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2024 PWHL Offseason

The Victoire de Montreal has signed Abigail Boreen to a three-year deal; she was a reserve player for Minnesota in the first season, because of her graduate schooling going on at the time.

The full schedule of games for the 2024-25 season has also been released (available at thepwhl.com and each team's site). Games will start November 30 and run through May 3.
 
Anyone have a sense of who the best player in the world is these days, that we can watch in North America?

Has to be someone who can stay healthy.

My unscientific top 3

Poulin - we all know.

KK - I thought we weren’t supposed to notice D . Most noticeable and fun player to watch last worlds.

Fillier - she tore it up with goals last year at a Princeton but her team depth was not what it once was. Let’s see what she does with carpenter and Roque. She has tank vibes, kid doesn’t get hurt.

Honorable mention
Heise - needs to stay healthy. But the overall #1 pick did help deliver a championship to Minnesota’s pro team.

open to all arguments… I didn’t even know the recent rivalry series was happening. A miss by the athletic. Drill us with the essential info. So I may be behind the times.
 
Maybe I’m just being cranky and maybe it’s because there’s not as many teams or stars? But all the injuries are insane. I feel very comfortable saying that many male pro athletes assess situations and don’t go “all out” all the time. Is it possible the players need to lighten up and in certain situations and it would be better for their health and on ice product?

I don’t know what the issue is in women's Hockey but every rivalry series that ends with injuries is obnoxious.
 
Lindsay said:
My unscientific top 3

Poulin - we all know.
...
Click to expand...

I am also somewhat behind the times... the last professional level women's hockey I watched was some time in the PWHL finals series, not having been able to see the Rivalry Series this month.

Definitely Poulin, and within Canada I would also say Sarah Nurse and Laura Stacey. Also, I found these box scores for the Rivalry Series; unfortunately I think they are only still showing it on NHL Network.

How will Fillier perform in her first year (one year contract so far) for New York? I'm looking forward to seeing her play, and this is an interesting question.
 
BowWowWow said:
The PWHL has released their jerseys for this year!
Click to expand...

I think the Frosties' F is ugly and looks off-center. The other logos are all nicely centered. The style of the F makes me think of GatorAde because it reminds me of that energy bolt in the GatorAde logo. It's just not even close to as nice as the other logos. The C of the Ottawa Charge makes me think of the Calgary Flames so that's my second least favorite logo. The Victoire is without a doubt the most beautiful jersey of them all. So Montreal, then Toronto, then I'm torn between Boston and NY, and then I don't care for the others.
 
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BowWowWow said:
I am also somewhat behind the times... the last professional level women's hockey I watched was some time in the PWHL finals series, not having been able to see the Rivalry Series this month.

Definitely Poulin, and within Canada I would also say Sarah Nurse and Laura Stacey. Also, I found these box scores for the Rivalry Series; unfortunately I think they are only still showing it on NHL Network.

How will Fillier perform in her first year (one year contract so far) for New York? I'm looking forward to seeing her play, and this is an interesting question.
Click to expand...

Nurse and Stacey - great reminders. Both with good starts/ goals today.

Watching on YouTube and the atmosphere at the Montreal game seems great.
 
Poulin continues to be a cheat code. Winner in the shootout.

Ottawa absolutely needs to avoid OT this year. They had the lead in the third, an obvious charge was committed against Laura Stacey and Gardiner from Barnes tied it up in the ensuing power play.

game presentation was amazing, the jerseys look great. I actually really like the Charge.
 
Ottawa defeated Toronto tonight, 3-2 in Ottawa.
The level of play in the league seems improved from last year. Less manic speed; more skill at a still impressive speed. Serdachny is a lot of fun to watch, seems both purely skilled and a lanky strong player. She pairs well with the heart and soul play of Clark.

