All seven teams in action before Holiday Break
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) regular season schedule is headed towards the holidays, but not before all seven teams hit the ice for a series of six games. The Buffalo Beauts host the Toronto Six for two including Friday’s Outdoor Classic, the Minnesota Whitecaps welcome the Montreal Force for their first ever weekend set, and the Connecticut Whale take on the Metropolitan Riveters and Boston Pride.
Here’s a closer look at the action.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 16, 2022
7:00 PM ET – Toronto Six (5-1-2) vs Buffalo Beauts (1-2-1)
(ESPN+ & TSN.ca with Joe Malfa and Erica Ayala)
The first battle of the season between the cross border rivals begins outdoors in Buffalo, and the Beauts hope the experience provides the same boost as it did last season when they shutout Toronto 3-0 at Riverworks. Claudia Kepler, Dominique Kremer, and Autumn MacDougall all scored in that game and are among the team’s returnees in this year’s lineup. Carly Jackson earned her first career shutout with a sensational 36-save performance, but finds herself on the opposite side this season as a new member of the Six. That game stands as Buffalo’s only win over Toronto in five attempts through two seasons. The other game played in the Queen City opened the 2021-22 campaign and came down to a last minute goal by Michela Cava to lift T6 to a 4-3 victory at Northtown Center. So far this season all of Buffalo’s games have been played at home, suffering a sweep against first place Boston last weekend. Toronto has played twice as many games, split evenly at home and on the road, and look to carry momentum from a 5-2 victory over the Riveters last Sunday which gave the franchise its 25th all-time regular season win. All eyes will be on Beauts forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis who faces her former team for the first time.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 17, 2022
2:00 PM ET – Metropolitan Riveters (3-6-0) vs Connecticut Whale (2-2-1)
(ESPN+ & TSN.ca with Phil Giubileo and Erica Ayala)
It’s a Founding Four clash in Connecticut where the Riveters will become the first team to officially head into the holidays with 10 games behind them. They wrap up a lengthy road schedule that will count eight games with their visit to ISCC a week after splitting a two-game set with Toronto. That series included a 3-2 shootout victory last Saturday for the franchise’s 50th all-time win. 16 of those wins have come at the Whale’s expense since the inaugural 2015-16 campaign, however Connecticut has countered with 15 wins of their own in head-to-head competition which counts as their highest total against all PHF opponents. The Pod earned three of those wins last season over four contests, including two at home Jan. 15-16 by 5-1 and 3-2 scores. Amanda Conway led the Whale with two goals and one assist over those two games, and Kendall Cornine scored once with an assist for the Riveters. Both players finished third in scoring for their respective teams a year ago and would benefit from a breakout.
7:00 PM ET – Montreal Force (3-3-0) vs Minnesota Whitecaps (3-3-2)
(ESPN+ & TSN.ca with Sam Fryman and Maura Sheridan, TVA Sports 2)
The Montreal Force hit the road to Minnesota where they’ll meet the Whitecaps for the first time in franchise history. Both teams have three wins but it’s the expansion club that is four points behind in the standings and hoping to seize the opportunity to close the gap on the competition. Perhaps Montreal’s best chance is in the series opener, given all three of their wins so far this season have come during first encounters against Buffalo, Metropolitan, and Connecticut. Conversely, only one of Minnesota’s wins thus far have come in the first game of a series, having swept the Riveters Dec. 3-4 the last time they were in Richfield. The Whitecaps power play has been clicking so far this campaign and ranks first across the PHF with six goals scored on the advantage, meanwhile the Force have only allowed one power play goal to date and boast the league’s best penalty kill. Montreal’s Jade Downie-Landry and Ann-Sophie Bettez have asserted themselves as new PHF stars, while Minnesota’s top offensive producer to date has been defender Patti Marshall with eight points in eight games.
