

The main centerpiece of the misogynistic hate has been Leah Hextall. I was familiar with Leah Hextall's work long before she joined ESPN; as she had been performing the hosting and interviewing duties on Canadian telecasts for a long while. A cousin of legendary goaltender (and one of the few Conn Smythe winners who lost a Final) Ron Hextall, Leah joined ESPN in the 2021-22 season, which was ESPN's first season airing NHL games since the 2003-04 season. Since then, she's been a sideline reporter, and she's even done some play-by-play as well. I always beam when I hear Leah on PXP, but sadly, I'm one of very few modern men out there. There are too many knuckle-draggers out there picking on Leah solely because she's not a man, despite the fact that she's out-shined a vast number of her male counterparts.

Now while Leah Hextall hasn't played the game, this woman, AJ Mleczko, has. AJ Mleczko has been working on NHL games for a good bit; having once been part of NBC's NHL coverage during their last years before joining ESPN. Yet despite the fact that she has a mean one-timer that can rival Shea Weber's, as well as the fact that she's a Gold Medalist, the members of the He-Man Woman Haters Club are on her case as well. I've read the comments basically bashing her, and they bash Jennifer Botterill as well, even though she's also shot some pucks in her career as well.

That's how hideous the sexist aura is. Any and all women who are involved in the NHL somehow are getting viciously buried by misogynists with proverbial shovels. Women such as Emily Kaplan and Leah Hextall are being subjected to this nonsense, and even the aforementioned players are being attacked as well. These cavemen need to get over themselves and just shut up. Women know hockey. Women have always known hockey. I've talked to a lot of women about this great sport. The disrespect to the women involved in hockey telecasts is, IMO, the same as disrespecting every woman who has played this great game, especially for national pride. So really, the misogynists are actually disrespecting the same women I watched win the Gold Medal for the US back in 2018. Those great women, and every woman who plays the greatest game in this world, all deserve all of the respect in the entire universe.