Episode 19 - Ottawa Upsets Boston, Detroit Joins the PWHL, NWSL Week 7, and WNBA Season 30 Is Here

In This Episode

• Ottawa knocks off top-seeded Boston in the PWHL semifinals despite being badly outshot, continuing a postseason where the lower seed has won every single series
• Detroit is officially announced as the PWHL’s ninth team, with Las Vegas, Hamilton, and San Jose reportedly next, and the entry draft set for June 17th
• Temwa Chawinga scores the first hat trick in Kansas City Current history, while Utah Royals extend the league’s most impressive defensive shutout streak
• WNBA Season 30 opens with rookie Olivia Miles posting a historic 20-point, 8-assist debut, only the fifth player ever to do so
• The Portland Fire draw more than 19,000 fans for a record-setting WNBA expansion team debut
• The league’s annual GM survey names Paige Bueckers as the overwhelming answer for which player to build a franchise around, with A’ja Wilson sweeping the individual skill categories and Olivia Miles the top Rookie of the Year pick before playing a game

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What a week. Ottawa knocked off the top-seeded Boston Fleet in four games despite being outshot 142-94 in the series. Minnesota and Montreal played some of the most dramatic hockey of the playoffs before illness postponed their Game 5. The PWHL officially announced Detroit as its ninth team. And somehow all of that happened before the WNBA tipped off Season 30, Temwa Chawinga scored the first hat trick in Kansas City Current history, and Utah quietly extended the most impressive defensive streak in the NWSL.

We caught a lot of it from a cabin on the North Shore of Minnesota, watching two iPads by a fire while the Frost won Game 4 on Saturday. That is the ideal setup for watching women’s sports, and we stand by it.

A lot moved this week. Here’s what you need to know.

PWHL Playoffs: Ottawa Stuns Boston, Minnesota-Montreal Goes Sideways

Ottawa’s series win over Boston might be the best story of this PWHL postseason. The Charge won nine regular season games. Boston won sixteen, nearly double. Boston outshot Ottawa by fifty shots over four games. And yet Ottawa won the series, in no small part because Gwyneth Phillips played like she was intent on winning Finals MVP two years in a row.

• Ottawa won Game 4 in double overtime on Sunday, eliminating Boston.
• Boston outshot Ottawa 142-94 for the series, with a double-digit shot advantage in every single game.
• A pivotal moment in the series: an Annika Mueller open-net attempt that slid harmlessly across the crease with the game on the line.
• Ottawa is the lower seed in every possible Walter Cup Final matchup, meaning they’ll start the next series on the road regardless of whether they face Minnesota or Montreal.
• This marks the fifth PWHL semifinal completed. The lower seed has won every single one.

“I called it that if Ottawa won a game in Boston, they would win the series. If they could sneak a win on their home ice, I just felt that if they could bring it back to Canadian Tire Center and play in front of their home crowd, that was going to be their series, and they did that.” — Caitlin

“Boston outshot Ottawa 142 to 94, and it was double digits in every game.” — Alex

The Minnesota-Montreal series deserved better scheduling, even if the hockey was genuinely great. Both teams played Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of the same week. Game 3 went to triple overtime. Then they had to turn around and play Game 4 less than 24 hours later, while Ottawa had a six-day rest during the same stretch. Game 5 was then postponed after illness swept through the Montreal Victoire locker room.

• Sydney Morin scored four goals in these playoffs. She had scored four goals in her entire professional career before this postseason.
• A Frost forward was suspended after a dirty hit in Game 1, which left Minnesota down a player during the triple-overtime marathon.
• Laura Stacey was penalized after going after Britt Curl after the whistle in Game 4. The resulting power play led directly to a Frost goal. The Frost went on to win.

“Player safety has to be at the top of the list. Even if it means we’ve got to stretch or extend or whatever, there has to be more consideration for that. We’re very fortunate that we’re not sitting here talking about a really serious injury.” — Caitlin

Game 5 is now rescheduled for Tuesday night in Montreal. Winner takes on Ottawa in the Walter Cup Final.

PWHL Expansion: Detroit Is In, Three More Cities Expected

Detroit officially became the PWHL’s ninth team this week, also landing the league’s entry draft on June 17th. Three more expansion cities are reportedly imminent, with current reporting pointing to Las Vegas, Hamilton (Ontario), and San Jose.

Washington D.C. and Denver were among cities that fell out of contention. In D.C.’s case, the NHL ownership group apparently wanted an equity stake in the team, which conflicts with the PWHL’s centralized ownership structure. Denver ran into similar complications.

• Vancouver is currently the only PWHL team that serves as the primary tenant of its arena. Every other team plays second fiddle to NHL scheduling.
• The PWHL evaluates expansion markets in part by whether direct flights are available from existing team cities, since teams fly commercial.
• The Bay Area made a strong case for San Jose: the Golden State Valkyries were recently valued at $850 million and drew around 15,000 fans to their WNBA home opener. Bay FC regularly sells out in the NWSL.

