Attendance records are about to be set again, and perhaps soon broken again, roster moves are in the works, the Rivalry Series is here, and more.
Attendance records are about to be set again, and perhaps soon broken again, roster moves are in the works, the Rivalry Series is here, and more.
The PWHL is coming off one break in play for NHL All-Star festivities, and is set to enter a longer international competition break for players participating in the Rivalry Series and Euro Hockey Tour. The league enters the breaks with immense momentum in terms of fan interest, and with a few roster question marks beginning to arise.
Attendance Record Will Fall In Toronto, But Montreal May Have Plans
Toronto's 18,800 seat Scotiabank Arena will be sold out for the February 16 "Battle on Bay Street" between Toronto and Montreal setting a new all-time record for attendance at a professional women's hockey game. As online responses imply however, it's not a record we can expect to last forever. In fact, it might only have a one month shelf life. Looking at the PWHL's schedule, March 16 sees two games currently listed as "to be determined" for location. One is believed to be destined for Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena. The other could be a rematch of Toronto and Montreal, this time at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Mark that date on your calendar, as there's speculation that Montreal will host a game this season at the 21,105 seat Bell Centre, and given the rivalry between the two cities, Montreal fans likely want to own the pro women's hockey attendance record themselves.
Ottawa Adds To Their Hockey Ops Department
PWHL Ottawa has added five individuals to their hockey operations department who will serve a variety of roles, but will certainly be key in Ottawa identifying and developing talent. Those five include Jessica Campbell, who coaches professionally in the AHL and has worked with Hockey Canada, Katherine Pippy, one of the people behind Premier Ice Prospects, Brian Durocher, a coach at Boston University, along with Chris Peterson and Joe Bohringer.
Roster Moves Coming?
It's not easy to see in the limited public stats, but there are some players in the PWHL who are spending far more time on the bench of in the press box than they likely expected. This week we learned of one PWHL roster move with PWHL Ottawa releasing Tori Howran bringing in Emma Buckles from Boston. Howran had only appeared in one game this season for Ottawa, while Buckles, who was originally signed in Boston and later made a reserve, has yet to play. The long awaited return of Victoria Bach to Toronto is another move we saw this week, which impacted veteran Jess Jones who was released. The pecking order in the PWHL is becoming clear, and reserve pools are shrinking. More notably, the inevitable scenarios of players being unhappy with situations are growing, and the conversations of potential trades are beginning to echo across the league. There is no public list of players with no-movement clauses built into their contracts, nor do we know if players on three-year guaranteed contracts are eligible to be moved (particularly given the difficulty this would create for a team's salary cap), but there are certainly depth players looking for a change of scenery right now, and there are also teams looking to shake up the dynamic of their locker rooms. Stay tuned on this one.
Rivalry Series Is All PWHL
For the first time, all players participating in the Rivalry Series between Canada and USA will come exclusively from a single league.
Looking at the PWHL's scoring charts, eight of the top 10 scorers in the league will participate in the Rivalry Series this month. The other two players, Switzerland's Alina Muller and Czechia's Tereza Vanisova, will face off in the final stop of the Euro Hockey Tour in Czechia. The PWHL's top scorers who will not be in the Rivalry Series include Lee Stecklein, who decided earlier this year to step away from USA's national team program, followed by the Canadian trio of Loren Gabel, Lexie Adzija, and Jade Downie-Landry.
Questions of the impact we might see through PWHL Toronto's connection to the Canadian national team may also have been answered with Victoria Bach, who hasn't played this season, being named to the February roster, and rookie Maggie Connors also getting the call. That said, Troy Ryan and Gina Kingsbury made the very difficult decision to leave Toronto's starting netminder Kristen Campbell at home in favour of New York's Corinne Schroeder.
What about the open reserve spots?
Conceivably, PWHL teams could look outside the existing player pool at any player who declared themself eligible for the PWHL Draft to fill roster or reserve spots. In Boston, it will be interesting to see if Danielle Marmer does just that and brings back a player like McKenna Brand, or looks to add more speed and veteran experience from a player like Allie Thunstrom, whose style would likely thrive in the PWHL. Defender Kyra Willoughby (once she's healthy) is another name to follow. There has been no public statement on the eligibility of European players following their seasons, but sharpshooter Kaitlyn Tougas won a title with KRS in China, and is now available, and Lina Ljungblom's season has roughly a month to go. Most PWHL teams seem content with their rosters, but injuries during the international competition break, or slow starts following the league's return to action in mid-February could change that thought process.