STU journalism grad debuts new book on women’s pro hockey

Karissa Donkin presented her debut book about women's hockey, Breakaway. (Liam Carleton/AQ)

On Oct. 7, St. Thomas University alumna and CBC reporter Karissa Donkin launched her debut book Breakaway: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game at the Ted Daigle Auditorium.

The book covers the history of women’s hockey up to the founding of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and its first season.

Laura Brown, fellow alumna and CTV reporter, interviewed Donkin and asked her why it was important for the story to be told.

Donkin said that she started to write the book as a project to work on outside her day job. She decided on women’s hockey as a subject due to the lack of writers covering the topic.

“It's a book I just always wanted to read, but it didn't exist. So, I thought I would write it. I've read a lot of books about men playing hockey, and they've often been written by men and more often than not, about men and I wanted to try and change that. So this is the first step of doing that and it's been an awesome process,” she said.

Donkin worked for CBC’s Atlantic investigative unit when she started writing the book in 2022. Having transitioned into a sports writer covering the PWHL, she found that more people are starting to pay attention to women’s hockey.

“For a long time, we haven't been listening to [women’s hockey players]. It's great hockey, number one, first and foremost. So we should be talking about the hockey. But also, there are so many fascinating people who have great stories and important things to say,” she said.

The auditorium was full of hockey fans of all ages. PWHL fan Jonathan Bragdon was happy with the turnout. As a supporter of the Ottawa Charge, he watched nearly every game of the season last year.

Bragdon said he loved Breakaway and presented Donkin with a collection of PWHL hockey cards after the event.

“To have a book that has never been written [about the league] before and that maybe someone who has never heard of the league might pick it up and become a fan. It's really good hockey,” he said.

Christa Mullaly, an attendee of the event, said she enjoyed the book. She plays with Donkin on the Fredericton Valkyries, a senior women’s hockey team based in Fredericton.

Her favourite part of Breakaway was the prologue that described the record-breaking audience for a women’s hockey game that she and Donkin were in attendance for at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

“I had been actually texting with Karissa before the game started, saying it's so cool that we're here,” she said. “And then here it is in the beginning of her book, this game, this experience that we had been at, that was like this religious experience, that was the start of this really cool book.”

Donkin stated she isn’t working on a new book just yet, but would love to in the future.

“I had a lot of fun writing about this, and if I do [write another], I'd love to write about female athletes. I think that’s what I'm really enjoying doing,” she said.