from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

The Americans and Canadians are the class of women’s hockey, which pops into public consciousness only during the Winter Olympics. They never disappoint. Their great goaltending acrobatics and clutch scoring produce exhaustingly dramatic matchups at the Olympics and world championships. They shine because of their talent and competitiveness and their persistence despite having been told as kids they shouldn’t play hockey, they were an annoyance, that coaching them would waste time better spent on guiding boys.

It’s during the four years between Olympics, when female hockey players are scrambling for adequate resources and working to establish a stable professional league, that those who govern the game continue to drop the ball when they should be dropping the puck.

The U.S. women’s national team had to threaten to boycott the 2017 World Championships until USA Hockey boosted its pay and promised to give the team much-needed youth development programs and more chances to showcase its extraordinary talent. From that came the U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series, extended this year to seven games but still not nearly long enough to promote awareness of who the players are and what they do — and that they constantly must work for a better hockey future between turns on the international stage.

“It’s every day. And I wish there were more opportunities for people to see what that every day looks like, for the game to be set up a little bit more sustainably for women to continue to play in this game,” said Kendall Coyne Schofield, captain of the U.S. team that lost to Canada in the Beijing Olympic gold medal game in February.

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