We also walked through a full mock expansion protection, going team-by-team on which three players each existing team would protect. Some picks we feel confident about:

• Minnesota Frost: Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, Kendall Cooper (a rookie defender who set records among defenders in scoring this season)
• Ottawa Charge: Gwyneth Phillips, Emily Clark, and a young forward who’s had a standout rookie season
• Boston Fleet: Aerin Frankel, Megan Keller, Annika Mueller
• Vancouver: Sarah Nurse, Ashton Bell, Claire Thompson
• Toronto: Renata Fast, Emma Maltais, Daryl Watts
• Montreal: Laura Stacey, Marie-Philip Poulin’s situation is complicated (she’s been injured and is toward the end of her career), and a third player the team may be torn about

The expansion process raises a real structural question. Six teams rotating through the same playoff picture is compelling hockey. It’s also an argument for distributing the talent pool a bit more so the competitive balance spreads with the league. We track every phase of expansion in our PWHL episode archive.

NWSL Week 7: A Hat Trick, a Shutout Streak, and the Banda Question

The biggest individual performance of the NWSL week came from Temwa Chawinga, who scored a hat trick in Kansas City’s 3-0 win over Chicago. It’s the first hat trick in Kansas City Current franchise history. Chawinga is a two-time Golden Boot winner who had been quiet early this season, and this felt like the floodgates opening.

• Portland fell 3-1 to Racing Louisville after entering the match on top of the table.
• Washington Spirit won again (fourth win in five games). Claudia Martinez, a Paraguayan international, scored for the second consecutive game. Trinity Rodman left early with what appeared to be an ankle issue.
• Utah Royals have not allowed a goal in six consecutive games, a stretch of more than 465 minutes. They have a couple of Japanese international midfielders who appear to be a significant factor in that defensive discipline.
• Gotham FC drew Boston 1-1 in New Jersey, in a game that drew over 11,000 fans after NYC Mayor Eric Adams partnered with the club on $5 tickets.
• San Diego took a late result from Angel City FC in the SoCal derby.
• Boston has now earned points in multiple consecutive games after a rough start.

“Utah has not allowed a goal in six consecutive games.” “465 minutes.” — Caitlin and Alex

Then there’s Barbara Banda and the Orlando Pride. Banda has eight of Orlando’s twelve goals on the season, running at essentially a goal-a-game pace. The question worth asking: how long can one player sustain that, what happens when defenses fully adjust, and what does the rest of that roster look like if she cools off?

“Banda is always going to find a goal, right? Right now, she’s proven to be kind of their sole threat. Teams know that, so they can game plan for that, but she scores anyway.” — Caitlin

Full weekly standings in our NWSL episode archive.

WNBA Season 30 Opens: Historic Debuts and Surprising Results

WNBA Season 30 is underway, and the opening weekend delivered. The highlight was Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles: 21 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in her debut. She became just the fifth player to record 20-plus points and 5-plus assists in a WNBA debut, joining Candace Parker, Tanya Edwards, Dawn Staley, and Cynthia Cooper.

“Fifth player to record 20 plus points and five plus assists in their WNBA debut, joining Candace Parker, Tanya Edwards, Dawn Staley and Cynthia Cooper. That’s your first game.” — Alex

The Lynx still lost by a point to the Atlanta Dream despite leading 52-37 at halftime. Two Lynx starters fouled out late, a developmental roster player had to close out the game, and Angel Reese had multiple momentum-shifting moments for Atlanta in the second half.

A few other things from the opening weekend:

• The Golden State Valkyries and New York Liberty were the only two teams to win both of their opening games.
• Las Vegas Aces lost by more than 30 points to the Phoenix Mercury on the same night they received their championship rings. They bounced back with a blowout win over the Sparks the next day.
• Azzi Fudd, the top overall pick in this year’s draft, had 3 points in 18 minutes off the bench for Dallas. That’s the fewest points by a No. 1 overall pick in a WNBA debut in 20 seasons. Worth the context: Dallas is deep. Paige Bueckers, Odyssey Sims, and Arike Ogunbowale combined for 62 points in the same game.
• Kate Martin was waived by the Golden State Valkyries. She had originally been drafted without expecting her name to be called, and ended up landing with the LA Sparks on a developmental roster spot.
• Connecticut Sun started 0-2, in the middle of a relocation and what sounds like a complicated locker room situation.

The annual GM survey was also released at the start of the season. On the question of which player GMs would want to build a franchise around, Paige Bueckers was the overwhelming answer.

“The overwhelming answer to that question is Paige Bueckers. And I got to say, I agree.” — Caitlin

A’ja Wilson dominated the individual skill categories across the board: best player who forces coaching adjustments, best forward, best center. Chelsea Gray was named best point guard. Olivia Miles was the top Rookie of the Year pick even before she’d played a single professional game. We’ll be covering every week of Season 30 in our WNBA episode archive.

