Purple Reign

On this edition of the Olympic Hockey Show the Purple Trio reacts to the new rule change which sees neck guards being mandatory for the Winter Olympics for the very first timeThis is something we all agree on however Lady and I can't shake the fact that is in response to a horrible tragedy that happened in 2023 rather than it being done to help improve the gameThe incident in question happened at a game in England which means because of my mental health I can't go into it but I'll leave an article for you to read what happened Read about the tragedy here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/ice-hockey/67253892

Following the Ottawa City Council's vote the PWHL sent a strong message that they will not play at Landsdowne 2.0 as they feel the players have worked too hard to get to where they are and that we're not going backThe Purple Trio whole heartedly agree with that as we give our thoughts on the latest response as well as me reading out a statement by the Charge's GM to the fans

It's finally time for me to blow a fuse about my feelings about Landsdowne 2.0 getting approved and a word of warning this is going to be an emotionally charged, fiery and sweary showI love this league and I want all teams to succeed and so in my book when you attack one of us you attack all of us and I am sending all my love to the Ottawa Charge as no one deserves to go through this trust me I have the scars to prove it

Friday November 21 2025 saw the PWHL begin a new era as our two new teams Seattle Torrent & Vancouver Goldeneyes met for the very first time and put on quite the showPacific Coliseum was so ready to begin this new chapter as both sides were represented at a sold out crowd as my women's hockey journey came full circle as I did get very teary during anthems

On Opening Night our Minnesota Frost hoisted its second Walter Cup banner to the rafters of Grand Casino Arena however this time round it didn't emotionally hit me as last year did as the on the inside I was crying but they didn't show on the outsideThe Purple Trio firmly believe this was the4 fault of the league given the excitement was rightly in Vancouver and to top it all Pluto felt the idea of the championship jerseys wasn't excuted well and suggests what we should have done instead

The jersey situation for the Torrent & Goldeneyes created very mixed messaging given how they would use the generic PWHL jerseys for Year 1 despite getting their names and brands in placeI fly solo to explain my reasons on why I believe this actually be a tradition for the PWHL going forward for all future expansions given how it has helped for teams to develop that bond and connection with their cities

This season the Takeover Tour will see five of the eleven cities hosting games being given the opportunity to have two games in their town these are Denver, Chicago, Edmonton, Halifax and DetroitStraight away the whole Purple Trio immediately wondered if these are the likeliest candidates for the next wave of expansion and so we talk about hoe high each market's chances are

It's the Season 3 premiere of the Purple Reign podcast as the puck is just 48 hours away from dropping on the 2025/26 season...

We have so much to cover as a lot of major news broke since the last time games were played as we gear up to welcome two new teams to the family

We'll also round up all of our draft picks made in Ottawa and the transactions made by front office over the summer

After all of that we recap this year's oreseason which saw all eight teams face off in a two day scrimmage with our Minnesota Frost facing the New York Sirens

We also look ahead as our Frost will try to go for that elusive threepeat which these days is a rarity in sports full stop

Finally we mark your diaries with all of the key dates this season for our Minnesota Frost

Get in touch at [email protected] and check out our bonus episodes on the official George Hand YouTube channel

The Takeover Tour is back and its bigger than last year as this time 11 cities will get to play host to the best hockey league in the world as this time 16 games will be on the cardsMy fellow trio members asked me to be joined by some special friends but don't worry I make sure to get their thoughts on some of the stops on our tour this year

On Thursday November 6 2025 the PWHL reintroduced PWHL Vancouver & PWHL Seattle to the world revealing their name, logo and identity In this episode we take a more in depth look at the Seattle TorrentWatch their intro video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I3c5qNN2z0