7:00 PM ET – Toronto Six vs Buffalo Beauts
(ESPN+ & TSN.ca with Phil Giubileo and Erica Ayala)
SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2022
2:00 PM ET – Boston Pride (7-1-0) vs Connecticut Whale
(ESPN+ & TSN.ca with Phil Giubileo and Erica Ayala)
It’s round two of the 2022 Isobel Cup championship final rematch, this time in Connecticut where the Whale wrap up a second straight weekend at their new home in Simsbury. They host the first place Pride who opened the season with a 4-0 victory over The Pod on Nov. 5, powered by a 36-save shutout from Corinne Schroeder who recently set the league’s single season mark, and two goals from Loren Gabel who is fresh off a record-tying six-point performance. Abbie Ives was the Whale’s bright spot despite the loss, turning aside a career-high 37 shots in Boston. Last weekend she picked up her first career shutout in the team’s home opener. In last season’s Nov. 13-14 head-to-head in Connecticut, Christina Putigna had a three-point performance including the overtime winner in the Pride’s 4-3 win, then the Whale rebounded with a 3-1 win where Kennedy Marchment capped a four-point weekend. The Whale enter the weekend with the league’s lowest goals-per-game average at just 2.2, up against the Pride who on average allow the fewest goals-per-game at just 2.25.
2:00 PM ET – Montreal Force vs Minnesota Whitecaps
(ESPN+ & TSN.ca with Sam Fryman and Maura Sheridan, TVA Sports)
BUFFALO BELIEVES OUTDOOR CLASSIC
Friday night marks the third edition of the Buffalo Believes Classic, the Beauts’ annual outdoor game at RiverWorks. It’s one of the dates fans circle on their calendars and the two previous outings have not disappointed. On February 21, the Beauts earned a 3-0 shutout victory over their T6 rivals, and back on Dec. 28, 2019 the game featured a four-goal performance from then captain Taylor Accursi against the Riveters. As many as 20 players rostered across both teams during last season’s game could be battling it out in familiar elements, including Cassidy MacPherson who will be the only player to have competed in all three games in the cold winter air. The Beauts will once again be wearing their popular light blue heritage sweaters.
SATURDAY SWEATERS AND STARS
The Beauts will go from their third jerseys on Friday to a specially designed edition on Saturday to support their ‘Autism Acceptance’ game. Niagara Falls, NY native and ‘Big Brother’ Season 23 contestant Britni D’Angelo will be on hand to drop the ceremonial puck. The Whitecaps will be in the festive mood, donning ‘Ugly Sweater’ uniforms while encouraging fans to participate in a Teddy Bear Toss for the Minnesota Children’s Hospital Minneapolis. The ‘stars’ will also be out in Simsbury as the Whale celebrate Kennedy Marchment’s 2021-22 MVP honor with players and staff representatives from the Connecticut Sun, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hartford Athletic, and Hartford Yard Goats.
BIG GAMES FOR MGM
Arguably the biggest free agent splash of the offseason was in Buffalo where Mikyla Grant-Mentis signed with the Beauts. The MVP of the shortened 2021 season is among the most dynamic talents in PHF history with a 1.48 points-per-game average that ranks second all-time among players with more than 30 games played. She’ll be looking to perform at her best this weekend with her former Toronto Six teammates in town. The Brampton, Ontario native is still looking for her first goal of the season but has produced four assists in four games.
TABIN AND WOODS PART OF T6 POWER
Toronto leads the PHF in offense and enters the weekend with 30 goals in eight games. While much has been deservedly made of Brittany Howard’s hot start, forward Emma Woods and defender Kati Tabin have been under the radar stars. Woods has 10 points on four goals and six assists and has produced a pair of three-point performances, maintaining a career point-per-game average in three seasons with T6. Tabin has emerged as a significant signing for the team, hovering among the top contributors at her position with seven points to start the season.
