As PWHL Boston meets the half-way point of the season; we look back on the last 15 games and ask…what’s going on here?
The PWHL season is short; a mere 24 games and four months long not counting the breaks for international competition baked in, and already the league has the momentum of a freight train.
Games in Canada are routinely sold out, the Minnesota squad has absolutely killed it in recent months, and in general it really feels as if the league, though many it’s initial stumbles were and still are sticking points, has found it’s footing and a groundswell of support.
…If only the Tsongas Center could share in that joy, because while it is only the first season and there’s plenty of time still for the team to figure themselves out, things haven’t been working entirely as intended.
So let’s bring you through what’s been going on, and what we can learn about it.
The Need To Knows
- Games Played: 15
- Record (Wins, OTW, OTL, Loss): 4-3-2-6
- Points: 20
- Place in Standings: 4th out of 6
- Are they still in a playoff spot?: Yes, if they can stay ahead of New York and Ottawa
- Leading Points: Alina Müller, with 11 points in 15 games
- Leading Goalscorers: Loren Gabel, Hannah Brandt, and Taylor Girard with 4 goals in 15 games.
First, what’s gone right for PWHL Boston
Müller making her mark
We talked up Alina Müller a lot in her drafting, and a part of why is that I personally was previously excited for her to join the PHF’s Boston Pride.
Müller’s play has met my expectations, and well-exceeded them.
Müller in this short season showed up, dropped an incredible amount of assists on the league, and dared everybody else to match them. As of yet, she’s yet to be topped with a league leading 11 in 15 games.
All of that’s fine and good, but I think the most surprising element of her game is that she’s also a little bit of a punk-ass? Under the PWHL’s more physical ruleset she’s been caught throwing all sorts of hits during and after play to establish herself physically in spite of being a slightly smaller player than expected; perfect for this market. I have seen her do at least one really violent thing in each game she’s dressed, and while I don’t 100% condone it due to the refereeing being a lot more stringent in the PWHL, I also can’t say it doesn’t help set the tone for what PWHL Boston wants to be.
Undrafted free agents showing promise
In a league with such low player turnover (after all, this is the first year it’s ever existed), and with such high standards for what being a PWHL player means, the need to prove yourself if you’re a UFA is critical towards success. We can earnestly say that just about every player PWHL Boston has picked up has made an impression.
Kaleigh Fratkin as been a hell of a hired hand, and Aerin Frankel as a goalie has been, without a shadow of a doubt, the superior option in net no matter what the answers to other problems away from her have been. To say nothing of course, about how Megan Keller has done in Green and Grey; being one of the most critical parts of the backend attack and defense in equal measure.
It cannot be overstated how these pickups have been vital towards keeping their playoff hopes alive, and we commend them for their work.
Trades working out!
Boston broke ground by starting the first trade in the league’s history, and it seems like, at least in these early goings, that it’s worked out for them…mostly.
We’ll talk about the curve we’re grading them on, but Susanna Tapani and Abby Cook have been dangerous just about every game that they’ve played in Green and Grey, giving an attack that badly needs to become more dangerous an element they didn’t have previously. Trades in general, especially when there’s only six teams, can be a make-or-break thing for a team and so far it seems like they knocked this out of the park. If the goals and assists keep coming? It will be a huge win for GM Marmer.
And…what hasn’t.
The unbearable weight of scoring a goal
Early on, PWHL Boston was set to be a juggernaut of offense due to the pedigree on display; gold medalists, Olympians, PHF scoring leaders, PWHPA standouts, Rookie phenoms from previous leagues…the works. This was one of the most celebrated forward groups on paper before the season began.
And so far?…The pickings are slim.
Okay, there have been success stories: Theresa Schafzahl looks like she can hang, Susanna Tapani as an add has made them seem a lot better at controlling the puck, Jamie Lee Rattray remains a modern marvel, Müller got her own special part of this article, and Megan Keller has been working overtime to try and make this thing work.
But that’s the thing; all Individuals. Not lines. Not “The Tapani line” or “Knight’s line” or “Müller’s line” or “Keller’s pairing”.
PWHL Boston’s ability to generate offense has been extremely difficult to watch for a litany of reasons: Nobody attacking rebounds, inconsistent passing, tons of shots from the outside and extremely inconsistent ability to attack the net out in front. So many of their games could’ve been won so far if they can manage to get position on defenders and they just can’t right now. A team with this much firepower on it and somehow only being able to conjure a league worst 33 goals is simply unacceptable.
It is a failure to launch in the most exhausting and absurd of ways; a bunch of extremely talented individuals who have yet to figure out how to play as a team nearly halfway through their season.
A Knight to Forget
If I was in charge of Team USA, I would be taking a very long and hard look at the way Hilary Knight has played in both the Rivalry Series down the stretch, as well as in the PWHL this year and have a very stern conversation with her about her performance this year.
And let me be clear; Hilary Knight’s accomplishments are not being taken away nor is her long, long pedigree of success at the highest levels of international competition and in the PWHL and it’s predecessor leagues. She is still Team USA’s premiere goalscorer. She is still probably somewhere in the list of top 10 best women’s hockey players.
…Just not in the top 5 this year.
