PWHL Boston veterans Hannah Brandt, Sophie Shirley, Sidney Morin, and Emily Brown talk about their reasoning for returning to Boston for another season, with unfinished business and stability at the front of mind.
Entering PWHL free agency, players had a choice to make: stay with their team from the inaugural season, or test the waters of free agency.
Many players chose to former including PWHL Boston's Sidney Morin, Emily Brown, Hannah Brandt, and Sophie Shirley. While many factors played into their decisions to stay, "unfinished business" was high on the list.
Boston fell in game five of the PWHL finals to PWHL Minnesota, losing the Walter Cup. With much of their roster still intact, the veteran core are thinking of a title.
"I do feel like we have unfinished business," said Hannah Brandt, who signed a two-year extension with Boston. "I feel like we were so close to that Walter Cup and I feel like we have the right group of people and I really want to be a part of that."
"I feel like that's what really drove me to go back to Boston," said Brandt.
While that was one factor, stability was the other. By signing in the exclusive window, each of the four returnees locked in a guaranteed deal, meaning unless Boston brokers a trade, they can't be released before the end of the contract is up.
"The stability of being in the same place again...being a younger player, the conversation I had with the coaches it was continuing to develop my game," said Sophie Shirley. "I felt like I had created a really good relationship with them. In talking with them, I think we all kind of agreed this could be a place for me to be able to develop my game."
From the stability of development, to the stability of not moving from city to city and knowing what another season will bring, the guaranteed deals were a big part for players early this offseason.
"I really wanted to have some stability in playing in the same place for more than one year and I think we had a really special group this past season," said Sidney Morin. "A group that was willing to show up to the rink every day and work hard."
The landscape of professional women's hockey certainly caused players to move around a lot over the last decade in order to find a place to compete. For Morin that involved Jönköping, Örnsköldsvik, and Linköping Sweden, Lugano, Switzerland, followed by Minnesota and then Boston.
Last season was Emily Brown's second as a pro, and her first in one location. She played for Team Sonnet in the PWHPA for her first pro season, stopped at various cities as part of the Dream Gap Tour without a home rink.
"Really the stability was huge, I felt like I had the resources here in Boston to become a better player," Brown said.
Now, it's a long offseason followed by a return to a longer season two. PWHL Boston's veterans will be ready when the puck drops on 2024-2025 to avenge their Walter Cup loss.