GOOD WOOD: A Hockey Fandom Podcast

You have walked through the valley of the shadow of death. The evil has come to pass. The Penguins are out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2006. You are free... and so is your schedule, since you have no games to watch! Join your hosts instead as we eulogize this messy-yet-fascinating season. Bec branches out with a new and short-lived segment called Connor McDavid Corner. Kit starts our quest for a new GM with Kyle Watch™. Jes starts campaigning for Team Granlund, who put the final nail in Ron Hextall's coffin. Who on our roster survives into next year? Will we see goalie Mike Crosby’s debut? Will things get better now that we've been freed from our saboteur GM? The Penguins' disastrous 2022-2023 season has finally ended. So too must Season One of GOOD WOOD. Join us to the bitter end.Runtime: 57 min || Recorded 4.26.230:00-4:00 We Have Been Freed from the Agony of Playoffs4:00-8:00 Connor McDavid Corner8:00-12:00 Coping with the End of the Season (and the Streak)12:00-29:00 We Try Clairvoyance (Predicting the 2023 NHL Playoffs)29:00-52:00 Season Highlights52:00-57:00 The Growth of the Fandom

GOOD WOOD presents: our first ever mailbag!! We say ENOUGH of this "real" hockey nonsense—let's talk about TROPES, baby. In the absence of our beloved Kit, Jes and Bec answer a slew of listener questions about tropes and trends in hockey fic. Join us for a fun romp through topics like D/S AUs, tinhatting and fanservice in hockey vs. boy band fandoms, the significance of ~alternative domestic spaces~ in hockey fic, and whether sports columnists are really just writing (paid) RPF. And if you want access to Bec's secret knowledge about Sidney Crosby, well—you'll have to meet us down at the casino.0:00-18:40 dom/sub AUs vs. A/B/O18:40-31:28 fan service & fandom dynamics in boy band vs. hockey RPF31:30-39:30 public and private spaces in real person fiction (or: what happens in the hotel stays in the hotel)40:00-48:45 whither all the trope fics?48:45-58:00 entertainment journalism & hockey RPF

So: your team sucks now. Your goalie's heat cycles are all out of whack. Your border collie of a captain's chasing his tail in neurotic little circles instead of scoring goals. And hey, those eggs you ordered? They're kinda... soupy. If you, like the Penguins, are Going Through It lately, take refuge with us, dear listeners. Your hosts return from holiday hiatus to recap a month of Pens news and talk about our big sports feelings. We share coping strategies, discuss how "real" hockey impacts our transformative fandom experience, and try valiantly to cherish our dumbass team even though everything kinda blows. Come for the Teflon poisoning, stay for the chance to send your enemies to the No Star Game. GOOD WOOD is back.0:00-4:00 Sad Egg Meal (or, the one-morning-only reopening of Evgeni Malkin's Prison Omelettery)4:00-8:00 Winter Classic recap8:00-29:00 Big Sports Feelings29:00-40:00 Happier Times (Kit comes to America & sees Geno's 1000th)40:00-50:00 Teddy Bleuger, Nicest Eyes50:00-60:00 The All Star Game & the No Star Game

Come along with us to Seattle, where the bright lights and new arenas dazzle Bec and the Penguins once again disappoint Jes. In this episode, we rehash everything lovely and horrible that happened at the Penguins vs. Kraken game (including Bec saying PPG Paints Arena SUCKS and is OLD and UGLY and NEEDS TO CLEAN THEIR GLASS) before discussing the recent Twitter discourse over if women are allowed to be real hockey fans when they only watch hockey for Certified Hot Guys Roman Josi and Tyler Seguin. We discuss both the curse of being on Twitter [universal] and the curse of seeing the Pens lose [seemingly unique to Jes]. Bec comes out as a linguistic prude, whatever that means (and we don't believe her). Kit joins us in spirit via a direct quote from a past episode. Jes advocates for the emergence of women's beach volleyball fanfiction. The fourth wall might be dead. Don your mourning clothes and tune in as we figure out how the hell to do fandom without it.Runtime: 67 min || Recorded 11.27.22Episode contents: 00:00-10:00 Bec and Jes discuss Bec's trip to Seattle10:00-23:00 Women only watch hockey for hot guys (according to Man Twitter)23:00-33:00 The fourth wall across social media33:00-46:00 Being open about fandom and minding fandom spaces46:00-58:00 Hockey Media Knows About Us (And That's Why We Love Tumblr)58:00-end Fandom as a product of the platforms it operates on

Dear Pens friends: have you fallen into a Despair over our team’s inability to tell left from right or ‘playing defense’ from ‘not playing defense at all, ever, what is defense’? Well, we bring you the antidote. In this episode, we’re celebrating Sully’s 300th win (and uh, ignoring the six consecutive losses) with a special episode about our favorite silver fox. Bec tells spoooooky stories about Sid ‘Coachkiller’ Crosby’s bloody reign of terror—and the pottery class that changed everything. Jes rhapsodizes about Sully’s deeply sexy understanding of pedagogical research (this man can READ). And Kit muses on whether Mark Donkifying Connor McDavid could somehow fix what’s broken in him. Plus: Sidney Crosby’s banana bread, coaches as side characters, Dan Potash’s hot bitch season, and our fandom’s growing willingness to open our hearts to the elderly (you see Sid’s hair? You see how old him?). Enjoy Episode 6, y’all, and keep the faith. Surely Mike Daddy Sullivan will save us!Runtime: 75 min || Recorded 10.22.23Episode contents: 00:00-13:00 Reverse retro jerseys & updates13:00-45:00 Sully's philosophy of coaching/teaching45:00-55:00 Sully's failed projects (aka two times it didn't work out... and one time it did)55:00-60:00 Sully & other side characters in Sid/Geno fic60:00-end Mike Sullivan's Center for NHL Players Who Can't Read Good (And Can't Do Anything Else Good Either, Lord Won't Someone Please Help Them)Further reading/viewing: Player Development & How They Learn: A USA Hockey Talk with Mike Sullivan (YouTube lecture)How Mike Sullivan and the Penguins Became a Perfect FitPenguins Coach Mike Sullivan on Winning -- and LosingProfessor Sullivan Outlines Some of His Coaching Philosophy

Happy opening night, dear listeners! In Episode 5, your hosts break out the metaphorical champagne for a freewheeling season preview featuring new season's resolutions, a fresh crop of Mark Donks, and bold predictions about comedy physics. Jes comes bearing good tidings of great joy (it's almost Movember). Kit confirms that cat boy Tanger is real (meow). Bec opens up her relationship with the Pens to date the Flyers (Sid's cool with it—he loves those guys!). We're as giggly as Sidney Crosby at night practice, because HOCKEY'S BACK, BABY!!!