Bringing The PWHL Walter Cup To The Hollywood Sign

What's up, guys? Leslie Robbins here for Young Hollywood, inches away from the Hollywood sign. And I'm joined by a hockey champion and her very, very shiny trophy. You're only going to see it here, folks. The champion of the Walter Cup. You are in Hollywood. We're on top of Hollywood. You are on Young Hollywood. Here we are.

Here we are with this. Here we are. Who would have thought? Walter's making it to Hollywood, but I'm so excited to be here. This is so incredible. I grew up in LA. Um, this is a place where my friends and I used to hike when I was in high school all the time.

Now, let's talk about this cup. Your rookie season with Minnesota Frost. And you win the championship.

Yeah. Uh, I mean, honestly, I think I blacked out a little bit. I was just so excited that the game was over. The whole series actually, we wanted to overtimes every single game, including the championship one. Uh, so just to be able to win it was a surreal feeling and being able to have my friends and family as well in the crowd just to be able to come down, celebrate me, give me hugs, embrace me, was a really cool feeling.

We are about to embark on something that really no one gets to do. It's pretty special. We're going to like go to the Hollywood sign. Could you ever have imagined growing up, seeing that sign from a distance that you would be here now as a champion with your trophy?

No.

You're the hometown hero basically. You know that, right?

Yeah, no, I never would have imagined this. I remember kind of seeing it in movies and people come up there and I'm like, oh, that's so cool. But I always knew that it was never allowed.

Okay, when you were growing up in LA, what dreams did you have?

I wanted to be my own boss. Um, and in a weird way, I'm doing that right now in my hockey career. I'm able to take charge and do what it is that I want to do out there on the ice day in and day out. Um, and I'm just super blessed to wake up and play the sport that I love every single day and to be able to get paid for it and to be my full-time job is really cool and very special.

I get to take you to the Hollywood sign. We're going to take this bad boy with us.

Awesome. Let's do it. Let's do it.

We can't forget this. I got you. Yeah, season tickets to the Austin Stars. Oh, sweet. That's great. Thank you. We just ran into hikers. Yeah. And his daughter, his daughter plays hockey and knows you and wanted to take a selfie with you.

Yeah, I mean that's awesome. I think that just is a testament to how much the sport of women's ice hockey has grown and even his daughter being almost 40 years old and playing the game and starting it now because her family's getting involved, really just shows how much the community gets behind everyone and how awesome of a sport it is.

This is what two years into the Women's League. And I mean Minnesota won twice, but you had to take the journey all growing up as a girl playing hockey.

I grew up playing boys Triple A hockey in California all the way through until I left for college. So just being able to see the girl's game really grow and what it's been able to do for the community of SoCal has been honestly incredible.

So when the professional women's hockey league began, did you automatically say, that's my goal or it was just a matter of playing through Harvard?

No. So growing up, my goal has always been to be uh an Olympian for Team USA. Growing up, we didn't have the PWHL. We didn't really have a sustained league that we could look up to and even graduating from Harvard, there wasn't a league that existed. I was just planning on going and working in finance to be completely honest with you. Um, upon graduating from Clarkson um with my masters and then the league formed and it kind of was just a blessing in disguise that popped up out of the blue and I was able to take advantage of it.

I see a extra little path here. I think we're about to head to some very, very, very famous letters. Given you are the chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust. That means we are trusting you Second guest: Yes.

to keep us safe. That is a really, really, really, really steep hill. We're going to repel down to get to the letters. Walk me through what is about to happen. Second guest: We're going to go down a 45° almost a 45° incline down to the Hollywood sign today. We're using a rope, mountaineering rope actually. You, I have to check your shoes. You got the right shoes on. You follow instructions and um the sign was originally built in 1923 as an advertisement or a gimmick to bring people up here to buy plots of land. So this was the Hollywood land development company selling plots of land to a new industry coming into town called the movies. Here's the giant key to the Hollywood sign.

Oh. Stop. This is my trophy. That's great. Second guest: It is. It is. I'll prove it to you. I'll prove it to you. Guarding the Hollywood sign, the one of the most iconic landmarks on planet Earth is a lock from 1985.