The game had a boarding call in the corner with less than 5 seconds left. Salvolainen (spelling) crushed a Toronto player. I appreciate Nurse’s anger on her behalf. I’m not sure I agree with the way some of the players stand on the ice. This victim was stationary but still left herself in a vulnerable position. Not asking to be hit because that doesn’t seem fair but also is it fair she can perch a foot or so off the scrum in a vulnerable position, kind of blocking others from entering the puck battle on the wall? Doesn’t seem like it.

sometimes it feels like players are also turning their backs as a player approaches. I’m sure there are a lot of factors going on, and certainly I am removed/out of touch from positional elite hockey but this is my main criticism of this league - that someone is going to get tragically injured, or if they are lucky, that the league’s product will be hurt because players are out with injuries or suspensions.

Anyway all ended well and the Charge (hot take I actually love their jerseys) play Montreal on Friday at Ottawas NHL rink. Hopefully Captain Jenner is back.
 
Interesting, yes, I saw the last 10-12 minutes of the Charge - Sceptres game and agree both about the heightened level of play and the possible issue with the boarding call. I think that Nurse was the felled player on Toronto, and Savolainen may have been making the case that she was trying to fall with the hit. Certainly looked like a bad crosscheck at first, but rather weirder on the replay.

Toronto not getting back well allowed the pair of Mrazova and Vanisova to score the game-winner; that play looked chaotic. Maschmeyer seemed excellent keeping Ottawa's lead in the 3rd.

It was great seeing the energized crowd in Ottawa via the youtube stream. The home openers around the league seem to be selling out. I think that the Charge jerseys are some of the best too - but looking forward to seeing more of the jerseys in these games. The league neatly added one additional color for each team - blue for Montreal, yellow/gold for Toronto - to the base jerseys from the inaugural season.
 
The spike in injuries are likely related to the level of physicality that seems to be being allowed. It is a bit surprising since the other sports learned a long time ago that you don't want your skill players hurt. Fans pay to see the stars. Just a thought, not looking for an argument and yes it's just my opinion.
 
Reddington said:
The spike in injuries are likely related to the level of physicality that seems to be being allowed. It is a bit surprising since the other sports learned a long time ago that you don't want your skill players hurt. Fans pay to see the stars. Just a thought, not looking for an argument and yes it's just my opinion.
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absolutely. Last night there was an open ice elbow to Alina Muller’s head. Minor penalty, Muller didn’t return to the game.
 
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Yes, the injuries piling up are concerning. While not having seen the hit to Muller, I think the refs or the "situation room" may not have decided well about the level of the penalty. Hope that she recovers soon.
 
Watching the PW and wondering how on earth Hannah Miller didn’t go further with hockey Canada. Then I see she’s from British Columbia… lol. So glad for this league and the new opportunities it’s giving
 
Lindsay said:
Watching the PW and wondering how on earth Hannah Miller didn’t go further with hockey Canada. Then I see she’s from British Columbia… lol. So glad for this league and the new opportunities it’s giving
Click to expand...

Back when I was in college some of the Canadian girls I knew got snubbed by Hockey Canada because they weren't necessarily cookie cutter players. It seemed back then that Hockey Canada couldn't see a good hockey player or a natural goal scorer even if she was right there in front of their faces. Some said they had a list of what a player should be like and if a player didn't check all the boxes on their list then she had no chance of representing Canada at any level. That seems like a really dumb way to operate. Overthinking it instead of keeping their evaluation criteria simple. Is that still going on?
 
shelfit said:
Back when I was in college some of the Canadian girls I knew got snubbed by Hockey Canada because they weren't necessarily cookie cutter players. It seemed back then that Hockey Canada couldn't see a good hockey player or a natural goal scorer even if she was right there in front of their faces. Some said they had a list of what a player should be like and if a player didn't check all the boxes on their list then she had no chance of representing Canada at any level. That seems like a really dumb way to operate. Overthinking it instead of keeping their evaluation criteria simple. Is that still going on?
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I’m sure it still goes on to some extent, but the addition of the PWHL should make it more egalitarian. I believe Cornholio said it best a few years ago - something along the lines of “both Canada and US have pools of about 100 players that they could pick their team from and be guaranteed a shot at gold or silver.”

Of course I think politics play a role, but I get
thats how it goes.

I think the US and Canada both have types they like and I think it will be fun to see how things evolve with the pw, elimination of centralization, and eventual retirement of Mark Johnson.
 
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