Why I'm Joining The Ice Garden

So much has changed since I went to my first-ever women's hockey game in January 2015 - both personally & professionally for me, and in all facets of the pro women's hockey landscape. If I had to lay it all out, my head - and yours - would be spinning. From the creation of the NWHL/PHF to the demise of the CWHL, the formation of the PWHPA and demise of the PHF, and the eventual creation of the PWHL... Fast forward almost nine years from the start, and here we are.

Today, I'm excited to be joining The Ice Garden to continue to provide informed, thought-provoking coverage of the PWHL and women's hockey on a platform well-known and loved for its support of the women's game. I truly believe now is the best time for women's hockey and women in hockey, and I'm thrilled to be here.

If you're not familiar with my work, allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Melissa Burgess, and I'm a freelance sports journalist based in Buffalo, New York. I've been covering hockey for the last 14 years, and women's hockey for the past nine. As I mentioned above, my introduction to women's hockey was the 2015 IIHF Women's U18 Championships. The NWHL began a few months later, and as they say, the rest was history.

From 2015 until earlier this year, I covered a variety of women's hockey for The Victory Press, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with! I was thrilled to produce over 400 pieces of content for VP, largely about the NWHL/PHF and PWHL, from game previews & recaps to breaking news hits, in-depth features and profiles. In addition to VP, I've appeared on CTV a few times and have been published on MSNBC and other outlets.

I loved my time at The Victory Press, and when Zoë made the difficult but understandable decision to step away and close the site, I knew my time covering women's hockey wasn't over. Let me put that another way: I wasn't ready to be done covering women's hockey.

This sport is growing faster than ever, and those working in it deserve to have their stories told. I've spoken to so many players and coaches over the years and heard so many stories showcasing their perseverance, strength, determination, skill and hope, as well as their love of the game of hockey. Whether it's an in-depth investigative piece about the working conditions in the NWHL, on-the-ground reporting from the first-ever PWHL Draft, covering the College Hockey America championships or the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championships - I've been there.

As the landscape of the sport changes, I'm hopeful that there will be more outlets providing quality coverage. I decided to start my own women's hockey newsletter, A Fresh Sheet, which I'll be publishing weekly during the season. Then, The Ice Garden advertised that it was looking for contributors, and things fell into place.

(As an aside, The Victory Press *is* now back up and running under new management. I wasn't aware that was in the works when I started my newsletter and found out right when I applied for TIG, just before the news became public. Though I'm admittedly sad not to be a part of the new iteration of VP, I wish Nicole & her new staff of writers nothing but the best!)

At any rate, I'm incredibly happy to be joining The Ice Garden, which has been one of the best sources of women's hockey coverage around since its founding in 2016. They've got a great team here, and I'm so glad they were willing to welcome me aboard. I'll be providing PWHL coverage, as well as helping to cover international tournaments as those come up, so stay tuned!