 | Today we're looking at the brand-new Canadian women's soccer league ahead of its inaugural match tonight. Plus, a huge game for the Montreal Canadians and an update on the NBA play-in tournament. | | | Canada's first women's pro soccer league launches tonight | | | The Northern Super League, a new six-team women's professional soccer outfit with all of its franchises located in Canada, kicks off this evening with the Vancouver Rise hosting the Calgary Wild at 10 p.m. ET at BC Place.
A crowd of around 15,000 is expected for the inaugural match, which you can watch live on the free CBC Gem streaming service and CBCSports.ca.
The NSL also includes AFC Toronto and the Montreal Roses, who play each other this Saturday afternoon at Toronto's BMO Field; along with the Ottawa Rapid and the Halifax Tides, who debut in separate games next week. Here's some basic info on all six clubs.
The league's front-facing co-founder is Diana Matheson, a former midfielder for the Canadian national team who won Olympic bronze in 2012 and 2016. Her goal in stoppage time in the 2012 third-place game against France gave Canada its first-ever Olympic women's soccer medal.
Former Canadian star Christine Sinclair is also involved after wrapping up her playing career last year. International soccer's all-time leading goal scorer is a part owner of the Rise, who will play the rest of their home games at Swangard Stadium in her hometown of Burnaby, B.C.
Each team will play 25 regular-season games, facing the other clubs five times apiece from now through mid-October. The top four qualify for the playoffs, which begin with home-and-away, total-score semifinal matchups and culminate with a one-off championship game on Nov. 15.
The bulk of the NSL's players are Canadian, and each team also has a few international players to, as the league put it, "help elevate the overall quality of play and drive further development." When she first announced plans for her league in late 2022, Matheson said the eventual goal was to repatriate "about half" of the 100-odd Canadian women who play pro soccer abroad, many in Europe or the U.S.-based National Women's Soccer League.
The NSL's biggest get so far has been Quinn, the 29-year-old national-team midfielder who helped Canada to its stunning Olympic gold in 2021 and has played in two World Cups. Quinn signed with Vancouver after spending the past six seasons with the NWSL's Seattle Reign.
Other Canadian NSL players you might know include Desiree Scott, a 37-year-old former national team midfielder who came out of retirement to join Ottawa; and 41-year-old goalkeeper Erin McLeod, who retired from the national team in 2023 and was playing overseas before signing with Halifax.
The NSL has a minimum salary of $50,000 (higher than the men's Canadian Premier League) and each team's payroll is capped at $1.6 million, though Matheson has said that limit could rise if the league's revenues grow. To that end, the NSL has landed sponsorship deals with some major corporations and struck broadcast and streaming agreements with CBC/Radio-Canada and TSN/RDS, who combined will bring all 75 regular-season games to Canadian viewers. The NSL also has a deal with ESPN+ to stream 40 matches this season in the United States.
In many ways, the NSL is arriving at the perfect time. We're in the midst of a women's sports boom, fuelled by exciting developments like Caitlin Clark's incredible scoring feats in college basketball and now the WNBA, soaring franchise values in the NWSL and the birth of the Professional Women's Hockey League, now in its second season.
But that also means competition in the women's sports space is fiercer than ever. Will the rising tide continue to lift all boats? The NSL will be an interesting test case.
For more on the NSL, here's Shireen Ahmed on the emotions of opening night, and here's Chris Jones on how Matheson built her league. | | |  | Former teammates Christine Sinclair, left, and Diana Matheson have helped bring the Northern Super League to life. (Ethan Cairns/Canadian Press) | | | Quickly… | | | A couple other things to know:
1. The pressure is on the Canadiens.
Montreal is dangerously close to blowing what appeared to be a near-certain playoff berth after losing three straight games. Surging Columbus is now just two points back with one game left for each team after the Blue Jackets blanked Philadelphia 3-0 last night for their fifth straight win.
If the Canadiens don't earn at least a point in their regular-season finale tonight at home against playoff-bound Carolina, Columbus can steal the final wild card in the Eastern Conference with a regulation win tomorrow night at home against the eliminated New York Islanders. Whoever gets the spot will face top-seeded Washington in the first round.
With so many Habs fans expected to be glued to their TVs for tonight's 7 p.m. ET puck drop, the French-language leaders' debate was moved up to 6 p.m. So Canadian.
The other three Eastern matchups are all set now after Toronto beat Buffalo last night to clinch the Atlantic Division and lock in a Battle of Ontario against wild-card Ottawa. The Leafs' Mitch Marner reached 100 points for the first time in his career (in a contract year, as luck would have it) while Auston Matthews scored his 400th career goal in his 628th game — six fewer than it took all-time goals king Alex Ovechkin to hit the milestone.
There will also be a Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who finished second and third in the Atlantic, respectively. With Carolina preparing to face Metropolitan Division rival New Jersey, the Hurricanes are expected to rest some key players tonight against Montreal.
In the West, all four matchups are finalized after Minnesota and St. Louis won last night to eliminate Calgary and secure the wild cards. The Blues will face Presidents' Trophy winner Winnipeg in the first round while the Wild meet No. 2 seed Vegas. The other series are Los Angeles vs. Edmonton (for the fourth straight year) and Dallas vs. Colorado.
2. Golden State and Orlando advanced to the NBA playoffs.
Jimmy Butler scored 38 points and Steph Curry had 37 to lead the Warriors to a 121-116 win over Memphis in last night's play-in game for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Golden State will face No. 2 Houston in the first round, beginning this weekend.
Orlando beat Atlanta 120-95 last night for the seventh seed in the East. Hawks star Trae Young scored a game-high 28 points before getting ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct directed at the referees. The Magic will meet defending NBA champion Boston in the first round.
Atlanta and Memphis can still make the playoffs as No. 8 seeds by winning the final round of the play-ins on Friday. The Hawks will face the winner of tonight's game between Miami and Chicago, while the Grizzlies get the survivor of Dallas vs. Sacramento. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you tomorrow. | | | | Not subscribed? Sign up here to get the Buzzer delivered to your inbox. Got an idea, question, comment or other feedback on the newsletter? Drop us a line at thebuzzer@cbc.ca. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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