What? Really? Second guest: And it's been secure. People respect this lock. People respect this lock.

Okay, I'm coming in. You know that's blue, right? This is Tiffany. It's a Tiffany trophy. It's amazing. It weighs, I think, what, 30 pounds?

Yeah, I think something like 30, 35 pounds. We're touring around Los Angeles and Orange County, Hollywood, the whole, the whole bit this week celebrating. What are some of the stops you have made?

Meet and greet at Great Park Ice, which is actually the rink that I train at in the summer and have a whole bunch of the local girls of the Lady Ducks, Junior Ducks, and just fans of the OC and Anaheim Ducks come out and support me. I also was able to uh take it to one of my old teammates who unfortunately is sick with brain cancer and kind of just be able to put a smile on his face and see him light up. Uh, he's obviously a big fighter and it's important for me and my teammates are a big reason of why I'm here today. So it was really special for me to be able to go down there and celebrate with that with him because he's unfortunately not able going to be able to make it up to the party that I'm having on Saturday um in my hometown in Hermosa to be able to celebrate with all my friends and family. We're doing this really cool thing, which I'm literally touching the Hollywood sign, which is insane right now. Going to go tour Universal after this. Um, be able to take it back to my alma mater of Beverly Hills High School and see my old basketball coach as well then. So, going to do that and then have an event tonight with the LA Kings and wrapping off the whole weekend by being able to throw out the first pitch of the Dodgers game.

The trophy is named after the owner of the Dodgers. Mark and Kimbra Walter, who also own and the primary investors in the PWHL. Not to mention you got to go to the ESPYs, which is like the end-all, be-all of red carpets for sports. You've made it.

Yes.

You've made it.

That was, that was really cool. That was very much show of a pinch me moment just being out there with just so many incredible athletes. It was really inspiring to go to and I was just so fortunate to be able to walk that red carpet out there. So it was really cool.

Okay, let's walk a little bit further uh next to this Hollywood sign and we're going to get a pretty stellar view with this trophy. Let's do it. Fans first, my lady. This is quite surreal. We're walking in front of the L for LA for love, for look at you now, girl. This is insane. This view is spectacular. Malibu, Downtown LA, Century City, the Pacific Ocean, my little hometown of Hermosa. Spot in the dark. And you went to Beverly Hills High School CIF Southern section champion twice in basketball.

Yeah. Not basketball, not even hockey. I was a hoopster back in my day. Crazy. Tried to be my best. I feel like you almost can honestly see my high school because it's just behind Century City over there.

You can see your high school.

Yeah, which is crazy. It's all the way over there. Shout out Beverly High.

I think this is the perfect place right underneath the W to unveil little old Wally here. What do you think?

Wait, you're calling it Wally? It has a nickname?

Yeah, it's Wally.

Is that like an insider kind of thing? 'Cause I didn't know it had a nickname.

Yeah, it's kind of what our team nicknamed it last year after they won. So it lived on this year. You're probably going for a three peat, I'm assuming. Is that is that the goal?

Oh, yeah. That's always the goal. Never be satisfied. Never complacent. Always want to win. Cliche. I know, but how do you feel in this moment?

Yeah, this is pretty breathtaking. It's spectacular.

I'm just I'm so grateful to be up here and to be on top of this sign and to be looking out on my beautiful city.

I think you need to lift it.

Really?

Yeah. With your help. Okay, okay. I come behind you. Here we go. Okay. Woo! Okay, Dom, it's time for my sunglasses cuz it's so bright up here and and the sun is reflecting off of this trophy. But here's a fun fact about this trophy.

It's only really the second sports trophy to ever make it to the Hollywood sign. The president of the LA Kings now, Luke Robitaille, when he played for the Detroit Red Wings in 2002, when they won the Stanley Cup, they brought that cup up here. So now here we are all those years later, back celebrating hockey in Los Angeles.

Yeah, it's awesome. I think that shows hockey belongs in LA. We want a team, we need a team. It has a rich history here. Instead of uh Hollywood, it should become Hockeywood. Hopefully all the Frost fans in LA are loving this one too. Woo! Woo!