Here's a look at the inaugural PWHL game featuring New York and Toronto. The two drop the puck on the 2024 season January 1 at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Here's a look at the inaugural PWHL game featuring New York and Toronto. The two drop the puck on the 2024 season January 1 at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The first ever PWHL game is set to drop the puck on January 1 between PWHL New York and PWHL Toronto.
Here's a look at how the two teams stack up on opening night.
How do they stack up in net?
If preseason camps and national team play are any indication, New York has a distinct edge in the crease. Whether they start Corinne Schroeder or Abbey Levy, both have been rock solid, with Schroeder almost unbeatable over the last year in PWHL preseason, Hockey Canada camps, and the PHF, where she was the Goaltender of the Year as a rookie. Both are calm in their crease, and have big frames that take away more space than many in the league. Both have also seen significantly more playing time in recent years. In fact, Schroeder and Levy each played more games last year than Howe and Campbell combined over the past three years.
Edge: New York
Blueline Battle Brewing
When you look at the top three for both of these teams, we have Jocelyne Larocque, Renta Fast, and Kalie Flanagan going head to head against Ella Shelton, Jaime Bourbonnais, and Brooke Hobson in New York. Throughout the preseason camp, New York's young trio looked a little cleaner at times, but Toronto's trio each have veteran savvy and big game experience. There will certainly be pressure on this first game at Mattamy with a full stands of fans in the house. If New York uses Claire Thompson's first reserve window to open the season while Micah Zandee-Hart continues to work toward her return from injury, New York has the edge. If not, Allie Munroe and Olivia Knowles in Toronto give their team the depth they need.
Edge: Toronto
You Can't Win If You Don't Score
Goal scoring shouldn't be a problem for either team. In Toronto, the task rests primarily on a veteran core of Blayre Turbull, Sarah Nurse, Victoria Bach, Natalie Spooner, Brittany Howard, and Emma Maltais. But they have a secondary group such as Hannah Miller, Maggie Connors, and Jesse Compher that give them enough punch in their top nine. Similarly, New York has skill, but they also have a few X-factors in how they score, and their overall team speed. New York's group of Alex Carpenter, Abby Roque, and Jessie Eldridge will be the three top scoring threats, but New York also has one of the best playmakers in the league in Elizabeth Giguere, and an undervalued secondary wave that includes Jade Downie-Landry, Emma Woods, Jill Saulnier, Chloe Aurard, and Paeytn Levis. The interesting part of this league early on is it will be a battle of the known versus unknown, and the unknown will surprise many.
Edge: Tie
Intangible Make The Difference
Toronto has all the parts, but they didn't come together in the preseason games. The world knows the capabilities of Emma Maltais and Jesse Compher, but they didn't click in the preseason. Natalie Spooner only drew in for the final game, and Victoria Bach, despite her talent, hasn't been with the team enough to develop early chemistry. The gaps in the Rivalry Series which also pulled Troy Ryan and Gina Kingsbury away, won't help Toronto find the missing cohesion. They have an abundance of skill, but when mistakes happened and the wheels fell off, they looked like a team pulling in several different directions. Conversely, New York had line-by-line cohesion, and things seemed to click in the preseason camp, including in their brief practices. Abby Roque didn't register a point, but her play was far from pointless. Despite the fact it was preseason, you could already see her getting under the skin of opponents, and taking their attention off the task at hand. When the puck wasn't going in Toronto's direction, they looked lost, when the puck wasn't going in New York's direction, they looked purposeful.
Edge: New York
By seasons end, there's no telling which one of these teams ends up on top, but one of the two clubs will take a step toward that goal on January 1 in Toronto. In a brief 24 game season, even the opening night is crucial to the playoff push.