Women’s Sports Headlines Worth Your Time

A few things from the broader week that deserve attention:

• The Portland Fire set a WNBA inaugural game attendance record with more than 19,000 fans, which also apparently ranks as the second-largest home opener in WNBA history overall.
• Kwanzaa Jones is reportedly set to become MLB’s first Black female majority owner with a $3.9 billion deal for the San Diego Padres. The MLB board of governors votes in June.
• Marie-Louise Eta won her first match as manager of Union Berlin in the Bundesliga, a 3-1 result. She’s the first woman to win a match as manager of a men’s team in any of Europe’s top five leagues. She took over mid-April and appears to be building something.
• LOVB (League One Volleyball) finished its second season with 7.5 million viewers for its USA Network match of the week, a 113% increase from year one. The league is expanding from six to nine teams next season.
• Rachel Entriken won the Cocodona 250 (a 250-plus mile ultra marathon) outright, meaning she beat the entire combined men’s and women’s field, and set an all-time course record with a time of 56 hours.
• Upshot League, a new women’s basketball format backed by Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Miller, and Anne Meyers Drysdale, announced it had raised $40 million and planned to launch within nine days. The exact format was unclear at the time of recording.
• The NCAA’s University of Georgia women’s soccer team will play a match in Sanford Stadium in an attempt to break the all-time NCAA soccer game attendance record (men’s or women’s), currently set at around 22,000 from 1980.
• Georgia’s game follows a pattern: Nebraska volleyball famously played in Memorial Stadium a few years back and set records. The trend of moving women’s college sports into larger football venues is worth watching.

What We’re Watching This Weekend

A few games worth your time this weekend:

• Las Vegas Aces vs. Atlanta Dream, Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Central on Peacock. Angel Reese’s home debut at State Farm Arena.
• Seattle Storm vs. Indiana Fever, Sunday at 6 p.m. on Peacock. Fever are 0-1 and need a response.
• Kansas City Current vs. Houston Dash, Friday at 7 p.m. on Prime. Kansas City is surging; Houston has been sliding.
• Portland Thorns vs. Angel City FC, Sunday at 5 p.m. Central on ESPN2.
• Utah Royals vs. Racing Louisville, Sunday at 7 p.m. on NWSL+. The shutout streak is the thing to watch.
• Women’s Elite Rugby: Boston Banshees vs. Denver Onyx (Saturday, 4 p.m. Central), New York Exiles vs. Chicago Tempest (Sunday, 1 p.m. Central), Twin City Gemini vs. Bay Breakers (Sunday, 4 p.m. Central). All on Women’s Sports Network. We’re finally tuning in this weekend.

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The PWHL is the story of the moment. The low seed winning every single semifinal is either a sign of how competitive this league has become or a preview of what expansion will do when it distributes the talent further. Most likely both.

Game 5 between Minnesota and Montreal is Tuesday night in Montreal. Ottawa rests. WNBA games are rolling all week. And whatever Utah is doing on defense right now, it’s worth watching until someone finally breaks through.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or read our newsletter on Substack.

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Full Transcript

Intro & Favorite Thing

Caitlin: I mean, we’re talking about a team that won nine games in the regular season to Boston’s 16, but they almost doubled them up in wins. Hi, I’m Caitlin.

Alex: Hi, I’m Alex.

Caitlin: And this is Raising the Game, a women’s sports podcast covering primetime performers, the business behind the athletes and the leagues, and what the growth of women’s sports means for the next generation of women’s athletes.

Alex: We’re back, Episode 19. We have a lot of developments in the PWHL to talk about. We have a rundown of NWSL match week seven. And our first weekend of WNBA is over and we’ve got some results to talk about.

Caitlin: Yeah, it’s interesting right now, with the overlap between the three major leagues here in the States. There’s a lot going on.

Alex: Yeah, for sure. I think the other hard part is that our men’s teams are also in the playoffs, and it’s just nonstop sports every single night here.

Caitlin: Before we get into headlines, do you want to do a favorite thing?

Alex: Let’s do it.

Caitlin: Alex and I were able to get away this past weekend. We went up to the North Shore, past Duluth in Minnesota. One of the nights we were sitting around a fire with two iPads up watching the PWHL playoffs. I was going to save you time on Favorite Thing because that’s what I had as mine too.

Alex: That was my favorite thing too.

Caitlin: It was really fun, just to be able to enjoy that while being away outside. And it was great hockey. The next night we were skipping around the cabin because the Frost had to play two games in a row.

Alex: That’s right.

Caitlin: And then all the Mother’s Day stuff was so cute. Shout out to Alex Morgan, who announced her pregnancy with her third baby. And then Gigi’s mom just needs to stop putting Gigi on social media, because I just love her so much.

Alex: And she scores every time.

Caitlin: She does score. I’m repping the Portland Thorns gear tonight. All right, should we jump into these headlines?

Alex: Let’s do it.

Headlines

Alex: Kind of breaking news this afternoon: PWHL Playoff Game 5 has been postponed due to illness on the Montreal Victoire.

Caitlin: Yeah, we were supposed to be watching the end of that or potentially watching it while we were filming this. We learned around three o’clock central time that there’s some illness outbreak. They’ve assured everyone it’s not an antiviral situation, so that’s good. Sounds like maybe a norovirus or something, because it clearly affected a lot of the locker room.

Alex: Ottawa Charge eliminate Boston Fleet and will play the winner of the Montreal-Minnesota game in the Walter Cup Final.

Caitlin: We’ll talk more about this in a couple of minutes.

Alex: Big day in Hockey Town USA, otherwise known as Detroit, with PWHL Detroit announced.

Caitlin: Detroit not only got the new team, which was kind of top of our list from a prediction perspective, but they’ll also host the entry draft on June 17th. The PWHL is starting to capitalize on what are the things outside of the actual hockey games that can create some momentum. And other announcements are imminent.

