Last updated: March 4, 2026
Breakaway: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game is the Atlantic Canadian sports history bestseller that documents how women’s professional hockey went from poverty wages and borrowed equipment to a legitimate league backed by billionaires. Written by sports journalist Karissa Donkin and published by Goose Lane Editions, this 248-page book ($26) chronicles the creation of the Professional Women’s Hockey League and its first season, and it has earned praise as “truly entertaining” from Review Canada [2]. This review covers what makes the book essential reading for sports literature fans, who it’s best suited for, and includes a standout excerpt that captures the sacrifice these athletes endured.
Key Takeaways
- Breakaway documents the full arc from the underfunded CWHL era through the PWHL’s launch in January 2024, told through the eyes of players, coaches, and fans [1]
- Author Karissa Donkin is a sports reporter who brings a journalist’s precision to game-by-game storytelling while keeping the narrative accessible to casual fans [2]
- The book highlights athletes like goaltender Liz Knox, who worked as a roofer and paid $3,500 for goalie pads on a $6,000 season salary [2]
- American players Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hilary Knight’s labour walkout against USA Hockey is a central narrative thread [2]
- The PWHL was launched by billionaire Mark Walter with support from Billie Jean King, finally offering women stable professional hockey employment [2]
- Donkin doesn’t shy away from the league’s growing pains: venue scrambles, missing merchandise, and last-minute hirings all get honest treatment [2]
- The “dream gap” between girls’ and boys’ hockey aspirations is a recurring theme throughout the book [2]
- The book arrives at the right moment, with the PWHL now in its third season and gaining real visibility [2]
Quick Answer
Breakaway: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game is a 248-page nonfiction book by Karissa Donkin (Goose Lane Editions, $26) that tells the story of women’s professional hockey from years of financial hardship through the founding of the PWHL in 2024 [1]. It’s best for hockey fans, sports history readers, and anyone interested in labour rights in athletics. Review Canada called it “truly entertaining” and praised Donkin for capturing the story “from the vantage point of the benches and the stands” [2].
What Is Breakaway About and Why Does It Matter in 2026?
Breakaway traces the decades-long fight for professional women’s hockey, from the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s low-budget era through the formation of the PWHL. The book matters because it arrived during a period when, as Review Canada notes, “promise and progress finally appear to be converging” for women’s hockey [2].
Donkin structures the book around individual stories rather than abstract history. Readers follow specific athletes through their struggles with low pay, inadequate facilities, and the constant question of whether women’s professional hockey could survive at all. The PWHL’s launch in January 2024, backed by American billionaire Mark Walter and tennis icon Billie Jean King, serves as the book’s climax, but the journey to get there is where the real story lives [2].
The book provides “a deeper understanding of what it means for current and future players” in professional women’s hockey [1]. For readers interested in how sports and community stories intersect with broader cultural moments, Breakaway offers a compelling case study.
To Purchase CLICK HERE
Who Should Read This Atlantic Canadian Sports History Bestseller?
This book works for three distinct audiences, and knowing which group fits helps set expectations.
Choose this book if:
- You follow hockey (even casually) and want to understand the women’s game’s backstory
- You’re interested in labour rights, pay equity, or women’s sports economics
- You enjoy narrative nonfiction that reads more like longform journalism than a textbook
Skip this book if:
- You want a tactical hockey analysis or stats-heavy breakdown
- You’re looking for a comprehensive history of women’s hockey dating back to the early 1900s (Donkin focuses primarily on the modern era)
Donkin “recreates individual games with a reporter’s eye and situates them within the broader evolution of women in professional sport,” making the book accessible even to people who don’t follow hockey closely [2]. That journalistic approach is one of its strongest qualities.
| Reader Type | What You’ll Get | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Hardcore hockey fan | Behind-the-scenes PWHL formation details, game recreations | Excellent |
| Casual sports reader | Accessible narrative, compelling personal stories | Very good |
| Labour/equity interest | Pay data, walkout details, structural analysis | Good |
| Pure stats/analytics fan | Limited statistical depth | Fair |
The Liz Knox Story: An Excerpt That Captures the Sacrifice
The most striking passage in Breakaway centers on Liz Knox, a goaltender from Stouffville, Ontario. Knox’s story crystallizes everything wrong with how women’s professional hockey operated before the PWHL.
