MC's Take: We Can't Understate the Importance of Historic Rivalry Rematch

When I watched the Team USA win their first gold medal in 20 years after defeating Team Canada in a shootout at the 2018 Winter Olympics, I cried happy tears sitting alone in my apartment.
Four years later, as I was again sitting alone in my apartment prepping for my duties as rinkside reporter ahead of the Rivalry Rematch - a women's hockey game put on by the Penguins and Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, featuring some of the best hockey players in the world - I was overcome with those same emotions once again.

I just thought about what this game would have meant to me growing up as one of just two girls who played hockey in my hometown of Brownstown, Michigan. I was on boys' teams until I was 13, and while the positives far outweighed the negatives, there were definitely some pretty tough moments along the way. Like being isolated from the group while getting dressed in the women's bathroom or referee rooms, and dealing with parents and other players who didn't want a girl on their team, or the ice.
But my dad, Duane, told me about this player named Cammi Granato who also grew up playing on boys' teams, and eventually became the star of her high school team. He told me about how even though players targeted her because she was so much better than everyone else, she battled through it because she loved the game so much. Her story inspired me, and really helped keep me going through those difficult times.
I was ecstatic for the chance to watch Granato captain Team USA to victory at the 1998 Winter Olympics after everything I had heard from my dad, but after that… nothing. Despite all of the amazing growth in women's hockey, until this afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, there had never been a post-Olympic tour to capitalize on the momentum of the Games and showcase these elite players at the top of their games.
But today, just a short while removed from the second-most watched hockey game in the United States since 2019, these women were able to face off once again in front of a big crowd at PPG Paints Arena - in a matchup that was also televised locally on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, nationally on NHL Network, and throughout Canada on Sportsnet ONE.

Of course, the U.S. and Canada have played in many exhibition contests before. But not one like this, not one where that huge game is so fresh in everybody's minds. For me to have had an opportunity to watch my idol and the rest of her peers so soon after Nagano would have been monumental for a girl who was, and still is, so passionate about hockey, to the point where I've been lucky enough to make a career out of it.
To know that so many kids today got that opportunity with Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Amanda Kessel, Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse, the list goes on... it gives me goosebumps. We cannot understate the importance of visibility. I mean, seriously - how cool was it to see EVERY player from Team Canada name a female player when asked who their hockey hero was?!

"Today was pretty special," said Poulin, aka Captain Clutch, who scored in overtime to give Canada a 4-3 win. "With the momentum of the Olympics, having this game within two or three weeks of notice, that many people in the stands - I think that is just the start of something great. We believe in what we have. So just taking a look around and seeing how many little girls are there and wanting to be one of us, it's something I think we take a lot of pride in, and it's pretty awesome to be part of it."
I was stationed in the corner of the zone where Canada took warmups, and got set up right as the teams took the ice. I couldn't stop smiling watching all of the young girls who came down to get as close as possible to their idols. One kept yelling, "It's Women's History Month!", and Nurse, Team Canada's breakout star, tossed her a puck.
"It was awesome," said Blayre Turnbull, who opened the scoring for Canada. "I think that's the first thing we all noticed as soon as we stepped on. Fans were starting to fill the seats, and there were tons of kids on the glass with signs, asking for sticks and pucks. It felt like we were part of the NHL, part of a pro league, and it definitely gives you that sense that people are behind us and they want to support us."
As play began, let me tell you - I was blown away by the speed of the game. I mean, I expected it to be fast. But from my vantage point down at the event level, it actually felt on par with the NHL. That's how skilled these women are, and a testament to what can happen when they train together for months, like they did going into Beijing with their respective residency programs.
"It's great to get on the ice and show people who don't necessarily watch the Olympics or watch our game very often what we can do," Turnbull said.
I got the best of both worlds during the action, watching it live while listening to the consummate professional, AT&T SportsNet's Steve Mears, do play-by-play while two-time Olympic gold medalist for Canada, Cheryl Pounder, and Olympic gold and silver medalist for the U.S., A.J. Mleczko, provided commentary.
Not only did these accomplished women provide such incredible analysis of the game; Pounder and Mleczko also provided amazing insight into who these players are as people, as they understand how important personalities are in creating and growing the fanbase of any sport. And these girls have personalities in spades.
A perfect example of that is Olympic MVP Brianne Jenner, who led Canada with nine goals in seven games at the tournament, describing her team's identity as "business casual." The term itself is great, and the meaning behind it is even better.
"Like we always kind of show up at the rink, ready to do our job, but we're smiling and laughing and joking around the whole time. So it's this really nice mix," Jenner said.
It was so evident today. Like when the players walked in wearing Canadian tuxedos; or when Jenner squirted the legendary Cassie Campbell-Pascall, who was serving as guest coach behind Canada's bench, with water while she did an interview. Right away, Campell-Pascall jokingly yelled, "She's benched!"

It was just so awesome to be around. You know, these girls are tasked with the huge responsibility of being advocates and role models for women's hockey on a daily basis, but they never let it weigh them down, handling it all with smiles on their faces. They don't bat an eye when questions about growing the game are mixed in right along with questions about, "how did it feel to score that goal?" during an intermission interview.
But despite all of that, they clearly just have a blast doing what they love, and they are all really good at it, as an already fantastic product just keeps getting better and better. The game is in great hands with these women, and the future is incredibly bright, if today is any indication.
I could go on and on, but I won't. instead, I'll just wrap it up by saying that the support from every level of the Penguins organization made me so proud, starting with the players themselves. Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Tristan Jarry, Teddy Blueger and Mike Matheson all took in today's game from a suite. Head coach Mike Sullivan and president of hockey operations Brian Burke were also at the game (general manager Ron Hextall was out of town).
When I was collecting anecdotes earlier this week to use for the broadcast, I ended up talking with Crosby for about 20 minutes about women's hockey. He has so much respect for his peers, especially his fellow Canadian legend slash G.O.A.T., Marie-Philip Poulin.

They keep in touch over text, whether it's the World Championships, Olympics, milestone games or just in general, as the two of them have a good friendship. And after Pittsburgh's 5-2 win over Vegas last night, Poulin came down to the Penguins locker room for a photo opp with her gold medal and the chance to catch up with countrymen Crosby and Letang.
"Sid and Kris were the guys that kind of took us under their wings yesterday," Poulin said. "Being able to chit chat about what we're trying to do, I think they're really interested. They believe in what we have."
And so does the Penguins front office. Everyone on the business side put in a ton of work to make sure this event was a success, because we all wanted to do right by these women. There's too many people to name, but special stick taps to Penguins Director of Youth Hockey Shannon Webster, who produced a Herculean effort to put together two girls' youth hockey clinics with players from the U.S. and Canada the morning of the game; the entire Digital department, who went above and beyond to promote and cover this event on social media; and the Communications department, who did the same with the regular media.
"To have that visibility now in a big arena with fans that are extremely ecstatic about having us there with an organization and club that's equally as ecstatic about having us there - very, very exciting things all around," Knight said.