MRAZOVA HEATS UP AT HOME
Kateřina Mrázová is coming off a three-point weekend for the Whale in their series split against the Whitecaps, representing her first points of the new campaign. The Czech star scored on Dec. 10 which marks her first PHF goal since last competing with Connecticut during the 2018-19 season where she tallied five goals and six assists for 11 points in 15 games. The Olympian certainly has a nose for the net, tying for her country’s scoring lead with nine points in seven games in a bronze medal result at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
RIVS RETURN TO CONNECTICUT
Even though the Whale have relocated to Simsbury’s ISCC, a trio of Metropolitan Riveters will feel right at home in Connecticut. Forwards Kaycie Anderson, Catherine Crawley, and defender Taylor Marchin will be playing their first regular season game against former teammates since signing with the Rivs as free agents this summer. Anderson is the longest serving Whale of the group and ranks third in franchise history with 61 games played over five seasons from 2017-22. Marchin accumulated 55 games over four seasons since joining The Pod in 2018, and Crawley debuted with the organization last season where she recorded six points in 20 games.
BRODT TO SERVE ONE GAME SUSPENSION
Minnesota captain Sydney Brodt will serve a one game suspension Dec. 17 when the Whitecaps host Montreal. The supplemental discipline was determined by the Player Safety Committee following automatic review of her major penalty for boarding that was assessed Dec. 10 against Connecticut. The Player Safety Committee reviews all reported major penalties, game misconducts, and match penalties as part of the PHF’s Player Safety Initiative and determines if additional sanctions are warranted in addition to the original infraction.
UMD ALUM DAOUST BACK IN MINNESOTA
Every road trip for the expansion Montreal Force will provide new experiences, but this one to Minnesota might be a little more familiar for defender Catherine Daoust. The 27-year-old spent her four-year NCAA career in the State of Hockey as a member of the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Adding to the nostalgia, over the course of her tenure from 2014-18 she played alongside five current Whitecaps including Sydney Brodt, Ashleigh Brykaliuk, Anna Klein, Sidney Morin, and Emma Stauber that will surely make for a memorable reunion.
NATIONAL TEAM HONORS
Four PHF players have joined their national team programs for international competition and will miss this weekend’s games. Kali Flanagan, who won 2018 Olympic gold and a 2019 World Championship with the U.S. National Women’s Team, has been named to her country’s Rivalry Series roster for two December games. She suited up on Thursday night in Henderson, NV against Boston Pride teammate Élizabeth Giguère who returns to Team Canada after playing in the first three games of the series in November. Canada opened this leg with a 3-2 win, with the next game slated for Monday night in Los Angeles, CA. Pride defender Aneta Tejralová and T6 forward Tereza Vanišová are back with Czechia for the second straight month, competing in the Euro Hockey Tour against Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland.
PTO AND IPC ROSTER UPDATES
The PHF fully supports its players and their participation with national team programs, and has introduced Professional Tryout (PTO) exemption and salary cap relief options for teams while players are away at national team events. Teams that choose the PTO exemption option may sign another player to a PTO for games that a national team player is missing in a ‘one-for-one’ scenario. In these cases the PTO agreements do not count towards the team’s season limit of 10. Teams that choose a salary cap relief option may sign replacement players to new Interim Player Contracts (IPC) during the dates when a national team player is absent. Any cap relief not consumed during this period of time will be reassigned back to that team’s salary cap. An IPC provides a team the flexibility to offer more than the standard $375 of a PTO but without the full benefits of the SPC.
LAING AND TURNQUIST SIGN IPC’S
The Boston Pride have requested and been approved for salary cap relief given their national team absences this weekend. As a result, they have subsequently signed Lexie Laing and Taylor Turnquist to Interim Player Contracts. The 2021 Isobel Cup champions have already suited up for the team this season on PTO agreements, with Laing playing two games and Turnquist competing in six. Of note, the new PTO exemption can be applied retroactively and has been approved for the Pride’s games played Nov. 18-19 and the corresponding PTO’s for Taylor Accursi, Laing, and Turnquist, who competed two games each in place of Loren Gabel, Élizabeth Giguère, and Becca Gilmore who were participating in the Rivalry Series.
