The PWHL is in their longest international break for the World Championships. It's giving the league weeks to work on unfinished business, and also injured players time to heal.
The PWHL is in their longest international break for the World Championships. It's giving the league weeks to work on unfinished business, and also injured players time to heal.
The PWHL has entered their longest break of the season, with three weeks off for the IIHF World Championships. Dozens of PWHL players will compete, while others will focus on skill development, and get a much needed rest. There are many injury concerns across the league, but the break also gives PWHL brass a chance to complete unfinished business.
Here's what we're hearing and seeing across the PWHL this week.
Poulin Remains Injured, Gardiner Read
It's expected Marie-Philip Poulin will be in the lineup for Canada at the IIHF World Championships despite missing games leading up with PWHL Montreal due to injury, but it's not a sure thing. As Canada began team practices, Poulin remained out of full team activity. She's dealt with back injuries in the early stages of the season, but this time around, it's believed to be a knee issue. Poulin's absence coincides with PWHL Montreal's losing streak. It's concerning for Montreal, and if Poulin isn't 100% at Worlds, or suffers a set back in the round robin, it will not only spell disaster for PWHL Montreal, but Canada. As a precautionary measure, Canada has Jennifer Gardiner with them leading up to Worlds. It's expected that if any player on Canada's roster, including Poulin, is not able to play at the tournament, Gardiner would draw in.
Team Names Still A Work In Progress
An announcement on a championship trophy for the PWHL should come in the next few weeks, but team names are still a work in progress according to the league. The stentorian cry of fans to open the season desperate for team names has quieted. Much as predicted, fans have not faltered in support for teams over a lack of nicknames. As Stan Kasten stated, it's the way things are done in the most popular sporting league in the world, the Premier League, and although the PWHL will have team names, the league wants to get it right.
Ottawa's Injury Situation Precarious
In their final game before the international break, PWHL Ottawa's injury woes grew again, this time losing Becca Gilmore. She's expected to miss three weeks, which should put her back just in time for the PWHL's return to play on April 18. The more precarious injury is that of Zoe Boyd. Boyd had surgery this week due to a broken wrist, that will end her season. It came only days after PWHL Ottawa took a calculated risk trading away defender Amanda Boulier for forward Tereza Vanisova. The injury leaves Ottawa with exactly six defenders left on their roster, one being reserve Lauren MacInnis who is on a 10-day SPA now, but will certainly be signed to a contract to finish out the year in Ottawa. The other is Emma Buckles, who started the season as a reserve in Boston. The two will be tasked with minutes neither could have anticipated only a month ago, and part of Ottawa's success will depend on how this duo steps up.
Will there be an influx of USports declarations to the PWHL Draft?
It's believed that there is little impact to USports players who declare for the PWHL Draft. The league has different rules than the NCAA related to eligibility, meaning that if a player declares and is not selected, returning to USports remains on the table. We saw it last year with Concordia's Rosalie Begin Cyr. She signed a professional contract with the PHF's Montreal, but when the league was acquired to become part of the PWHL, Begin Cyr returned for another season at Concordia. On the men's side, many USports players have professional hockey experience. Some of the names believed to be declaring from USports include Emmy Fecteau, Emma Bergesen, Maggy Burbidge, and Leah Herrfort. Perhaps in the future, we'll see the NCAA abandon their sexist and inequitable rules that allow men's hockey players to be drafted and maintain eligibility, but immediately removes eligibility from women who enter a draft, whether or not they're selected.