“Breakaway: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game” was written by Karissa Donkin, a New Brunswick-based journalist with the CBC’s Atlantic investigative unit.
In just over 220 pages, “Breakaway” is an in-depth review of the events leading up to what Donkin and many hockey fans concur is ‘the first truly-feeling professional women’s hockey league’, from the folding of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2019, to the assembly of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association and the Dream Gap Tour, and finally to the present-day PWHL.
“Women have been playing at a high level for years, going back to the 1800’s” Donkin said in a Zoom interview. “I wanted to explain how we got here. You could write an entire book on each of these leagues (CWHL, PHF). But the problem is, historically, it hasn’t been documented.
I think it’s important for people to understand how we got here, and also why it is that women’s labour in hockey has never been valued the same as men’s. But I also wanted the book to be forward-looking, and that’s why I liked the idea of following a season. I think people like that kind of storytelling.”
Indeed Donkin does a marvellous job in going behind the scenes of PWHL Montreal during the circuit’s inaugural season of 2024. The relative proximity of Montreal to New Brunswick made the choice natural for Donkin to cover that team, which would later be branded as the Montreal Victoire a year later.
Undoubtedly, the biggest names on Montreal’s roster include Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey and Erin Ambrose, and they all get their due in “Breakaway”. Donkin is equally impressive in obtaining the stories of the so-called ‘black aces’ struggling to make the team; non-Olympians who aren’t necessarily household names.
For example, Catherine Dubois, the league’s first reserve player (signed to a team, but not on the main roster) underwent significant challenges, psychologically and mentally, not knowing whether she would eventually earn a full-time roster spot. The uncertainty of her immediate future had a huge impact on her ability to plan her finances and living arrangements; all life matters that the star players might not have to worry about.
“There are so many other players, and I wanted to make sure that I tell their stories as well,” Donkin said. “In the CWHL, there were two classes of players. There were the folks who were part of the Hockey Canada program and they would have access to equipment, training, and stuff like that. And then you would have the working-class player who would be playing at night, on top of their day job. It was really important for me to reflect on all of those realities. The reserve players like Catherine Dubois don’t get the same benefits as the other players when they’re not on a contract, like the housing stipend.
Players who are on minimum contracts don’t make a whole lot of money. So I think it’s just really important to recognize players in all different parts of their journey, and playing all different kinds of roles, and give everybody a spotlight.”
Of course “Breakaway” wouldn’t have been complete without a mention of the Montreal versus Toronto game on April 20, 2024. Hosted at the Bell Centre – home of the Canadiens – the game was attended by a record crowd of 21,105 fans. Coincidentally, it was also Donkin’s birthday, and she captures the atmosphere succinctly in her book.
“To have the Bell Centre filled up for women’s hockey, it was something that gave everybody in the arena goose bumps,” she said. And just talking to the different people, in different parts of their journey and what it meant to them, like Montreal coach Kori Cheverie. She played in the CWHL , but never got to play in front of those crowds.
And then you look at someone like Marie-Philip Poulin, who watches the Canadiens play as a 16-year-old, but doesn’t even think that someday she’s going to be playing on that ice. And then, years later, in the CWHL, she does, but of course, it’s not full. So to see her have that PWHL moment and get that ovation and respect from the crowd was really cool.”
For fans eager to gain perspective on the trials and tribulations of creating the eventual PWHL as we know it today, “Breakaway” is a must-read.
“Breakaway: The PWHL And the Women Who Changed the Game” is available from Goose Lane Publishing as of September 30, and can be pre-ordered at this link.
