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Luke Prokop was only 19 years old when he made pro sports history. A year after the Nashville Predators picked him in the 2020 NHL Draft, Prokop told his team, his sport, and the wider world that he was gay. He is the first player under NHL contract to do so. This season, he has also bumped up to playing plenty of AHL games, making him the first out gay player at that level, one step away from the top team. So- how’s it going, in a sport that has never been at the forefront of inclusion? So far: Excellent! No stupid chirps from opponents, nothing but support from within the organization, and a heart-warming flow of encouragement from big names and journeymen, on and off the ice. Prokop has reason to praise his organization. Tennessee is a conservative state, and there is a sizeable chunk of the fanbase who would rather not see pride nights for the Predators. But those nights happen in Nashville, because the team owners believe the game is supposed to be for everyone. Perhaps the only downside for the 6’6” defenseman is that, being the one and only known gay man in professional hockey, he is requested to speak on inclusion in sports, all the time. As Prokop summarizes for Anastasia, that can be a distraction. Once in a while, the lifelong hockey player is grateful to just shut up and skate! The thing is though, Prokop loves his sport so much, he’s willing to help in whatever ways are needed for the greater good of the game, even if it does perhaps get in the way of his own career. No one wants to be remembered as ‘the gay NHL guy’ and Prokop’s honest desire, is that with time and a little luck, he’ll be celebrated for nothing but his on ice heroics.

In February of this year, Laurence St-Germain delivered a fantastic wake up call to the world’s best skiers. She won the slalom gold medal at the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel and Méribel, France. Established greats like Mikaela Shiffrin were both startled and delighted to see the friendly Canadian win her first podium on an international circuit. Other nations can be forgiven for not seeing this one coming: it has been 63 years since the last Canadian woman won the slalom world championship. Alpine history buffs take note, the previous Canadian champ was Anne Heggtveit in 1960. St-Germain settled in for a chat with Anastasia,, just as the new Alpine season was getting underway. The great news is that St-Germain has continued her hot streak. She has now finished in the top 10 in three of the last five World Cup slaloms dating back to last season. Along with ski jumper Alexandria Loutitt, St-Germain won the 2023 Prix commémoratif John Semmelink Memorial Award. That’s athlete of the year for snow sports, and also a recognition of excellent conduct and citizenship. St-Germain is justly proud of her off-snow work too- acting as an ambassador for several worthy health and wellness causes. This is her first season as a part time student- having previously raced while taking a full course load for her computer science degree. She’s following that up now with biomedical studies, with an eye to perhaps combining all that knowledge in the field of prosthesis design. When talk turns to many recent successes enjoyed by the Canadian Alpine team, St-Germain sees a pattern. All the strong performances lately have come from athletes who, like herself, have endured their ups and downs, but have been afforded the time and patience to develop. As she says, 15-year old phenoms like Mikaela Shiffrin will always be with us…but playing the long game for everyone else, the merely extremely talented skiers, has made all the difference in Canada's results.

Season seven of Anastasia’s long-running passion project kicks off with Hilary Knight, captain of the US national hockey team, world and olympic champion, the face of the American women’s game, and from a Canadian perspective, public frenemy number one. Knight dekes around all the old Can-Am rivalries talk and focusses instead on the game-changing debut of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. She was instrumental in the process that finally landed a truly professional environment for the best of the best in women’s hockey. The on-ice action deserves all the attention, but behind the scenes, Knight has plenty to say about the many elements that have been pulled together for the good of the game. Wages, health insurance (which is especially critical for the American players), proper facilities, home and away accommodations, training, fitness and medical staffing, it is a long and heartening list of wins for the PWHL player’s association. Excited as Knight is for the inaugural season, and confident as she is that her Boston team will be heading to the championship, it is the second year that she’s really looking forward to. The coming intake of new, young, top talent into the established league? That’s what it’s all about for the veteran leader. And just in case those subjects seem too wholesome to be entertaining, Anastasia also questions Knight on her well-earned reputation for pulling pranks. We’re not going to spoil the punchline, but most of her teammates have learned never to follow Knight into a bidet-equipped washroom. As the PHWPL inches closer to that historic first puck drop, there’s no better way to get a feel for the personalities who are driving the women’s game to greatness on this continent.