There's plenty happening in the PWHL this week, including news that this will be Brittany Howard's final season, injuries, and news from Switzerland and Sweden.

The PWHL is about to enter the league's longest break of the season in order to allow players to compete in the IIHF World Championships in Utica, New York. Players from Switzerland, Germany, Japan, USA, Canada, Finland, and Czechia from the league will compete in Worlds.

Here's a look at what we're hearing and seeing across the PWHL this week.

Howard Leaving PWHL For Coaching Job

PWHL Toronto's Brittany Howard will complete her final season of professional women's hockey as an athlete this season before transitioning to a full time coaching position in the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite organization serving as the head coach for the 16U and 19U girls programs. Howard is familiar with the Pittsburgh community having played her NCAA hockey at Robert Morris University, where she graduated as the program's all-time leading scorer. Howard has played the bulk of her professional career in Toronto having played for the CWHL's Toronto Furies, PHF's Toronto Six, and now PWHL Toronto.

With Roster Freeze Done, Injury Watch Gets Serious

With teams no longer having the ability to add players to their rosters, every injury from here on out will become magnified. At the Frozen Four in New Hampshire this week, Boston's Loren Gabel was seen sporting a sling. She has not been placed on LTIR, yet, but it seems likely. If Gabel's injury is long term, it would be interesting to see if Boston tries to get Caitrin Lonergan into the lineup. She's a skilled forward with plenty of speed, who could add some tenacity to Boston's lineup with offensive upside. Zoe Boyd from PWHL Ottawa was played on LTIR this week. The timing was not favourable for Ottawa who traded away defender Amanda Boulier last week in exchange for Tereza Vanisova. Ottawa signed reserve Lauren MacInnis to fill the position. 

Speaking Of Ottawa

Mike Hirshfeld instantly became a general manager unafraid of making bold moves when he made not one, but two significant trades at the PWHL Deadline. His statement following the deals saying he did this to make his team better and win a championship didn't resonate with fans immediately, who had seen multiple fan favorite players leave the city, hit home with a thundering boom this week. In front of a packed house in Ottawa, Hirshfeld's refreshed roster beat the league's top team in Toronto. It came days after beating New York. In fact, in Ottawa's last five games they've played each of the PWHL's teams. The result? Regulation wins against Toronto, Montreal, and New York, and shootout losses to Boston and Minnesota. If the playoffs were to begin today, the team no other PWHL club would want to face is Ottawa. As for those trades, Ottawa's return is looking pretty good right now.

Big Crowds For NCAA Frozen Four

The attendance to watch the NCAA Frozen Four semi-finals were the second most all-time at a women's Frozen Four. It comes as another indication of the rapidly growing market for women's hockey globally where attendance records in leagues across the world have been falling in recent months. It's not hard to see that the PWHL is creating interest in women's hockey at all levels. For the Frozen Four semi-finals in Durham, New Hampshire, a crowd of 3,553 was recorded. The only semifinal with a larger attendance was in 2003, when an attendance of 4,701 in Duluth, Minnesota was recorded.

Babstock Back...But It Wasn't Smooth

Kelly Backstock found her way back to North American professional hockey after a brief stint in Switzerland. After not being selected in the PWHL Draft, Babstock went overseas to play in Switzerland with Lugano. It's a team that also included Akane Shiga's sister Aoi Shiga and fellow Japanese national team member Yoshino Enomoto, as well as multiple members of Italy's national team. Lugano however, was a team in shambles. Last year the team ceased operations for financial reasons, and the team president was arrested for financial crimes. This year, while the team managed to play, things did not go smooth, including for international players. While it's uncertain who was involved, it's rumored that international players competing with Lugano were deported as the team did not acquire necessary visas for the players and had them there illegally. To end the season, Lugano did not challenge the SWHL-B qualifier, and instead accepted immediate relegation to Switzerland's second league. After playing in Lugano, Babstock will certainly be happy to join PWHL Boston, even if it is only as a reserve player.

Lulea Watch Is Underway In Sweden

If there's one team who will attempt to find a way to keep elite European players in Sweden, it's six-time reigning champion Lulea. The problem is, multiple players from Lulea including defenders Ronja Savolainen, Daniel Pejsova, and Ann Kjellbin, and forward Noora Tulus. While she still has a year remaining on her contract, Viivi Vainikka also has her sights set on the PWHL. Teams across the SDHL will be watching their player pools carefully. SDHL runner up MoDo will lose leading scorer Lina Ljungblom to the PWHL, while Brynas, another top team in the league will see a mass exodus of players including Klara Peslarova, Sini Karjalainen, Anna Meixner, Noemi Neubauerova, and Jennina Nylund, a list which could grow to include captain Maja Nylen Persson as well. Frolunda was the other semi-finalist in the SDHL this season, and while 10 members of their roster are already signed through next season, including stars like Michelle Karvinen, Andrea Dahlen, Emilia Vesa, and Hanna Olsson, the team announced several others will not be back. That list, which it's unconfirmed if they intend to declare for the PWHL Draft, includes defender Lindsay Agnew, who could certainly find a home in the PWHL, as well as fellow Canadians Sarah-Ève Coutu-Godbout, Kaitlyn Yearwood, and Finnish forward Matilda Nilsson.