In this episode of Checking the Box, Eleni and Mike dissect the 2025 PWHL Draft, which they both believe should be renamed the PWHL Entry Draft, and talk about the three blockbuster trades that stole headlines on draft day. Our hosts also discuss what happens after a player is drafted, what it means to go undrafted, and some other key events from the draft itself, including the Ottawa Charge selecting two players from the Russian national team.

Checking the Box is co-hosted by player agent and partner of Cook Stark Hockey, Eleni Demestihas and The Ice Garden Managing Editor and owner, Mike Murphy. Checking the Box will be a monthly (roughly) PWHL and pro women's hockey-centric pod offering unique perspectives from behind the glow of a laptop screen and the agent's desk.

Welcome back to Purple Posts, a podcast about the memorable, funny, and sometimes just strange moments in the history of women’s hockey. On this episode, host LJ is joined by Elisha Côté, TIG’s Ottawa Charge beat writer, to talk about the Ottawa Alerts, an early 20th-century women’s hockey team in Canada’s Capital Region, with some diversions into what it would be like to play hockey in a skirt, why Ottawa has a bad track record with sports team names, and trying to solve the mystery of a trophy’s namesake dentist.

Sources for this episode include:

• https://todayinottawashistory.wordpress.com/2022/03/12/the-ottawa-alerts/
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-alert-a-tribute-to-women-who-helped-break-the-ice-a-century-ago-1.7015481
• https://teams.geegees.ca/tradition/alertscup
• https://hockeygods.com/images/22333-Ottawa_Alerts_1923_LOHA_Champions___Women_s_Ice_Hockey_History
• https://thehockeynews.com/womens/other-news/ottawa-swept-first-international-womens-hockey-series
• https://ottawatourism.ca/en/connect-ottawa/evolution-ottawas-professional-womens-hockey-league
• https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/past-presentations/women-on-ice-ottawa-s-own
• 
  

If you like the show, please subscribe and leave us a five-star review. You can also follow The Ice Garden and become a paid subscriber today at https://www.theicegarden.com/#/portal/signup.

Intro and outro music: Modestly Rude by Jhovanny Fontanez © copyright 2009. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Nobuo3000/19015

Mike from The Ice Garden is joined by Eleni, a player agent at Cook Stark Hockey, to break down the PWHL’s first-ever expansion with the addition of Seattle and Vancouver. From navigating the exclusive signing period to preparing for the expansion draft on Monday evening, they dive into what this historic offseason looks like from the perspective of a women’s hockey agent.

Checking the Box is co-hosted by player agent and partner of Cook Stark Hockey, Eleni Demestihas and The Ice Garden Managing Editor and owner, Mike Murphy. Checking the Box will be a monthly (roughly) PWHL and pro women's hockey-centric pod offering unique perspectives from behind the glow of a laptop screen and the agent's desk.

Follow the Ice Garden and become a paid subscriber today at ⁠https://www.theicegarden.com/#/portal/signup⁠⁠