“Just thinking that I lost this love of my life was something that I was really having a hard time to come to terms with.” - Amanda Kessel
Olympic gold and silver medal winning professional hockey player Amanda Kessel and Danielle McCartan have an open conversation about Amanda’s concussion-related mental health struggles and discuss a pragmatic plan to grow the women’s game efficiently and effectively. What took the NHL so long to get involved? Furthermore, we’ll contrast the way of life of NHL players (of which Amanda has intimate knowledge: her brother Phil Kessel is alternate captain of the Arizona Coyotes AND she is a New York Rangers ambassador) to that of professional women’s league. Amanda outlines the impetus behind the 200+ player boycott of the NWHL and USA Hockey.
We'll also tackle:
- NHL’s return to play plan
- A deep dive into concussion-related depression
- Competitiveness in the Kessel household
- Playing on boys teams
- The manifestation of statistical growth in girls hockey by being a New York Rangers hockey ambassador
- Being part of NHL's All-Star weekend 2019
- What would a W-NHL look like?
- AK28 clothing line
- ...and SO much more!!
A listener question from Joe in Long Island: Would a 12 team women's league (2 six team divisions) and a 54 game schedule be plausible?