During the 2017–18 CWHL season, Knox earned $6,000 total. Her goalie pads cost $3,500. Between games, she worked as a roofer to pay her bills [2]. Let that math sink in: her equipment cost more than half her season’s salary, and she needed a physically demanding construction job just to stay afloat as a professional athlete.
Knox’s team won the championship that season. A champion who roofed houses to afford her gear.
Donkin captures the story “from the vantage point of the benches and the stands,” giving readers an intimate view of what these athletes endured before the PWHL changed everything [2].
This kind of detail is what separates Breakaway from a standard sports recap. Donkin doesn’t just tell readers that women hockey players were underpaid. She shows what underpayment actually looked like in daily life. The contrast between championship-calibre performance and poverty-level compensation makes the eventual arrival of the PWHL feel earned rather than inevitable.
For readers who appreciate stories about people pursuing passion despite obstacles, Knox’s arc is the emotional core of the book.
How Does the Book Cover the American Labour Fight?
One of Breakaway‘s strongest sections documents the 2017 walkout by American players against USA Hockey. Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hilary Knight led the effort, staging a boycott to secure better conditions before the 2017 world championship in Michigan [2].
The stakes were real. These players risked their national team careers to demand basic professional treatment. The walkout worked: USA Hockey made concessions, and the American team went on to defeat Canada 3–2 in overtime to win gold [2].
Donkin treats this episode as more than a sports story. It’s a labour story, and she draws connections between the players’ fight and broader movements for workplace equity. The section works because Donkin has the reporting skills to document both the behind-the-scenes negotiations and the on-ice drama that followed.
Common mistake readers might expect: Assuming the book is Canada-centric. While Donkin is a Canadian journalist and the book is published by a Canadian press, the American labour battles receive substantial and balanced coverage.
This kind of documentary storytelling about real people fighting systems is what gives Breakaway its narrative power.
What Growing Pains Does the PWHL Face According to Breakaway?
Donkin doesn’t write a puff piece. Despite her clear enthusiasm for women’s hockey, she catalogs the PWHL’s early operational problems with journalistic honesty [2].
The issues she documents include:
- Venue chaos: PWHL New York played home games in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Elmont, New York before eventually settling in Newark, New Jersey [2]
- Merchandise failures: Missing merchandise left fans unable to buy team gear during the league’s critical launch window [2]
- Staffing scrambles: Last-minute hirings meant some teams entered the season without full operational support [2]
- Facility gaps: Finding suitable arenas that met professional standards proved difficult across multiple markets [2]
These details actually strengthen the book’s credibility. A narrative that only celebrated the PWHL’s arrival would feel incomplete. By documenting the messy reality of launching a professional sports league, Donkin gives readers confidence that the successes she describes are real, not promotional.
The “dream gap” concept runs throughout these sections: the persistent chasm between what girls aspire to in hockey and what the professional infrastructure actually supports [2]. Even with the PWHL’s arrival, that gap hasn’t fully closed.
How Does Breakaway Compare to Other Women’s Sports Books?
Breakaway occupies a specific niche: it’s a journalist’s account of a league’s creation, told through the athletes who made it possible. It’s not a memoir, not an academic study, and not a general history of women in sport.
What sets it apart:
- Reporting-driven narrative: Donkin recreates games with specificity that comes from being in the press box, not the library [2]
- Dual focus: The book balances individual player stories with structural analysis of the leagues and institutions involved
- Timing: Published as the PWHL enters its third season, it captures a moment when the league’s survival is no longer in question but its long-term trajectory is still being written [2]
For readers who enjoy stories about heritage and history told through personal narratives, Breakaway follows a similar pattern: using individual experiences to illuminate larger cultural shifts.
The book’s 248 pages keep it focused. Donkin doesn’t try to write the definitive encyclopedia of women’s hockey. She picks her stories carefully and tells them well.
What Is the “Dream Gap” and Why Is It Central to the Book?
