NEW YORK AND TORONTO – Here’s a look at highlights from the last week in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), plus a look ahead to this week’s action.
CHASING THE CHAMPIONSHIP
The puck has dropped on the inaugural PWHL Finals presented by Scotiabank with PWHL Boston and PWHL Minnesota competing to be the first to hoist The Walter Cup. Boston opened the best-of-five series with a 4-3 win on Sunday night at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell to stay unbeaten through four playoff games and extend their winning streak to six games overall. Boston clinched a berth in the finals with a third straight overtime victory, winning 3-2 at home on Tuesday against Montréal to sweep the semifinal series 3-0. Boston has now played in 12 consecutive one-goal games and have emerged victorious in nine. Minnesota advanced to the PWHL Finals after completing a reverse sweep against Toronto with a 4-1 road victory in Game 5 on Friday. They posted back-to-back shutouts by 2-0 and 1-0 scores at home in Games 3 and 4 of the series after being shutout in the first two games. See all playoff results here.
A LETTER FROM JAYNA HEFFORD
Ahead of the first-ever PWHL Finals, Jayna Hefford, PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, paused to reflect on the league’s inaugural season. Click here to read.
PWHL ATTENDANCE SURPASSES 450,000 FANS
Attendance through the first nine games of the PWHL Playoffs is 58,261 for an average of 6,473 fans per game. Most recently, Sunday’s opening game of the PWHL Finals between Boston and Minnesota at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell had a crowd of 4,508, and Friday’s Game 5 between Toronto and Minnesota at Coca-Cola Coliseum featured a sold-out crowd of 8,501. The league’s total attendance in 72 regular-season games was 392,259 with an average of 5,448 per game. Including the first nine playoff games, PWHL attendance through 81 total games stands at 450,520 – an average of 5,562 per game.
HEISE LEADS PLAYOFF SCORERS
Minnesota forward Taylor Heise (4G, 1A) leads the playoff scoring race with five points in six games. The first overall pick in the inaugural PWHL Draft scored twice in Game 5 against Toronto and added two goals and one assist in Game 1 against Boston. Boston defender Megan Keller (4A) stands alone in second with four points in four games. A total of 11 players are tied for third in scoring with three points each. Among those still competing in the PWHL Finals are Boston forwards Susanna Tapani (3G), Amanda Pelkey (2G, 1A), and Gigi Marvin (3A), along with Minnesota forward Michela Cava (1G, 2A), captain Kendall Coyne Schofield (3A), forward Liz Schepers (3A), and defenders Sophie Jaques (3A) and Lee Stecklein (3A). See all playoff top scorers here.
FRANKEL STAYS UNBEATEN
Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel has won all four of her playoff starts and carries a goals-against-average of 1.37 and save percentage of .961. She has turned aside 171 of 178 shots faced for an average of 42.75 saves per game. Maddie Rooney has started each of Minnesota’s last five games and has a 3-2 record, two shutouts, a 1.12 GAA, and .948 SV%. In five playoff games for Toronto, Kristen Campbell posted two shutout victories with a 0.93 GAA and .962 SV%. See all playoff goalie stats here.
OFFICIATING TEAM FOR PWHL FINALS
A team of 12 officials, consisting of six referees and six linespersons, has been selected for the PWHL Finals. Referees include Grace Barlow (Vancouver, BC), Jared Cummins (Norwalk, IA), David Elford (Kitchener, ON), Jack Hennigan (Halton Hills, ON), Jake Kamrass (Atlanta, GA), and Alex Lepkowski (Buffalo, NY). Linespersons include Antoine Bujold-Roux (Albany, NY), Jérémy Faucher (Cowansville, QC), Laura Gutauskas (Woolwich, ON), Anthony Lapointe (Lachine, QC), Greg Offerman (Madison, WI), and Shawn Oliver (Ottawa, ON). The officiating team was appointed by David Taveroff, PWHL Director of Officiating, in consultation with fellow supervisor Bryan Lewis, and the league’s Hockey Operations.
PWHL AWARDS FINALISTS
The league will continue announcing finalists for regular-season awards this week, including Defender of the Year on Tuesday, Goaltender of the Year on Wednesday, and the Billie Jean King MVP Award on Thursday. Last week, finalists for Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Forward of the Year were announced. Rookie of the Year finalists include Emma Maltais (TOR), Alina Müller (BOS), and Grace Zumwinkle (MIN). Coach of the Year finalists are Kori Cheverie (MTL), Courtney Kessel (BOS), and Troy Ryan (TOR). Forward of the Year finalists are Alex Carpenter (NY), Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL), and Natalie Spooner (TOR).
SPORTS BUSINESS AWARDS
The 17th annual Sports Business Awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday night at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square where winners of 16 different categories reflecting the industry’s best will be announced. The PWHL has been nominated in the Sports Breakthrough of the Year category. Launched in 2008, the Sports Business Awards were established by Sports Business Journal to celebrate excellence in the business of sports.
PWHL: WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY FINDS A WINNING FORMULA WITH NEW PRO LEAGUE
The PWHL’s inaugural season was the focus of a recent BBC News story by reporter Bernd Debusmann Jr who spoke with Jayna Hefford, PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. “The generation playing in this league now likely grew up never seeing women’s hockey and dreamed of playing in the NHL to win the Stanley Cup. Or saw the Olympics every four years,” Hefford said. “But now we’re seeing it on television, almost every night of the week. That’s what young girls are seeing – a realistic career path. Inspiring them to play the game is a driving force of what we’re doing.” Click here to read the full story.
BARBIE AND WOMEN’S PRO HOCKEY—INSIDE THE BRAND’S DEAL WITH THE FAST-RISING PWHL
The PWHL’s partnership with Barbie and the launch of co-branded merchandise was featured today in AdAge. Wrote Jon Springer: ‘That the newly established league had within months reached a deal with one of the hottest brands in popular culture is one chapter in a “storybook” first season for the PWHL, said Amy Scheer, the league’s senior VP of business operations’. “It’s everything we hoped it could be and believed it could be; it’s delivered wildly above our expectations,” Scheer said. “Our fans have just turned out in droves. The partnership community has been so receptive of our product, our sport and our players. Our social media has grown significantly, our merchandise flies off the shelves. And so it’s been a brilliant inaugural season, I think, on every front.” Click here to read the full story.
PWHL FINALS SCHEDULE
The PWHL Finals continue Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. ET with Game 2 of the best-of-five series between Boston and Minnesota at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. The series shifts to Minnesota on Friday with Game 3 at Xcel Energy Center at 7:00 p.m. ET. If necessary, Game 4 will be played on Sunday in Minnesota, and Game 5 returns to Boston next Wednesday, May 29.
Tuesday May 21
Game 2: Minnesota at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) at 7:00 p.m. ET
Friday May 24
Game 3: Boston at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 7:00 p.m. ET
Sunday May 26*
Game 4: Boston at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 6:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday May 29*
Game 5: Minnesota at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) at 7:00 pm. ET
*If necessary
TSN and RDS are the exclusive home of the PWHL Finals with every game on TSN, TSN.ca, and the TSN app, with French coverage on RDS. Regionally, games will continue to be available on NESN, and select games on Bally Sports North and MSG Networks. All games will be streamed live on the Women’s Sports Network and the league’s YouTube channel.
Visit thepwhl.com to purchase tickets and merchandise, and subscribe to the PWHL e-newsletter to receive the latest league updates. Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus all six team accounts @pwhl_boston, @pwhl_minnesota, @pwhl_montreal, @pwhl_newyork, @pwhl_ottawa, and @pwhl_toronto.
