Purple Reign

With all the excitment of PWHL San Jose arriving to the Bay Area the San Jose Sharks have wasted no time in trying to form a partnership like no other as over the next month they are holding summer camps for young girlsCamps are happening not just in San Jose itself but also my baseball town of Oakland alongside Fresno

With yet another American team on the brink of winning the Stanley Cup in the NHL I talk about how Canada's drought is more impactful now that not only in the PWHL we had a canadian team win but also an all Canadian matchup which was the first ever in my lifetime

It's fair to say Phase 2 took its toll on me as there were plenty of shocks galore and even some delights as the four expansion teams made their first moves signing their foundational playersI record this episode while dealing with headache as a result of the drama that Hillary Knight has inflicted as we still don't have the full story yet so that's why we only talk about four of PWHL Las Vegas' signings

It's that time of year again as the nominees for the PWHL 2026 Awards are now out as across the board we have a mix of big contenders and some surprising candidatesEven PWHL Hamilton has a nomination despite their team not even having stepped foot on the ice yet as Kris Sparre's nomination got announced before he jumped ships

It's the 2026 playoff show on the Purple Reign podcast as we have a brand new Walter Cup champion the Montreal Victoire a first for the city and for Canada

In Part 1 we recap the first semifinal which saw the Ottawa Charge pull off the mother of upsets against the Boston Fleet

In Part 2 we recap how the second semifinal where the Victoire chose their poison well and ended our Mineesota Frost's reign

In Part 3 we recap the first ever canadian Walter Cup Finals as the Victoire rains on Ottawa's parade

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After months of he said, she said we finally now know that both Troy Ryan and Gina Kingsbury are out of their respective roles with Canada's national teamI'm not surprised by this as Canada have over the past two years have been going backwards and for the sake of healthy competition I think its time for a fresh start for this hockey mad nation

Another expansion team decides to go in house when it comes to their coaching staff as this time PWHL Detroit bags one of the assistant coaches from the New York SirensAnd to make the news even sweeter Hosh is a hometown boy so he knows the area and the state very well and it will be interesting to see how he uses his experiences on the US national team

PWHL Hamilton have found their first ever coach and shocked the hockey world by hiring the guy who helped turnaround the Boston Fleet literally this seasonNow there are lots of reasons that makes sense but given what Kris Sparre was able to do in Boston that is what makes it all the more shocking and might now catapult PWHL Hamilton into contention straight away

At Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Bell Centre the Montreal Canadiens decided on having a tribute to celebrate the Montreal Victoire's championshipWhile it sounded like a good idea but it happened during a tv timeout making it impossible for fans of the PWHL across the globe from seeing it in what ended up being another faux pas caused by the NHL

Phase 1 of the 2026 Expansion Process is complete as the current right teams made their protection lists as a lot of shocks were presented following them being made publicBut the big thing is once again the majority of the Purple Trio's selections were indeed protected although some teams really threw us off guard