That’s kind of a problem.
Through 14 games, captain Hilary Knight has 4 points; just behind Hannah Brandt, another veteran of Team USA, and tied with Gigi Marvin; a defensive specialist. That would be fine in a longer season; the fact that several of the very best players in the position of goaltender are all crammed into six teams can definitely limit chances, maybe she’s dealing with something and will come out of it and start scoring like a superstar again…but she’s not in a longer season.
To say this has been a rough season for her is completely understating it; she is struggling tremendously, and where she struggles, so too does the rest of the team.
She needs to be better, in short. Far better.
…Maybe the Tsongas Center actually is cursed for her.
Fighting for the Wheel.
With all of the issues this team has faced despite the depth of raw talent on paper you have to wonder; why aren’t they living up to expectations? Well, in order to figure out any dysfunction, you have to look to the top.
Among the skippers in Green and Grey, you have Hilary Knight with the C, and Megan Keller and Jamie Lee Rattray with the Alternates. Keller and Rattray have clearly lived up to the hype, I’d say Rattray was the biggest draft steal; she clearly should’ve gone higher in the draft. Knight meanwhile…well, we’ve already documented her struggles.
Here in Boston, this is a team that has never fully played together until just before preseason, and it shows. You would expect a lot more from the veteran captain that has been here and done that before. It is clear Knight is frustrated and it doesn’t seem like she is in command of the team like you would think one of your big three year initial free agents would be. It seems more like Rattray has been the best voice in the locker room and on the ice. Now again she is a great pick for Boston, but when you have a player of Knight’s stature and pedigree; high expectations come naturally.
The other question is about the coaching staff. There have also been a real lack of tactic shifts when things don’t work for the team and almost every game has shown a slow start, and the games that don’t…have often had poor finishes. You start to wonder if the team is playing their players in their ideal positions or just throwing combinations at the wall; hoping for something to stick. Some experiments have worked, like allowing Muller to do work at the wing…but not all of them, and that’s what’s caused issues.
Coach Kessel was green as a head coach coming in compared to other coaches around the league and you have to wonder if the lack of experience, compared to say Toronto, is beginning to show.
Defensive draft deficiencies
Offense was the major strength of PWHL Boston coming out of the draft, so it was expected that they’d be playing close games due to their perhaps less than stellar defensive setup.
In fairness, perhaps that was the idea; Make a high-flying, free-wheeling team. You can work with that.
What’s killed the Green and Grey far too often this year however is their crippling inability to adequately defend the netfront and the transition game. Players like Megan Keller and Kaleigh Fratkin are fun. Abby Cook has shown promise…but it’s not enough. Cohesion as a defensive unit in general has been a huge issue across the board, and if you’re going to put a premium on your defensive talent through the draft, it becomes all too clear you need the best, and they haven’t been able to conjure it from their group.
The clear top three defenders have been Keller, Fratkin and Sidney Morin, all players that were not drafted. Then you have the second pick, 10th overall draft pick Sophie Jaques that did so poorly to start the season here she was traded, though to complicate that fact…she has in fact done very well in Minnesota since heading there. While going with a free-wheeling approach has merits; you still have to make the right choices with available defenders when you select them and it does not seem like Boston did so.
Scheduled misery
The Tsongas Center’s nice. Lowell itself is a lovely place (most of the time)! The schedule seems hell-bent on making that as untrue as humanly possible, and if I were Danielle Marmer, I would be tearing down doors at the league office demanding answers for why the schedule seems designed to make this team look bad.
PWHL Boston’s average attendance as of this writing is both one of the lowest in the league and what’s most maddening; almost entirely preventable.
A great way that these PWHL teams fill out stands is by inviting local girls teams and high schools to attend, and they usually show up in force to see their heroes/inspirations. But there’s a bit of a problem unique to the Lowell location that’s tied to the hip of the local hockey scene: Wednesdays and Saturdays are completely tied up as either practice days or game days with very little exception to just about every level of play for youth hockey; from mites up to the Varsity High School games as far as I could research…and the entire PWHL Boston schedule seems to live on those two days of the week.
All those parents, players and their friends; all tied up in rinks around Tsongas…but not actually at Tsongas because you paid for those skating lessons and that 100+ dollar jersey and yes you’re getting up at 7am on a saturday so you’re gonna go learn your goddamn crossovers, Katie and/or Jaylen.
It’s a shame because usually these games are much closer than you’d expect. Maybe if the schedule worked for the team even slightly better than it does now, they could get the hometown advantage from the crowd.
What’s next for PWHL Boston?
The good news out of all of this is that if PWHL Boston keeps their position at 4th, they will make the PWHL Playoffs. Given they just beat New York in Overtime yesterday, that seems entirely reasonable with only 9 games left.
However, they will almost certainly be PWHL Montreal’s choice for the first round; a formidable team looking for easy pickings thanks to the brave choice of new . They’ll have a chance to create chaos, but with their issues as they stand, it’s not looking like many are willing to see them as realistic shockers.
If they want to have a chance at surviving, then they need to start winning some more regulation wins, and certainly more goalscoring on their part.
A team this talented really should be able to translate that talent into more wins. Let’s see if they can do that in the final stretch of the season.