What We've Learned About The 'Culture' Of PWHL New York

PWHL New York finished last overall, but looks wildly improved this offseason. Through their ups and downs last year, the team started to form their own identity and a team culture. Here's a look from Cee Benwell.

PWHL New York struggled in year one finishing last overall. They also had to replace head coach Howie Draper, and curtail issues in their room. This offseason however, no team looks to have done more to their roster and their bench than PWHL New York, who enter year two with renewed hope. Through it all, the team developed a culture and identity of their own.

Here is a look back at what PWHL New York was able to develop in their first season.

Key staff: GM Pascal Daoust, Coach Howie Draper (Departed), Greg Fargo

Team leaders: Alex Carpenter, Micah Zandee-Hart, Ella Shelton

PWHL New York looked like an upstart that might make some noise at the beginning of the season, winning the historic first game in Toronto by posting a shutout against the hosts. Without the pressure of playing in a market where they had to carry heavy expectations, they looked poised to surprise other teams with their underdog mentality. But soon it became noticeable that even though Alex Carpenter was scoring at a high pace, others weren’t. Defender Ella Shelton emerged as one of the steadiest blueliners in the league, and also contributed offensively but the other pieces weren’t fitting together.

The disjointed identity seemed to be reflected in their split home arenas: they played in three different rinks (Bridgeport’s Total Mortgage Arena, Long Island’s UBS Arena, and the Prudential Center in New Jersey). The Bridgeport location was already struggling to support its AHL team, and it definitely wasn’t the right choice for the PWHL team, including PWHL New York setting the unfortunate record of the lowest attendance for any game this season in Bridgeport.

One of the bright spots was the strong play of goalie Corinne Schroeder, who surprised observers with her steady presence. She was second in the league in save percentage at 0.930 with 15 games played (the overall leader, Montreal’s Elaine Chuli at 0.949, played 8 games). That earned her an invitation to the Rivalry Series in February with Team Canada.

However, only Carpenter and Shelton were reliably giving the team any offense. There were some rumblings about dressing room chemistry and complaints about coach Howie Draper not setting up team systems that suited the type of players on the roster. Still, their culture was an “us against the world” mentality with some fun undertones, embodied in players like Abby Roque and breakout star Jade Downie-Landry. Fans christened them the “Pizza Rats” early on (named after a New York City viral video of a rat carrying a slice of pizza).

Other players, like forwards Chloe Aurard and Élizabeth Giguère, under-performed all season long. Spending high draft picks on these players looked like a miscalculation by GM Daoust. Captain Zandee-Hart was injured for the first five games of the season, and when she returned, she didn’t elevate the blue line to where it needed to be. The scrappy underdogs were turning into simply a disappointment as New York became the first team that looked destined to be eliminated from playoff contention. Even in a league where parity was the norm, their consistently lacking results edged them closer to the Gold Plan in late March.

As it became more clear that this wouldn’t be a successful season for the team, fans held onto a sense of humor and optimism. The #1 draft pick would be no small addition, with Princeton’s Sarah Fillier as the prize. Down the stretch, the team played a little more loosely, gave third goaltender Lindsey Post a start in their final against Minnesota (which she won), and gave season ticket holders game-worn jerseys after that game.

Coach Howie Draper stepped down and GM Pascal Daoust hired former Colgate head coach Greg Fargo to bring a new identity to the group. Assistant coaches recently named are Josh Sciba from Union College (who worked previously with Fargo at Colgate) and Lauren Williams from Mount Royal University.

The team now has a chance to redeem last season with the addition of the generational talent Fillier, and several other key additions (Maya Nylén Persson, Noora Tulus, and Elle Hartje) from the 2024 draft, where most agreed they had a strong showing. Still their identity has a lot to do with where they will play and whether they connect with fans. Ultimately, winning still speaks louder than anything else.