Alex: WNBA Season 30 gets underway, featuring some greedy games, impressive rookie performances, and some surprise outcomes.

Caitlin: For me, the Vegas Aces getting blown out by over 30 points in Game 1 was surprising. The Mystics were surprising. You had Olivia Miles dropping 20-plus points for the Lynx. Good start to the season.

Alex: Portland Fire set inaugural game attendance record with 19,000-plus.

Caitlin: Their new basketball team did things right. This was also the second largest home opener in history, not just for an inaugural season game. They got the fans there.

Alex: The WNBA announces a historic multi-year agreement with Bell Media, making the Canadian media company the official partner of the Toronto Tempo.

Caitlin: They’ll broadcast other regular season games too, not just Tempo games. Plus they’ll do the All-Star game, playoffs, and the draft this year in Canada. Canada knows what’s up. They do those broadcast deals right away.

Alex: Upshot League, a startup women’s basketball product, announces it’s already raised $40 million.

Caitlin: I gotta confess, I meant to look up what this means. This is backed by Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Miller, and Anne Meyers Drysdale, so I assume it’s going to be another format of league. Think Unrivaled, Athletes Unlimited, Project 8, things like that. It apparently kicks off in nine days. We have some research to do before we can speak confidently.

Alex: NWSL match week seven delivers excitement and plenty of table movement, with Kansas City surging behind Temwa Chawinga’s hat trick, Portland’s loss, and Utah’s absolute inability to allow a goal.

Caitlin: Utah just can’t let anyone score. We’ve got some stats later. Boston has had points in their last three games. Washington won again, although Trinity may have left with a little knock, so we’ll be watching that.

Alex: New York City Mayor Adams partnered with Gotham FC to provide affordable $5 tickets to their home match against Boston.

Caitlin: They ended up with over 11,000 fans there. Mayor Adams was talking about how soccer is the working person’s game, and it’s unfortunate that people get priced out. So he wanted to bring back that accessibility. Emma Hayes has been doing this NWSL tour, finishing in New Jersey at this game. And Gotham is set to potentially break their single-game attendance record at the Met Stadium against the Spirit in mid-July. They announced 16,000 tickets already sold.

Alex: In NCAA women’s soccer, the University of Georgia announced its women’s soccer team will play a match in the football stadium.

Caitlin: Sanford Stadium. They’re hoping to break the all-time NCAA soccer game attendance record, men’s or women’s. The women’s record was set in 1999, a little over 14,000. The men’s was about 22,500 in 1980. It’s one of the first times that soccer is being moved at the NCAA level to a larger venue. We saw this happen with Nebraska volleyball playing in the football stadium.

Alex: Volleyball is on the rise. LOVB sets records in its second season with 7.5 million viewers watching the USA Network match of the week, and a quarter million tuning in for the championship match between Austin and Salt Lake.

Caitlin: About a 113% increase in viewership from 2025. LOVB will expand next season from six teams to nine, and I do believe we’re getting a Minneapolis team.

Alex: The Big Ten conference announces it will play its first ever conference tournament in volleyball in November.

Caitlin: Hosted in Indiana. The winner gets an automatic bid to the overall NCAA tournament. I was actually unaware that there weren’t conference tournaments for volleyball. Women’s volleyball is going to be the next thing to really pop here.

Alex: Nebraska, SMU, Penn State, and Florida announced they’ll compete in a tournament at AT&T Stadium in Dallas for a chance to win $1 million in August.

Caitlin: Just more opportunity for fans to go watch these incredible athletes play. There’s also Major League Volleyball that we need to spend more time learning about.

Alex: Kwanzaa Jones iis set to become MLB’s first Black female majority owner with a $3.9 billion Padres deal.

Caitlin: The vote among the MLB board of governors comes in June, so it’s not set in stone, but this would be incredible from a representation perspective. And this would be the highest sale of an MLB franchise ever.

Alex: Marie-Louise Eta makes history as the first woman to win a match as manager of a men’s team in one of Europe’s top five leagues, a 3-1 victory for her Union Berlin club in the Bundesliga.

Caitlin: This is so cool. She took over in mid-April for Union Berlin. She’s had four points in her last four games. She’s on a two-game unbeaten streak. Getting this result as a woman in that role, in one of these leagues, you just wonder: she’s the first. I don’t think she’ll be the last.

Caitlin: And Rachel Entriken won the Cocodona 250, which is a 250-plus mile ultra marathon. She ran it in 56 hours. She beat the field outright, men and women, and set an all-time record. Women can do anything.

Alex: You’re not going to get me near that race.

Caitlin: Be lucky if I can get you to go 250 meters.

PWHL Playoffs Deep Dive

Ottawa Eliminates Boston

Alex: Like we said, we’ve got a lot going on in the PWHL. Let’s kick off with playoff results to date.

Caitlin: We’ll start with the Ottawa-Boston series. That one’s wrapped up. It ended on Sunday. Ottawa won Game 4 in double overtime. This series was so gritty and physical. Ottawa just made it a knock-down, drag-out. They did not let Boston play the kind of hockey they wanted to play.

