Despite this weekend being quieter than most, there's still a lot happening in the PWHL, including injuries, players impressing, new hirings, and first cuts coming.
After the first week of training camp, a few teams are entering a quiet weekend, particularly PWHL Toronto who is taking a four day break, while other teams took only a single day off for American Thankgiving...with the exception of Ottawa who continued their preparations.
Teams are in the final week before cuts need to be made, and are only days away from facing off against each other at the league wide preseason camp in Utica, New York.
Here's a look at what's happening across the PWHL:
Teams Continue To Deal With Injuries
In Toronto Blayre Turnbull dealt with injury most of last week, but by the final day of on-ice sessions, Turnbull had missed four straight days prior to returning to the ice Wednesday. Victoria Bach and Natalie Spooner also missed days for Toronto in the opening week. Bach has yet to sign with the club. Toronto was the lone PWHL team set to take a four day break from team functions for the American Thanksgiving, prior to resuming camp on Monday. Toronto has two American players - Kali Flanagan and Jesse Compher - on their roster.
Montreal also dealt with notable injuries to Ann Renee Desbiens, Laura Stacey, Sarah Bujold, and Erin Ambrose this week. Teams will certainly be monitoring the status of their players leading up to the preseason camp in Utica, New York, which begins in just over a week. Ambrose continues to be the most concerning of the group.
Speaking of injuries, Ottawa's Audrey-Anne Veillette was expected to miss all of training camp, but has been participating in activities with her team. Her timeline for return is still unknown.
Daoust Impresses At Montreal's Camp
Listening to fans and media at Montreal's camp, the first name off many tongue's was Melodie Daoust. The former Canadian national team star who was injured at the 2022 Olympics, is not eligible to sign a contract in camp after an unsuccessful compassionate circumstances application led to Daoust removing her name from the general draft pool. Instead she'll vie for one of two reserve spots. Given the fact that Daoust could play top line minutes if she were able to draw into Montreal's roster, she seems like a logical choice for the team. Daoust's playmaking abilities and general game breaking skills were on full display in Montreal. For the PWHL, getting players like Daoust, Claire Thompson, and Patti Marshall into the league would make sense, as each could improve the calibre of play.
PWHL Hires Neuropsychology Expert
After hiring Dr. Tina Atkinson as the PWHL's Chief Medical Officer earlier this month, the league continued to add to their medical and health staff hiring Dr. Elizabeth Pieroth as the league's new neuropsychology consultant.
Pieroth serces as the director of the Concussion Program at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush University in Chicago.
Pieroth has decades of experience assessing head injuries in athletes. She began working with the National Hockey League in 1997 and has been the head inury specialist for the NHL's Blackhawks, as well as other Chicago based professional teams including the Chicago Bears, Chicago Fire, and Chicago White Sox.
The work Pieroth does combines assessment, prevention, and a return not only to play, but to normal life functioning following a head injury.
Final Weekend Before Cuts Are Made
Teams are rapidly moving toward the first roster reduction date of November 29, which will be immediately followed by a waiver period.
Ottawa, Montreal, and New York are three teams to watch at this first deadline, as they had the largest groups of free agent invites. New York will need to make the most cuts heading into the deadline, as they'll be set to release more than a half dozen players.