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I straightened, trying to force away my building tension.

My brother posted a photo every so often with a one-word caption, and thousands of people “liked” it. I curated my content, overanalyzing every photo, every word, and I still had fewer followers. It felt like so much was expected of female athletes, while we were given so little—respect, money, support.

Worse still, it irked me that someone like Wilson, who’d started the fight last night, remained on the Seattle roster. He might get a slap on the wrist, maybe even a financial penalty, but it would be a drop in the bucket. How could it not be when the NHL’s lowest salary was still seven times the highest salary of any player in the PWHL?

Seven. Times.

Sure, we played fewer games during the season than the players in the NHL, but it wasn’t for lack of desire. It was due to lack of opportunity. There were fewer teams in the PWHL. Fewer women playing at the professional level—something I hoped to change.

It felt as if a boulder were sitting on my chest, and I didn’t have the strength to push it off.

“Ready?” Cam asked.

“Yep.” Levi looked to me, checking in. “Lo?”

“I’ll be fine,” I gritted out, and I could feel him watching me as I shuffled the papers on my desk, my notes with talking points for the week.

We tried to minimize edits as much as possible. Sometimes, they were unavoidable, but we did our best to keep the conversation flowing and authentic. And if I was going to stay focused, I needed to get my head in gear.

“Recording in five,” Cam said. “Four. Three. Two. One.” He pointed at me, indicating it was time for me to do the intro.

I took a deep breath and pushed aside all my frustration to focus on the show. It was the same as when I stepped onto the ice—I blocked all the outside noise and focused on the job at hand. And right now, my job was to have a damn good podcast, even when I wanted to rant and scream and rage against the unfairness of it all, especially in sports.

But that’s exactly why the podcast was so important to me. It was a growing platform with engaged listeners. Little by little, week by week, I educated our listeners about what was going on in the world of women’s hockey. And hopefully made them more invested in the success of women’s sports.

“Welcome back, puckers,” I said with a grin that felt surprisingly genuine. “It’s time for this week’s show, and we have a lot to cover. If you’re a regular listener, welcome back. If you’re new here, thanks for joining us. I’m Logan Frost⁠—”

“And I’m Levi Frost,” Levi chimed in.

“And we’re siblings who play in the NHL and PWHL. Each week, we break down what’s happening in both leagues.”

“That’s right,” Levi said. “This week, we’ve got several NHL games to discuss, as well as some fun listener questions. Logan, why don’t you kick us off by telling us what you’re doing to prepare for your upcoming season?”

Levi had already been playing for weeks, but the PWHL season wouldn’t start until late November. I was itching to get back on the ice, but I knew I needed this time to sharpen my skills and refine my game.

“Things work a little differently in the PWHL, especially since we have a longer off-season. I’m currently in Canada, attending a preseason training camp with some of my teammates from the Wolves.”

“But the PWHL training camps don’t start until November, right?”

I loosened up a little now that we were talking about hockey. “Correct. This is a chance to improve my conditioning and hone my skills during the off-season. In the NHL, training camp is used to get you ready for the season. In the PWHL, training camp is used to determine who is already ready for the season. Almost like a tryout. Unlike the NHL, we don’t have a minor league with farm teams. So every roster spot is highly competitive.”

And as the captain of my team, I felt even more pressure to succeed. Especially since my three-year contract would end after this coming season, and I’d need to sign a new one with the Wolves or another team.

Levi asked a few more questions, mostly from listeners, and then we speculated about which athletes would be competing for roster spots. After that, we moved on to the NHL. We didn’t talk about every team every episode, instead touching on the big headlines—trades, injuries, upsets, and the like.

According to our loose outline for the episode, we’d saved the fight for last, and I wasn’t even sure how to broach the topic. It was one of the biggest pieces of news in the season so far, and it had affected several of my friends personally.

“So…” I glanced to Levi.

“So. Yeah. Wow.” Levi dragged a hand through his hair. “That was one hell of a game between Seattle and LA. Everyone’s talking about it.”

I laughed, but the sound was humorless. “Oh, come on. No one’s talking about the game. They’re talking about the fight.”

“The fight between…well, pretty much the entirety of both teams.”

It had been insane.

“I haven’t seen a pile-on like that in a while,” I said. “I’m surprised the ref didn’t give everyone on the ice a five-minute penalty.”