I called it that if Ottawa won a game in Boston, they would win the series. If they could sneak a win on their home ice, I just felt if they could bring it back to Canadian Tire Center and play in front of their home crowd, that was going to be their series, and they did that. Boston pushed them and challenged them, but it was close games all the way. We’re talking about a team that won nine games in the regular season to Boston’s 16. They almost doubled them up in wins. And Boston, to their credit, looked so good all season long. Their loss in this series comes down to a couple of things, including Aerin Frankel’s mistake in Game 3 that allowed a goal, and just minor puck luck things that didn’t go their way.

Alex: Boston outshot Ottawa 142 to 94, and it was double digits in every game.

Caitlin: That’s 50 more shots. And Gwyneth Phillips saved most of that, basically. She stands on her head. I watched her against the Frost in the championship series last year. She won Walter Cup Finals MVP. And she seems even better right now. She’s reading the puck really well.

Alex: The other interesting thing is that this is the fifth PWHL semifinal that’s been completed. The low seed has won every time.

Caitlin: Every single time. And if Minnesota wins against Montreal, it’ll be six out of six. I think too, as a fan who likes to watch the sport, this is also an argument for expansion. You need those expansion teams to also be good. You need that rotation. I can understand the frustration of fans who don’t want Minnesota to three-peat. But I can appreciate the fact that any of those four teams can win on any given night.

Alex: The expansion will help distribute the talent a little bit and get a bit more parity around the league.

Caitlin: Gwyneth Phillips, Aaron Frankel was also incredible for Boston. And Annika Mueller is going to have nightmares about that open-net chance that slid right across the crease behind Phillips.

Alex: Anyone looking at that net would think that was an easy finish. The entire stadium thought the game was over.

Caitlin: Ottawa now gets to rest. They’re the low seed no matter who they play, so they’ll go on the road to start the next series, which we assume starts end of the week.

Minnesota-Montreal: Drama, Chaos, and a Postponement

Alex: I’m still kind of hung up on the illness tonight and the game being postponed. There’s been people on social media saying they should just forfeit. Minnesota is already so hated. I don’t want them to get in on a technicality. But I thought both games in the series were really fun. I have this vision of us dancing around the cabin on Saturday night when they won Game 4.

Caitlin: Sydney Morin, she’s captain clutch for us. She’s scored four goals so far in the playoffs. Prior to this, she had scored four goals her entire professional career.

Alex: The other thing about this series is that it kind of deserved better. We had great moments throughout: Moran doing that, the Stacey hat trick, just things like that were really great. But then we have the back-to-back games, which is not necessarily the PWHL’s fault, but it’s something to think about as they expand. A lot of these teams will play in NHL arenas and they are going to get second choice on schedule every single time. They had back-to-back nights and then a few days later, while Ottawa and Boston had a six-day break.

Caitlin: They played Thursday and Friday night. They also played Tuesday night. So they were saying they’d play three games in four days. Then Tuesday night’s game went to triple overtime. So they basically played an entire extra game. You’ve got players playing a game a day, with travel mixed in. Player safety has to be at the top of the list. Even if it means we’ve got to stretch or extend or whatever, there has to be more consideration for that. We’re very fortunate that we’re not sitting here talking about a really serious injury.

Alex: I imagine some PWHL executives were shaking Friday night thinking, what if this goes to triple overtime too, and then they’ve got to turn around and play 18 hours later?

Caitlin: In a weird way, the postponement tonight is a little bit of a blessing in disguise for the Frost, because they get an extra 24 hours to rest. When they start to talk about the CBA in a few years, they’ll point back to this.

We also saw some discipline issues in this series. One of the Frost forwards got suspended for a dirty hit in Game 1, which left Minnesota down a forward in that triple-overtime game. And Laura Stacey lost a moment of discipline when she went after Britt Curl after the whistle in Game 4. That created a power play, which created a goal for the Frost that they ultimately won on. There’s such a fine line between leadership and passion being a positive force and it becoming a problematic force.

Alex: There were things she could have done after the whistle to show her team she had their back without giving up a penalty.

Caitlin: Curl has figured out how to use the dislike people have for her to create benefit for her team. As a leader, you have to recognize that’s what’s happening and leave it alone, or hit her legally in the run of play.

PWHL Expansion & Mock Draft

Expansion Cities and League Structure

Alex: Should we talk expansion?

Caitlin: Yeah. Detroit has been named as the ninth team. We’re expecting three more to be announced. The speculation right now is Las Vegas, which was a surprise to us a couple of weeks back but makes more sense now. Hamilton in Canada, which adds another Eastern time zone team right next to Buffalo and Toronto. And San Jose.

Alex: They have an NHL team, so the infrastructure is there.

Caitlin: The Bay Area loves their women’s sports. We’ll talk about the Valkyries in the WNBA section, but they had about 15,000 people at their home opener. They were just valued at $850 million, potentially on their way to being one of the first women’s franchises to crest a billion dollars in valuation. Bay FC has been regularly selling out in the NWSL. I think they looked at it and said this is a really strong market for women’s sports.

Alex: Washington D.C. was one we had called. I saw something today about how the NHL owners there wanted something different than what the PWHL was offering. They wanted some sort of stake versus the PWHL’s centralized organization structure.