The “dream gap” refers to the difference between what young girls imagine their hockey careers could be and what the professional landscape actually offers. For decades, that gap was enormous. Boys who excelled at hockey could envision NHL careers with million-dollar contracts. Girls who excelled had no equivalent destination [2].
Donkin uses this concept as a structural thread throughout Breakaway. Every story of low pay, borrowed equipment, and second jobs circles back to the same question: what happens to talent when there’s no professional pathway to support it?
The PWHL’s launch in 2024 began closing that gap, but Donkin is careful not to declare victory. The league offers stable employment for the first time, but the pay and infrastructure still lag far behind men’s professional hockey [2]. Progress is real. Parity is not.
This theme resonates beyond hockey. Anyone interested in how communities support accessibility and inclusion will find parallels in Breakaway‘s examination of structural barriers in professional sport.
Pros and Cons of Breakaway
Pros:
- Accessible writing that works for non-hockey fans
- Strong individual stories grounded in specific, verifiable details
- Honest about the PWHL’s problems, not just its triumphs
- Well-timed publication captures a meaningful moment in sports history
- Compact at 248 pages; doesn’t overstay its welcome
Cons:
- Limited coverage of pre-2010 women’s hockey history
- Some readers may want more statistical analysis
- The focus on the first PWHL season means events from 2025 and 2026 aren’t covered
- International perspectives beyond Canada and the U.S. receive less attention
FAQ
How many pages is Breakaway by Karissa Donkin?
The book is 248 pages, published by Goose Lane Editions [1].
How much does Breakaway cost?
The retail price is $26 (Canadian) [1].
Is Breakaway only for hockey fans?
No. Review Canada notes that Donkin’s journalistic approach makes the book accessible even to casual fans who don’t follow hockey closely [2].
Does the book cover the PWHL’s second and third seasons?
No. Breakaway focuses primarily on the events leading up to the PWHL’s launch and its first season in 2024 [2].
Who is Liz Knox?
Liz Knox is a goaltender from Stouffville, Ontario, featured prominently in the book. She earned $6,000 for the 2017–18 CWHL season while paying $3,500 for goalie pads and working as a roofer between games [2].
What is the “dream gap” discussed in the book?
The dream gap is the difference between girls’ hockey aspirations and the actual professional opportunities available to them, a central theme throughout Breakaway [2].
Who launched the PWHL?
American billionaire Mark Walter launched the PWHL with support from tennis legend Billie Jean King. The league began play in January 2024 [2].
Does the author criticize the PWHL?
Yes. Donkin documents venue problems, missing merchandise, last-minute hirings, and other growing pains alongside the league’s achievements [2].
What is the 2017 USA Hockey walkout covered in the book?
American players led by Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hilary Knight boycotted to secure better conditions before the 2017 world championship. The U.S. won gold that year, beating Canada 3–2 in overtime [2].
Is this book available as an ebook?
The book is published by Goose Lane Editions. Check their website or major retailers for format availability [1].
Conclusion
Breakaway: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game is a well-reported, honestly told account of how women’s professional hockey went from survival mode to something resembling stability. Karissa Donkin’s journalism background shows on every page, and stories like Liz Knox’s championship season on a roofer’s salary give the book emotional weight that pure sports writing often lacks.
Next steps for interested readers:
- Pick up a copy To Purchase CLICK HERE
- Follow the PWHL’s third season with the context Breakaway provides; the growing pains Donkin documented are still being resolved
- Share the book with young hockey players, especially girls, who deserve to know the history behind the league they’re watching
- Explore related reading on local sports stories and community celebrations that connect athletics to broader culture
- Check out documentary storytelling for more narrative accounts of history told through personal experience
The women who changed the game deserve to have their story told well. Donkin delivered.
References
[1] Breakaway – https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/books/breakaway
[2] That First Season Review Breakaway – https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2026/03/that-first-season-review-breakaway/
Content, illustrations, and third-party video appearing on GEORGIANBAYNEWS.COM may be generated or curated with AI assistance or reproduced pursuant to the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42. Attribution and hyperlinks to original sources are provided in acknowledgment of applicable intellectual property rights. Such referencing is intended to direct traffic to and support the original rights holders’ platforms.
