Hockey remains huge in Eastwood's world
A month after making her mark on hockey history by scoring the first goal for the Toronto Six franchise, Lindsay Eastwood continues to promote the future of the women's game.
She blogs on Sportsnet and produces Behind The Mask videos on YouTube.
Last Friday, she served as a colour commentator for a game involving Syracuse University, her alma mater.
If and when our COVID -19 world allows for a return to normalcy in minor hockey, the Kanata native will also be back helping coach a Bantam AA squad in Toronto.
For all that, though, being a professional women's hockey player during a tumultuous time for the sport means also having a day job.
In her case, it's as a project manager with a digital marketing agency in Toronto.
“We all want the same thing, we have the same goal, the same idea of what we want,” Eastwood says of the current state of women's hockey. “People just have different ideas of how to get there. The hope is we can all come together and have one big league to grow women's hockey and not have to worry about 9-to-5 jobs.”
The former Canadian Women's Hockey League folded in 2019 due to an “economically unsustainable” business model.
That, coupled with demands for better working conditions within the United States-based National Women's Hockey League, prompted the formation of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. The group of 200 top-flight players has staged a boycott since the start of the 2019-20 season.
The NWHL, meanwhile, has gone through significant organizational and structural changes, including adding the Toronto Six franchise for the 2020-21 season.
It was a lot for Eastwood, 24, to consider when she contemplated where to take her post-university career.
Hockey has always been in her blood. Her father, Dave, was a star for the CCHL's Pembroke Lumber Kings. Her uncle, Mike, played 13 years in the NHL, including four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I grew up on rinks, outdoor rinks,” she says. “Since I was a little girl, I wanted to play in the NHL, I wanted to play pro.
“I lost sleep over it. I wasn't sure what to do. I thought about Europe. I was all over the map, but I definitely wanted to keep playing. I did my homework. I listened to people. I didn't jump the gun.”
Ultimately, the Toronto Six was the best fit.
Eastwood has a communications degree from Syracuse and the organization allowed her to complete an internship as part of her Master's, focused on television and radio. Her videos, where she interviews NWHL players, are part of the program.
While COVID-19 wiped out the plans for a full NWHL season, the league set up shop for a bubble tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y., in late January, in order to crown an Isobel Cup champion.
Once there, Eastwood, who plays defence, scored the first goal in Toronto Six history, in a victory over the Minnesota Whitecaps.
“That was a special moment, a goal I will never forget,” she says. “We were off to a good start. There was huge awareness in the media and people were tuning in. We got on a roll. We had a four-game winning streak and we were pretty confident heading into the semifinal and the game was going to be broadcast on NBC.”
Unfortunately, COVID -19 struck again. The NWHL had little choice but to postpone the remaining games in early February, before a champion was declared.
“They had to do what they had to do,” Eastwood says. “Hopefully, we can finish it up. There has been talk about doing that in the next month or two.”
Eastwood would like nothing better than to eventually talk hockey for a living.
“I would like to play for another year or two, we'll see,” she says. “My idol is Cassie Campbell-Pascall, a former Team Canada captain and she works on national broadcasts (for Sportsnet). That would be a dream job. With her and Tessa Bonhomme (another former Canadian Olympic star, now working for TSN), they represent women so well.”
LeBron James hushed self-preservation narratives Monday night following the Lakers' latest overtime loss in which the Los Angeles star played more than 40 minutes for the fourth time in February.
James, 36, is averaging 38.2 minutes per game this month and played 43 minutes in Monday's 127-124 OT loss to the Washington Wizards.
“I think this whole narrative of `LeBron needs more rest' or I should take more rest, or I should take time here, it's become a lot bigger than what it actually is,” James said. “I've never talked about it. I don't talk about it. I don't believe in it. We all need more rest . ... This is a fast turnaround from last season, and we all wish we could have more rest. But I'm here to work, I'm here to punch my clock in and be available to my teammates.”
Monday's loss was L.A.'s third consecutive defeat, a season-long dive for the reigning NBA champions.
James hasn't missed a game this season, playing in all 32 contests as some other MVP-calibre performers are regularly given games off.
But the NBA off-season was just 71 days long for the Lakers and Miami Heat. Los Angeles is working without Anthony Davis as the all-star centre rests an Achilles injury for the next several weeks.
Head coach Frank Vogel said the Lakers are taking James' availability on a “game-bygame basis” without signalling a day off might be coming.
James also shot down the idea that he's pushing himself with Davis out.
“I'm going out and playing the game. I'm doing my job, and I'm trying to do it at a high level, but that's been a narrative around the league,” James said. “I have never asked for time off or time throughout the season. And it's growing to a point where it's not even coming from me anymore. It's just like, `OK, LeBron should take time off' or `Why is his workload at this?' I've been hearing it for five, six, seven years now, and I'm still going strong.”
James is averaging 25.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game this season, his 18th year in the league.