Caitlin: That was the issue in Denver as well. Some of the NHL owner groups are either wanting a slice of the pie or are giving unfavorable scheduling deals. Right now, the Walter Group wants to maintain full ownership of the league. Vancouver is actually the only primary tenant, and so they’re the model the PWHL would love to have, but that’s not feasible when you need the infrastructure already built out.

One other factor I read about: the capacity for direct flights. PWHL teams fly commercial economy. So they look at where they can get direct flights from where the existing teams are, which limits the scope.

Alex: That’s an interesting thought. I never thought about it that way.

Caitlin: There’s an announcement reportedly pending Wednesday. I partially wonder if we’re going to get one every Wednesday until they’ve announced all four. That would line up nicely with the draft.

Mock Expansion Draft: Protected Players

Alex: Let’s talk about our mock expansion process. A reminder of how this works: each existing team gets to protect three players. Each expansion team gets a 20-person exclusive negotiation target list. We’ve gone through phase one, our protected player picks for each team.

Caitlin: We’re going in reverse order. Starting with Vancouver, we said they would protect Sarah Nurse, Ashton Bell, and Claire Thompson. Bell, Thompson, and Nurse are all part of their captain core. We felt maintaining a level of leadership experience within these teams as you’re protecting is important.

Alex: Seattle: Alex Carpenter, Anna Bilka, and Kayla Barnes.

Caitlin: All three are Team USA Olympians, gold medalists.

Moving to New York: Sarah Fillier, Micah Zander-Hart, and Casey O’Brien. It was really interesting looking at the different rosters. I recognize names from the Olympics. New York was a team where I know Fillier, and that was kind of it.

Alex: Toronto: Renata Fast, Emma Maltais, and Daryl Watts.

Caitlin: A bunch of Canadian Olympians. Fast is an assistant captain. Some more experienced players, but you’ve got leadership.

Alex: Ottawa: Gwyneth Phillips, Emily Clark, and a third we had some thought on.

Caitlin: This was actually hard. There were a lot of players I thought they could have gone with. But Phillips is a lock. Ottawa also has a rookie who’s had an incredible season in strong scoring form. Those are going to be names you’ll hear if you watch the final series.

Alex: Minnesota: Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, and Kendall Cooper.

Caitlin: Heise and Pannek seem like locks, some leadership and scoring. Kendall Cooper is a rookie this year, a defender who led all defenders in scoring or set some records along those lines. That felt like a really good place to start building a longer-term defensive core around. Lexi Bleyenberg, is great, but she’s a little on the older side.

Alex: Boston: Aerin Frankel, Megan Keller, and Annika Mueller.

Caitlin: Frankel is arguably the best goaltender in the PWHL. Her coach has already said she’s not going anywhere. Keller, they’ll protect her at all costs. And Mueller has led them in scoring for the last couple of seasons.

Alex: Montreal: we went with Laura Stacey, Marie-Philip Poulin’s situation is complicated…

Caitlin: Montreal was tough. They’re actually one of the older teams on paper. I don’t see them protecting Marie-Philip Poulin. She’s had injuries this year and is toward the end of her playing career. Now what’s difficult is that Stacey is Poulin’s wife and Poulin is the captain. So I feel like that could create some interesting dynamics. They’ve got options: Hailey Scamurra, Abby Rock, Katie Tabin, Kat Dubois. Montreal and Minnesota were the trickiest ones to pin down.

Those are our protected players. You have it recorded, locked in time. We’ll either be really right or extremely wrong.

We’re going to spend some time in future episodes talking through the exclusive negotiation target list, which players receive those top-tier offers, and the foundational player concept. Right now, we’re mostly looking forward to Game 5, which was rescheduled to tomorrow night, six p.m. central, still in Montreal. Winner take all to play Ottawa.

NWSL Week 7

Alex: Alright, enough PWHL for now. Moving on to NWSL week seven results.

Caitlin: Portland lost to Racing Louisville, which came in on more than two losses in a row. They lost 3-1. Sophia Wilson did score a genius goal on a wicked service from Olivia Moultrie.

Washington wins again. This was a close game. Claudia Martinez, the Paraguayan international, scored for the second game in a row to win it 1-0. I think it’s their fourth win in five games, and they outscored opponents 14 to 6 in that stretch. This was the first game in a while where Trinity didn’t have a goal contribution, probably mostly because she left the game early. We’ll be watching that injury report. It appeared to be just an ankle thing, not her back or her knee.

Alex: Kansas City had four or five wins now, right? They’re in sixth on the table.

Caitlin: Things are clicking. They are undefeated at home and have four losses on the road. Temwa Chawinga, who won the Golden Boot the last two years, scored a hat trick. It’s the first hat trick in Kansas City Current history, and they won 3-0 over Chicago.

Alex: What was Chicago’s coach situation?

Caitlin: Chris Armas. You said a few weeks ago while we were watching a game that he might lose his job. And Chicago is just kind of a guaranteed win on the schedule right now.

The Houston Dash are dropping on the table. They most recently tied Utah. They’ve had three first-half goals all season, which is not good. You’ve got to learn how to score early.

Boston drew Gotham in New Jersey, 1-1. They’re coming off a win in their last game. Barbara Banda is running at a goal-a-game clip right now, looking in fine form coming off a season-ending injury last year.

San Diego steals a result from Angel City in the SoCal derby. It was a beautiful goal late in the game.

