Breakaway: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game by Karissa Donkin

The first time I watched a PWHL game – the first game – on TV, I teared up. I don’t play hockey, I’ve never played hockey, not because I wasn’t interested, but because I couldn’t see a path. Little boys dreamed about the NHL, but I was in grade 2 before women’s hockey was played at the Olympics. The PWHL playing on my TV, a whole season, with the women best in the world finally having an option for a job playing hockey, even if there’s a long way to go still, was incredible. I was ready for the second season, a fully committed Montreal Victoire fan. And now, not far from the puck drop for a third season, arrives Breakaway, a book by journalist Karissa Donkin detailing the story of how the PWHL was formed, celebrating pioneers in women’s hockey and women’s sport as a whole, and how the Professional Women’s Hockey League Player’s Association came together to make a professional league, with paycheques and rinks, and dedicated fans and equipment and facilities for the teams.

Donkin has crafted an excellent history of professional women’s hockey

Donkin focuses her story on the players of the Montreal Victoire, including such names as Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Erin Ambrose, Ann-Renee Desbiens, and so many others. Additional big names from the PWHL figures here, like Hilary Knight and Sarah Nurse, but also some of the stories of the players who didn’t have full contracts, like Catherine Dubois. This book tells the story of the women who came before them, like Caroline Ouelette and Jayna Hefford. There were so many names of players and coaches and trainers and people who believed that someday there would be a true professional women’s hockey league.

I teared up while reading this book too. Donkin has crafted an excellent history of professional women’s hockey, and a really great read in understanding all of the behind-the-scenes work in how the PWHL came about – and the wildly enthusiastic reception for a professional women’s league. This is going to be a key text in the history of hockey, and I’m so happy it exists (and will now proceed to buy copies for all of the hockey fans in my life).

Karissa Donkin writes about women’s hockey and the PWHL for CBC Sports and has worked in newspapers and broadcasting for more than a decade. Since 2016, she has been working with CBC’s Atlantic investigative unit, covering stories that regularly air on national programs across all of CBC’s platforms. Her recent work on New Brunswick’s Child Protective Services was profiled on The Current. She has won a National Newspaper Award and several Atlantic Journalism Awards for her investigative work. Her journalism was also nominated for the prestigious Michener Award. Breakaway is her first book.

Publisher: GOOSE LANE EDITIONS (September 3rd, 2025)
Paperback: 9″ x 6″ 248 pp
ISBN: 9781773104362

Alison Manley

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Alison Manley has ricocheted between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for most of her life. Now in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she is the Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian at Saint Mary's University. Her past life includes a long stint as a hospital librarian on the banks of the mighty Miramichi River. She has an honours BA in political science and English from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University. While she's adamant that her love of reading has nothing to do with her work, her ability to consume large amounts of information very quickly sure is helpful. She is often identified by her very red lipstick, and lives with her partner Brett and cat, Toasted Marshmallow.