The Professional Women’s Hockey League is finally here! A ceremonial puck drop from none other than tennis legend and activist Billie Jean King got the inaugural game going, where visitors New York beat Toronto 4-0. Ella Shelton got the league’s first goal, while goaltender Corinne Shroeder proved herself with a convincing shutout performance. Both players’ sticks will be installed in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
None of the teams have real names or logos yet, and they probably won’t until next season. The absence was deemed acceptable to allow players the chance to start as quickly as possible. Women’s hockey leagues have existed before, but none have had true staying power. With so much support for and confidence in this league, no one wanted to wait any longer than they had to. And what a job these teams have done so far.
Minnesota and Montréal top the standings with 15 points, Boston has 10, Ottawa and New York are at 9 each, and Toronto rounds out the table with 8.
Soccer
The National Women’s Soccer League’s first expansion draft has concluded with mixed success. Bay FC (San Francisco) and the Utah Royals got some players from existing teams, which many (including USWNT star Alex Morgan) have criticized as detrimental to those clubs. Changes may be in order for the 2026 expansion to Boston, though, since even the clubs’ new coaches have voiced concerns over this draft method.
Chicago’s Red Stars, after finishing 2023 in last place, have hired former Jamaican head coach Lorne Donaldson. His team had a surprise run in last summer’s Women’s World Cup, making the knockout stage before falling to Colombia, another underdog contender.
If that alone wasn’t exciting enough for Chicago, it’s also worth noting that Donaldson has previously coached Mallory Swanson, who has just been re-signed with the highest-paying league contract. As her husband, Dansby plays for the Cubs, it will be interesting to see the two play (and hopefully win) concurrently.
Football
In the NFL playoffs, Dallas has lost again to seventh-seeded Packers for their first home loss in over a season, before the Eagles dissapointed again in a loss to the Buccaneers 32-9. With respective wins over the Steelers and Dolphins, the Bills and Chiefs met in Buffalo where the Chiefs pulled off the ‘upset’ en route to beating the Ravens for the AFC Championship. Detroit’s stellar underdog season came to an end with a second-half squandering in the NFC Championship to the 49ers, who were fresh off a comeback against the Packers.
The 49ers and Chiefs will be facing each other on February 11th in a Super Bowl rematch from four years ago, a game which the Chiefs won.
Michigan is your College Football Playoff Champion, beating Washington 34-13. This championship capped off the final run of the CFP’s four-team format. Next year, twelve teams will get the chance to compete for the title, which should be a big relief to fans of Georgia and Florida State- both of whom missed out despite perfect or near-perfect seasons. FSU was destroyed by the former in the Peach Bowl, 63-3. The CFP’s commercial motto, “May the best story win,” really does sum up this year’s season.
One can’t say that one team’s story was better than another’s, but there certainly is more to the team than what you see on the field. On Washington’s side, there was the injury-prone, doubter-defying journey of QB Michael Penix, Jr. and the strange reality that the Huskies, along with Pac-12 rivals Oregon, will be moving to the Big Ten next season.
Michigan, meanwhile, had Coach Harbaugh’s two suspensions over the year and QB JJ McCarthy’s mental health awareness through pre-game meditations.
During the trophy ceremony, Harbaugh claimed that every piece of blue-and-gold confetti had its own story to tell. You can decide for yourself which story was best, but the confetti said it all in the end. Michigan closed out the season with a perfect fifteen wins, while the four-team playoff system closes with an imperfect record yet a fantastic run nonetheless.
As football begins its seasonal farewell (until the new United Football League in the spring), we say farewell to coaches Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, and Nick Saban, among others, who have all served impressively long tenures.
Washington Coach Kalen DeBoer has already been hired to replace Saban at Alabama.
Basketball
Caitlin Clark continues to bring attention to Iowa basketball, this time with a buzzer-beater from the Hawkeye logo to escape against Michigan State on January 2nd.
Her Hawkeyes are currently ranked fourth in the nation, and buzz around players like her and Paige Bueckers continue to build as both March Madness and the WNBA draft grow nearer.
Though Illinois’ men’s team couldn’t complete the 21-point comeback upset at Purdue three days later, it shouldn’t necessarily be taken as a bad sign for the future. The Boilermakers are ranked No. 1, so the comeback itself was an indication that an Illinois team without many familiar faces can still compete with the very top contenders.
