What happened on Saturday?
The Boston Fleet activated Kelly Babstock from the reserves on Saturday April 26th, ahead of their matchup with the Toronto Sceptres.
She had played seven games with the team this season, being activated a couple of times throughout the season.
However Babstock’s gritty, tough play has put her in the penalty box more often than not. It has also resulted in multiple suspensions. Most recently on March 29, 2025 when she was suspended for two games after being assessed a Match Penalty for Slew-Footing.
Babstock was placed on reserves following her suspension. However, according to Jared Book on X, “Confirmed with the PWHL that Kelly Babstock served her suspension while on the reserve roster. That… makes no sense and actually benefits teams that have players suspended on non-guaranteed contracts.”
Babstock appeared on the starting lineup for the Fleet on Saturday, and played 9:27 of the game.
The Fleet are struggling with injuries to key players. Alina Muller and Aerin Frankel are both out of the lineup for the time being, and the Fleet called up Babstock.
This was surprising, seeing that she was able to serve her suspension while not actively on the roster.
The league allowed her to be in the lineup, although this raises another question of if players who get suspended can serve their suspension on the reserve list, what is the punishment for committing a penalty that earns a suspension?
As of now, what she did was completely okay with the league. It is something the PWHL should consider moving forward though, because teams could potentially sign non-guaranteed players to contracts in order to target opposing players.
It would not be surprising if we don’t see a modification to this rule soon, it’s too dangerous for players and quite frankly doesn’t make sense. A player who is given a suspension should not be able to serve the suspension while not actively on the roster.
The Fleet are still dealing with injuries and the odds are Babstock will be in the lineup for the future games. However there is good reason to believe this rule will not stand for much longer.
Regardless, the Fleet were able to pull off a 3-0 win against the Toronto Sceptres and are one step closer to playoffs.