CREASE CUTS
Buffalo’s Kassidy Sauvé made her first two starts of the season last weekend and faced 62 shots in just over 100 minutes of action. She’ll surely add to those totals opposite Toronto’s Elaine Chuli who has four wins in seven starts with a goals-against-average of 2.78 and save percentage of .907 that both rank fourth among starting netminders. Former Beaut Carly Jackson won her first T6 start and in two appearances has a 1.59 GAA and .935 SV%. Minnesota’s Amanda Leveille and Montreal’s Tricia Deguire will surely go head-to-head this weekend as leaders in their respective creases. Leveille leads the league in minutes played through eight starts, recording three wins with a 2.76 GAA and .913 SV% that both rank third. Deguire has started four games for the Force and has won three of them, posting a 3.14 GAA and .880 SV%. Connecticut has split crease care between Abbie Ives and Meeri Räisänen, with the former backstopping the Whale to both of their wins with a GAA of 2.00 and SV% of .941 that are second best in the PHF. After winning her Riveters debut, it would come as no surprise if Katie Burt got the call again this weekend. She stopped 55 of 61 shots in two games against Toronto. Corinne Schroeder already has one shutout against Connecticut this season, backstopping Boston to all seven of their wins with a league-leading 1.91 GAA and .944 SV%.
STATS SNAPSHOT
Heading into the final weekend before the holidays, Toronto’s Brittany Howard leads all skaters with 13 points and 11 goals. Other double digit leaders include Boston’s Jillian Dempsey and Loren Gabel, both with 11 points in eight and six games respectively, T6 forward Emma Woods who has 10 points in eight games, and Riveters newcomer Sarah Bujold with 10 in nine. Jade Downie-Landry leads Montreal with nine points in six games, and Patti Marshall is Minnesota’s top scorer and also the top scoring defender with eight points in as many games. Kennedy Marchment and Taylor Girard both have five points in five games for Connecticut, and a trio of Beauts have a point-per-game average including Antonia Matzka, Claudia Kepler, and Mikyla Grant-Mentis. Team shots on goal leaders are Bujold (43), Howard (38), Gabel (32), Minnesota defender Sidney Morin (31), Force captain Ann-Sophie Bettez (22), Girard (22), and Grant-Mentis (12). Grant-Mentis (.588) holds the league’s best faceoff winning percentage, with other team leaders including Downie-Landry (.582), the Rivs Kelly Babstock (.581), Six captain Shiann Darkangelo (.573), Whitecaps captain Sydney Brodt (.571), Boston’s Taylor Wenczkowski (.556), and the Whale’s Lenka Serdar (.500).
BIG WEEK FOR PHF NEWS
There is a lot for the PHF community to be excited about heading into the holidays. This week the league announced that the salary cap for the 2023-24 season will double to $1.5 million, the 2023 All-Star Weekend is coming to Toronto, and a neutral site game will be hosted in partnership with the Pittsburgh Penguins. For more on the salary cap, check out this AP News story by John Wawrow featuring an interview with Reagan Carey. Toronto Star reporter Mark Zwolinski wrote about All-Star weekend, and The Hockey News’ Ian Kennedy highlighted Pittsburgh in his recent review of impressive PHF newcomers. Also be sure to check out a special ForbesWomen feature by Dr. Cheryl Robinson about how Carey is elevating women’s sports.
Fans in the United States can enjoy live PHF action all season long exclusively on ESPN+ for just $9.99 a month (or $99.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices). In Canada, live coverage of the PHF is available to TSN subscribers through the network’s five television feeds as well as live streaming via TSN.ca and the TSN app. PHF games that are part of the ESPN International distribution network may be available in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa via ESPN Player, in Latin America via Star+, the Caribbean through ESPN Player via the ESPN App, and Oceania through Watch ESPN via the ESPN App. All Montreal Force games are available in French exclusively on TVA Sports.
Cover photo by Jonathan Sawn