Utah has not allowed a goal in six consecutive games.

Alex: 465 minutes.

Caitlin: It’s crazy. I don’t really know why, but I think they’re just really disciplined. They have a couple of Japanese international players in their midfield.

Alex: That might be the secret sauce.

Can Barbara Banda Carry Orlando Alone?

Alex: Can Barbara Banda alone keep Orlando in the discussion? She’s on pace for a goal a game. She’s got eight of Orlando’s 12 goals. Not this last game, but the two games before that, she had a brace in each game. How does a coach elevate the players around someone like this? Is this a roster issue, a coaching issue? She came in to help carry this team, but what she’s doing is kind of holding it all together.

Caitlin: Banda is always going to find a goal right now because she’s proven to be kind of their sole threat. Teams know that, so they can game plan for that, but she scores anyway. What you have to be thinking about as a coach is: how do I exploit that? Knowing teams will cover her, and she’s still going to get chances that more than likely are going to go in, what attention does that pull from other spaces on the field? And how do you talk to those players about stepping into those open spaces?

The other thing I’d examine is the defense. What is going on that they’re giving up more goals than they’re scoring? Is it a goalkeeper issue? Is it a personnel issue? Is it execution?

Alex: Those are my questions. This might be one of our reverse hexes where the team starts playing around her after this moment.

Caitlin: You heard it, Pride. Get out there.

WNBA Season 30 Opening Weekend

Alex: Let’s talk about this WNBA opening weekend.

Caitlin: The drama already is crazy. Don’t go on WNBA threads. Natasha Heidemann, our Lynx player, was calling out the fans being mean. I would not recommend it. You either hate Caitlin Clark or you love Caitlin Clark. There is no middle ground on Threads.

Alex: Just like PWHL Threads: you either hate Minnesota or you love Minnesota.

Caitlin: Alright, doing a little roundup. Some teams have played two games at this stage, some have only played one. Liberty and the Valkyries were the only two teams to come out with two wins. The Valkyries actually had stronger wins. Liberty ended up going to overtime against the Mystics.

Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas each started with a win apiece. Paige looks great. She put on like 15 pounds of muscle in the off-season and seems to be using that to her advantage. She’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this year.

The Lynx played the Dream. We blew a 19-point lead and ended up losing by one. Angel Reese had a couple of moments where she just pulled the momentum of the game toward her.

Split results over the weekend for the Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Washington Mystics, and Seattle Storm. The biggest surprise by far was the Aces losing to Phoenix.

Alex: That was on their ring night. They were getting their championship rings. They lost by 30.

Caitlin: They got owned by some European talent from Phoenix, and it was a blowout for the defending champs. Chelsea Gray did not have her best game. Then the Mystics won a game and lost a game. Their loss was overtime to the Liberty.

Lynx, Fever, Tempo, Fire, and Sparks all dropped their first and only game. Olivia Miles looked fantastic for the Lynx. The Connecticut Sun started 0-2, the only team with two losses and no wins. They brought in Bridget Williams, and Brittney Griner signed there. They’re in a weird space, moving and in a complicated situation.

The WNBA GM Survey

Caitlin: I want to talk about the GM survey that came out. Every year at the start of the season, GMs are asked questions about players and teams. This year, the starting question was: which player would you pick if you were starting a franchise?

The overwhelming answer was Paige Bueckers. And I got to say, I agree.

Alex: If Paige isn’t in the conversation, I would say A’ja Wilson. It’s so funny that they came from the same college system. Both are so well-spoken, phenomenal players, and they come off the court as the perfect athletes.

Caitlin: Following Bueckers in the voting: Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, and then Dominique Malonga, which was a little surprising. GMs overwhelmingly chose the Aces to win the championship, followed by the Liberty and the Dream. For MVP, A’ja Wilson would make it an uber-record at five times in a row. Stewie followed her in that voting.

Best point guard: Chelsea Gray, followed by Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers. Best shooting guard: Jackie Young, followed by Paige Bueckers. She’s a point guard, she’s a shooting guard, she’s doing it all.

Best forward: A’ja Wilson, Phee, and Stewie. Best center: A’ja Wilson, who also plays multiple positions apparently, followed by Jonquel Jones, Aliyah Boston, and Brianna Jones.

The table tilts toward Las Vegas from a GM perspective. What are the chinks in the Aces’ armor? They were very exposed in game one. How does Becky Hammon and her coaching staff adjust?

Rookie Watch: Olivia Miles and Azzi Fudd

Alex: I want to talk about the rookie class. Olivia Miles and Azzi Fudd specifically.

Big caveat: it’s super way too early, one-game analysis here. Olivia Miles: first game, 21 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Fifth player to record 20-plus points and 5-plus assists in their WNBA debut, joining Candace Parker, Tanya Edwards, Dawn Staley, and Cynthia Cooper.

Caitlin: That’s some good company. That’s your first game.

Alex: Now, Azzi Fudd’s stat line: 3 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Fewest points by a number one overall pick in their WNBA debut in 20 seasons. But, Dallas is deep. Paige Bueckers, Odyssey Sims, and Erika Ogwumike combined for 62 points. They didn’t need Azzi to do anything. She can learn and grow.

