ST. PAUL, Minn. — For years, Luke Kunin watched as his girlfriend, then fiancée, then wife, Sophia, supported his career.

She was a shoulder to lean on when things got tough in Minnesota. Moved to Nashville when he was traded there. Was a constant during the toughest season of his pro career — last year with the San Jose Sharks, when he tore his ACL.

So Kunin can’t wait to walk into Xcel Energy Center — the arena where he began his NHL career as a Minnesota Wild rookie seven years ago — on Saturday with the shoe on the other foot. The 1 p.m. CDT game will be his first time watching Sophia play at the highest level in person, as she’ll take the ice with Minnesota’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team to face Boston in its regular-season finale ahead of next month’s playoffs.

“I’ll get to see what it’s all about,” Luke said. “I’ve watched her games on the internet all year — as much as I can with our schedule — but I think of all the things she’s sacrificed for me over the years so I can live out my dream. I can’t wait to be there to support her and watch her live her dream.”

Luke and Sophia Kunin’s relationship has helped them come through so much to arrive at this point. Meeting as teenagers. Watching each other excel in hockey….

MONTREAL — Prior to the game, in warmups, the Bell Centre was perhaps a quarter full, if that.

PWHL Montreal and PWHL Toronto were doing their twirls around the ice, as they always do, except this time they were doing it at the Bell Centre, knowing a capacity crowd of 21,105 — a new world record for a women’s hockey game — would be filing in eventually.

Except they weren’t there yet.

There were people lined around the glass for warmups holding signs supporting their favourite players, just like they are for Montreal Canadiens games, and the environment — the stage — was definitely different for these players.

But the building was still mostly empty, and still, for Marie-Philip Poulin, a living legend, this was a lot to take in.

She skated over to the bench for an interview with the arena hostess that would go live in the building, and the first question was about how she felt in this moment, in this environment, on this stage, about to play a professional hockey game in her native Quebec in front of this many people.

In front of this many of her people.

Poulin paused and had to compose herself before answering, and that pause said so much about the work she has put in to create what was about to happen at the Bell Centre, about the women who came before her who never…

A Professional Women’s Hockey League game between Toronto and Montreal has, once again, broken the all-time attendance record for a women’s hockey game, just two months after first setting the new high.

The league has broken several attendance records in its inaugural season: first for the most fans at a professional women’s hockey game in Ottawa (8,318) on Jan. 2 and then four days later in Minnesota (13,316).

On Feb. 16, the league drew 19,285 fans to a game between Toronto and Montreal at Scotiabank Arena — home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs — which became the largest crowd to watch women’s hockey ever, including at the Olympics, world championships and the NCAA.

GO DEEPER

PWHL breaks women’s hockey all-time attendance record

Saturday afternoon’s crowd of 21,105 at the Bell Centre — home of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens — sets a new mark.

“There are a lot of people who didn’t even get tickets, so 21,000 wasn’t even enough,” Montreal goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens said at a news conference Friday. “People come, they bring friends, they look for more tickets. It says a lot about the talent on the ice, the level of play, the organizations, the media coverage.

“When we put all those things together, that’s what makes this possible. We saw it with…

UTICA, N.Y. — Team Canada won the IIHF women’s world championship with a thrilling 6-5 overtime win against Team USA on Sunday night.

Danielle Serdachny scored the game-winning goal less than six minutes into the first overtime period — on the power play — in a high-scoring, back-and-forth game against their cross-border rivals. Sunday night was the second-highest scoring gold medal game ever at women’s worlds and the highest since the U.S. won 7-5 in 2015.

Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice, after coming into the game with only two assists in six games. Erin Ambrose, Julia Gosling and Emily Clark also scored for the Canadians. Ann-Renée Desbiens made 19 saves on 24 shots for the win.

Last year, Team USA beat Canada in the gold medal game on Canadian soil in Brampton, ON. The Canadians didn’t need extra motivation heading into a gold medal game, but they certainly didn’t forget what happened last year.

“Obviously, I remember,” said Desbiens on Saturday night. “We want this story to be different this year.”

With a silver medal, American forward Hilary Knight is now the most decorated player in women’s world championship history with 14 medals (10 gold, four silver), passing Hockey Hall of Fame forward Hayley Wickenheiser (13).

This story will be…

UTICA, N.Y. — Laila Edwards has become the first Black woman to play for the U.S. women’s national team at a world championship.

Edwards, 20, became the first Black woman to play for Team USA in November, when she played in the 2023-24 Rivalry Series against Canada. Now a member of the 23-player roster at worlds and on the ice in Wednesday’s opener against Switzerland, Edwards has officially arrived on the international stage, and solidified her spot on the national team.

“I’m super honored to have this platform, and to break that barrier is a great feeling. My only hope and wish is that it continues to flood as I’ve broken it open,” Edwards told The Athletic after the game.

“I think making the national team is a great step. To be at the World Championships, and representing Team USA at the international level is a great further step in the right direction, which I hope continues.”

GO DEEPER

Meet the teenage phenom set to make history with Team USA — even Travis Kelce is a fan

With a combination of size — she stands 6-foot-1 — and skill, Edwards is one of the most unique and exciting prospects in women’s hockey. She’s a highly skilled playmaker with the ability to slow the game down around her. She can find laser-thin seams in the ice, or see plays…

DURHAM, N.H. — The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 1-0 to win the program’s second NCAA championship on Sunday.

The game — a rematch of the 2023 championship, which ended in a 1-0 Wisconsin victory — was scoreless through the first two periods. Joy Dunne, the national rookie of the year, scored the first and only goal of a tense, evenly-matched championship game featuring the top two teams in the national rankings.

“That was one helluva game,” said Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall. “Whoever scored in the third I thought was going to win the game, just because it was such a good defensive side of the game from both teams. … It was just a feeling of if we can get to that one and then bear down defensively, we could win this thing.”

THE BUCKEYES BREAK THE SILENCE!!!!

ESPNU#WFrozenFour x @OhioStateWHKY pic.twitter.com/O7S1rw5c36

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 24, 2024

No teams in the NCAA scored more goals than the Badgers (205) and the Buckeyes (200) this season. The championship game, however, was more of a defensive effort with very little space for either team. Both teams were held to under 30 shots (Ohio State outshot Wisconsin 28-26), and there were nearly 40 blocked shots (Wisconsin had the edge 20-17).

“It seemed…

DURHAM, N.H. — Izzy Daniel won the 2024 Patty Kazmaier Award on Saturday – given to the top women’s college hockey player in the nation – becoming the first player from Cornell to claim the honor.

Daniel – who was named the ECAC and Ivy League Player of the Year – beat out Wisconsin Badgers forwards Casey O’Brien and Kirsten Simms, who led the NCAA in scoring this season.

Daniel finished the regular season tied as the third-highest scoring player in women’s ice hockey with 53 points and ranked second with 1.83 points per game. However, the Big Red captain was critically important to her team’s success this season. Daniel outscored her next-closest teammate by 25 points and either scored, or assisted, on 10 game-winning goals this season.

Paced by Daniel, No. 6 Cornell won the Ivy League title and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years.

“(She) epitomizes everything the Patty Kazmaier Award is about,” said Cornell coach Doug Derraugh last week. “Making the team and everyone around you better, production in the clutch, sportsmanship, and academics.”

Daniel, 23, was invited to Team USA’s evaluation camp ahead of the 2024 women’s world championships in Utica, N.Y., and is expected to be a top pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft, should she…