Toronto's Natalie Spooner, right, shoots as Montreal's Kati Tabin defends in Toronto on Feb. 16.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
It’s been just 11 months since the Professional Women’s Hockey League held its first game, but the burgeoning league is set to drop the puck on Season 2, with some changes.
After launching its inaugural season on Jan. 1, this one begins Saturday with a longer regular season, with all six teams playing 30 games, up from 24. It will feature an intriguing crop of rookies, some rule innovations and bigger venues, plus new jerseys and identities for the teams, after they played the first season with only geographical locations printed on their sweaters.
Every team takes the ice this weekend, providing the first glimpse of newcomers from a richly talented draft class, such as Team Canada stars Sarah Fillier and Danielle Serdachny out of the NCAA, plus an influx of international players.
Continuing its willingness to innovate, the PWHL will launch its “No Escape Rule,” to help promote more scoring. The rule prevents the penalized team from subbing off players until the first faceoff following the penalty, giving an advantage to the squad on the power play.
PWHL readies for its second season with emerging rivalries, new team names and a dose of confidence
Its unique physical brand of women’s hockey will continue, with some tweaks to clarify rules regarding body checking. Illegal hits to the head will result in a major penalty and game misconduct. The PWHL also aims to get rid of the big open-ice hits that resulted from players colliding from opposite directions, while not playing the puck.
“But the plays where you’re playing the puck first, you’re moving in similar directions, and contact happens,” said Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s senior vice-president of hockey operations. “That’s the type of contact that you’re going to see in our game.”
Here’s what to expect in 2024-25. (Teams are listed in the order of the 2024 regular-season finish with wins, overtime wins, overtime losses and losses).
Toronto Sceptres
Last season: (13-4-0-7, first)
Keep your spoons at home, folks. You won’t be throwing them on the ice early in Season 2, because PWHL scoring leader and MVP Natalie Spooner starts the campaign on the injured list, still recuperating after her off-season knee surgery.
Toronto earned the top seed in last year’s postseason and chose to face No. 4-seeded Minnesota – only to lose in five games to the eventual PWHL champions. The Sceptres are itching to make up for it. They are led by Canadian Olympians Blayre Turnbull and Sarah Nurse, and arguably the best defensive duo in women’s hockey, Renata Fast and Jocelyne Larocque. They were last season’s most prolific hitting team. Toronto has added fire power in free agent Daryl Watts, and draft pick Julia Gosling, another rising Canadian star. They have the reigning goalie of the year in Kristen Campbell, who prompts cheers of “Soup” when she makes a save.
After selling out every home game last season at the 2,500-seat Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Sceptres will play most home games at the 8,000-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Montreal Victoire
Last season: (10-3-5-6, second)
This team was ousted by No. 3-seeded Boston in the first round of the playoffs in the most heartbreaking way – swept 3-0, each loss in overtime.
The popular Victoire move into a bigger primary home this season, playing at Place Bell in Laval, which seats more than 10,000, after dividing home dates among three arenas last season.
Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey are Montreal’s best scorers, netting 10 goals each last season. They have lots more Canadian Olympians, too. Ann-Renée Desbiens stars between the pipes, while defensively, Erin Ambrose, fresh off her PWHL defender-of-the-year honours, logs heavy minutes.
Also worth watching will be forward Lina Ljungblom, who starred with Team Sweden internationally and chosen MVP of the Swedish women’s hockey league last season. Montreal drafted her last year with the final pick and waited more than a year for her to join the team. She’s been turning heads in training camp, playing alongside Poulin.
Boston Fleet
Last season: (8-4-3-9, third)
After sweeping Montreal, Boston pushed Minnesota to the brink in their five-game final series, before falling just short of hoisting the championship trophy.
The Fleet got stellar goaltending from American Aerin Frankel in the playoffs. Two of the league’s top European players have been huge for Boston – Switzerland’s Alina Müller and Susanna Tapani of Finland.
Boston made some big additions through the draft – Ohio State standout Hannah Bilka and Czech defender Daniela Pejšová.
The Fleet leans heavily on veterans Hilary Knight and Megan Keller of the United States and Canadian Jamie Lee Rattray. None will soon forget how close they came to a championship.
Minnesota Frost
Last season: (8-4-3-9, fourth; won PWHL championship)
Before Sunday’s season opener against New York, the Frost will raise a banner at Xcel Energy Center to celebrate winning the inaugural Walter Cup.
Taylor Heise, first overall pick in the inaugural PWHL draft, delivered as playoff MVP. The Minnesotan anchors this squad, which staged a comeback after losing its final five games of the regular season, plus its first two in the playoffs.
Heise is joined by fellow Team USA stars Grace Zumwinkle, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Kelly Pannek, and Lee Stecklein, plus goalie duo Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley.
Sophie Jaques, acquired in a midseason trade with Boston, provided a defensive punch. Michela Cava was a clutch scorer in the playoffs. They also acquired more defensive skill by drafting medical student and Canadian Olympian Claire Thompson.
The Frost will hope to run it back, if they can shake off a weird offseason in which the team replaced winning general manager Natalie Darwitz with Melissa Caruso.
Ottawa Charge
Last season: (8-1-6-9, fifth)
Ottawa didn’t make the playoffs last season but always drew impressive crowds in its home barn, TD Place.
Returning veterans include a mix of national team players: Canada’s Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark, Ashton Bell, and goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, plus Americans Gabbie Hughes and Savannah Harmon.
Ottawa lost Watts, provider of 10 goals last season, to free agency. But it gained the No. 2 overall draft pick, forward Serdachny, best known for scoring Canada’s gold-winning overtime goal at the 2024 world championship against the United States. Many believed the Colgate University standout would also have been a worthy No. 1 pick.
The Charge worked to get better on the back end via the draft, selecting defenders Ronja Savolainen and Stephanie Markowski, from Finland and Ohio State University, respectively.
New York Sirens
Last season: (5-4-3-12, sixth)
New York began last season with four wins, but then faltered down the stretch, finishing at the bottom of the standing and missing the playoffs.
But it earned the first pick in the 2024 draft and used it on Canadian Olympic standout Fillier. The recent Princeton grad notched a hat trick in a preseason game against Toronto, flashing what she can do. She’ll play on a line with one of Team USA’s veteran attackers, Alex Carpenter. The new coach is Greg Fargo, who coached the women’s team at Colgate.
The New York market lagged behind others in attracting fans to home games last season, largely because it had three different rinks. Now, the Sirens will call Newark’s Prudential Center their main home.