Caitlin: How does she fit into a system when you have veteran leadership in Odyssey Sims, Paige who’s in her second season, and Erika Ogwumike, who’s been a scorer for a while? Dallas is deep. If one isn’t playing well, you’ve got next woman up. That stat line doesn’t speak to intangibles or defense. Was she at least bringing those things to the court?

Raven Johnson for the Fever is going to be their primary use on defense and maybe some ball handling. They’re not looking to her to score right now.

Alex: Miles is someone that, whether you like the Lynx or not, you had them too low. They only lost by a point against Atlanta. Miles had a phenomenal pass late and just didn’t get the layup.

Caitlin: That game was a little weird too. We had two of our bigs, Emma Shechekova and Natasha Howard, foul out at the end. We had a developmental roster player coming onto the court at the end because we had no one, and Fee is out with injury. Olivia Miles adds a dynamism to that team and frees Courtney Williams up to play her natural position at shooting guard.

Alex: Even Courtney said that at the post-game.

Caitlin: She was like, I get to play my position now. I love Courtney Williams.

What to Watch This Weekend

Alex: What to watch this weekend? Sunday, May 17th at 1:30 p.m. Central on Peacock: Las Vegas versus Atlanta. This is Angel Reese’s home debut at State Farm Arena.

Caitlin: The Aces turned around and did a blowout win over the Sparks on Sunday after their big loss. So they can bounce back.

Alex: We also heard the Sparks signed Kate Martin. Then we’ve got Seattle Storm versus Indiana Fever, Sunday, May 17th at 6 p.m. on Peacock. Fever looking at 0-1, need to respond.

Caitlin: Flagg went too small on Brittney Griner.

Alex: She did the “too small” gesture to Cunningham, but Griner is a bajillion feet tall and Flagg was trying to say you’re too small when Griner is the one who’s too big.

Alex: NWSL: Kansas City Current versus Houston Dash, Friday at 7 p.m. on Prime. Kansas City is climbing the table. Houston’s been sliding.

Caitlin: Geez, that’s a good one.

Alex: Portland Thorns versus Angel City FC, Sunday, May 17th at 5 p.m. Central on ESPN2. Portland is the table leader coming off that loss. Angel City has struggled, but I’d never count them out.

Utah Royals versus Racing Louisville, Sunday at 7 p.m. on NWSL Plus. 465-plus minutes without allowing a goal for Utah.

Caitlin: I want to watch how long they can keep that streak going. I’m going to look up what the longest shutout streak is.

Alex: I saw the stat today. It was either high fives or low sixes in terms of consecutive games. They could get there in a game or two.

PWHL: waiting on the Minnesota-Montreal game, which is Tuesday. Then probably a Friday-Sunday start to the Walter Cup Final.

And last up, Women’s Elite Rugby on the Women’s Sports Network. Boston Banshees versus Denver Onyx, Saturday at 4 Central. New York Exiles versus Chicago Tempest, Sunday at 1 p.m. Central. And Twin City Gemini versus Bay Breakers, Sunday at 4 Central.

Caitlin: We are going to finally tune in this weekend.

Winners and Losers

Alex: Winners and losers. Who’s your loser?

Caitlin: There’s a lot of losers. The illness flowing through the Montreal team, that’s a loser no matter how you slice it. The Valkyries waiving Kate Martin is a real big loss. The fan base was shocked. We know they’re trying to build a team that wins games and she just wasn’t the right ingredient. But she was a long shot to get drafted. She was in the crowd at the draft supporting Caitlin Clark, not expecting to hear her name called. She landed on the Sparks developmental roster. She just seems like somebody you would want in your program, but it was really heartbreaking.

And as this WNBA season goes on, the online fandom is a little wild. It’s hard to avoid, and this is probably our third or fourth episode in a row where we’ve called out Threads as a little toxic.

I also continue to be a little perplexed by how Caitlin Clark shows up on the court. There were a few moments in the Wings-Fever game where she just seems to think she should get calls whenever she wants calls. Kate Martin is someone you really want on your team. I keep waiting for Clark to show me she’s a teammate and a person you want on your team, and she just doesn’t show it.

Alex: My loser was the PWHL scheduling. The whole infrastructure issue where they’re going to be second fiddle to the NHL unless they figure out the venue ownership question. Vancouver being the only primary tenant is the model the PWHL would love to have everywhere.

Caitlin: Yeah, good place to start. Vancouver is actually the only primary tenant, and so they’re actually the model, but it’s just not feasible with the infrastructure needs.

Alex: Winners: Ottawa Charge and the city of Detroit. Ottawa being the underdog and beating Boston in that series was a fun story. And Detroit deserves a team. They are hockey town.

Caitlin: The Frost win in Game 4 is my winner too. They will not go away. And I’m really excited that the WNBA’s back. A ton of games flying around over the weekend, good energy, good attendance. Most of the games I saw footage of had a lot of people there. The refereeing still has some inconsistencies, but the energy around this season is really, really great.

Alex: You can find us on Instagram at RTG underscore pod, and the ever-so-toxic Threads. Also rtgpod.com, Substack at raisingthegamepodcast, and raisingthegamepod at gmail.com.

Caitlin: Come back and join us next week. We appreciate y’all being here. Talk soon. Bye!