BOSTON, MA – (March 21, 2023) – The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) has announced its Three Stars of the Week following semifinal action in the Isobel Cup Playoffs March 16-20, 2023. Top performers include Minnesota forward Jonna Albers and goaltender Amanda Leveille, and Toronto forward Michela Cava. The Whitecaps and Six have both advanced to the Isobel Cup Championship on Sunday, March 26 in Tempe, AZ.
First Star: Jonna Albers skates into the championship final as the league’s top playoff scorer with five points including four goals and one assist for Minnesota in a two-game sweep over Boston. She recorded a hat-trick in Thursday’s 5-2 win with a shorthanded goal, a power play tally that held as the game-winner, plus an empty-net marker. The goals were the first in career PHF playoff competition for the 2019 champion, while the hat-trick was just her second in five PHF seasons following an Oct. 12, 2019 performance. Albers scored another shorthanded goal on Saturday and added a secondary assist in the 4-1 win that eliminated the Pride and is now tied for second in all-time playoff points with 14 in nine games. The 29-year-old All-Star from Elk River, MN tied for the Whitecaps lead in regular season scoring with 20 points including 10 goals in 24 games. She finished the 2022-23 campaign with 100 career points becoming the fastest of three players to ever reach the prestigious century mark totaling 42 goals and 58 assists in 85 games since graduating from the University of New Hampshire.
Second Star: Amanda Leveille backstopped Minnesota to both playoff victories over Boston and a berth in the team’s fourth final in five years by posting a goals-against-average of 1.50 and save percentage of .963. She limited the league’s highest scoring offense to just three goals in two games, stopping 30 shots in Thursday’s 5-2 win and a season-high 47 in Saturday’s 4-1 triumph over the Pride. Her career playoff totals over seven seasons now include a record nine wins in 12 starts with an impressive 1.57 GAA and .952 SV%. The two-time Isobel Cup champion had another standout regular season for the Whitecaps despite missing six games down the stretch due to injury. Leveille won nine of her 17 starts and ranked second among starting netminders with a 2.43 GAA and a .923 SV%. The 28-year-old from Kingston, Ontario has appeared in a record 95 regular season games and earned a record 61 wins since joining the league in 2016-17 following an illustrious collegiate career at the University of Minnesota that included three national championships.
Third Star:Michela Cava is tied for second in playoff scoring with four points including three goals and one assist recorded over three games in Toronto’s semifinal series victory over Connecticut. She had a pair of multi-point performances including Friday’s game one with a pair of third period goals to surge a comeback attempt that fell short in the 5-3 loss. Then in the decisive game three on Monday she scored the winning goal in the first period and added a primary assist on Leah Lum’s insurance marker in the second period of the 3-0 win to eliminate the Whale and send T6 to their first championship final in franchise history. Cava finished the regular season fourth in T6 scoring with 21 points including nine goals in 24 games of which seven were multi-point efforts. The 28-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ontario is a 2016 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth and has recent championship experience with the 2022 KRS Vanke Rays where she amassed 17 playoff points including six goals and 11 assists in eight games which led all skaters.
2022-23 PHF Three Stars of the Week:
Isobel Cup Playoff Semifinals:
1. Jonna Albers (MIN) 2. Amanda Leveille (MIN) 3. Michela Cava (TOR)
March 10-12:
1. Madison Packer (MET) 2. Daryl Watts (TOR) 3. Abbie Ives (CTW)
March 3-5:
1. Kennedy Marchment (CTW) 2. Sarah Bujold (MET) 3. Jillian Dempsey (BOS)
February 24-26:
1. Madison Packer (MET) 2. Tereza Vanišová (TOR) 3. Justine Reyes (CTW)
February 18-19:
1. Corinne Schroeder (BOS) 2. Samantha Ridgewell (BUF) 3. Michela Cava (TOR)
February 11-12:
1. Tricia Deguire (MON) 2. Elaine Chuli (TOR) 3. Alexandra Labelle (MON)
February 3-6:
1. Loren Gabel (BOS) 2. Shiann Darkangelo (TOR) 3. Corinne Schroeder (BOS)
January 17-22:
1. Loren Gabel (BOS) 2. Kennedy Marchment (CTW) 3. Brittany Howard (TOR)
January 14-15:
1. Allie Thunstrom (BOS) 2. Ann-Sophie Bettez (MON) 3. Jonna Albers (MIN)
January 6-8:
1. Taylor Girard (CTW) 2. Loren Gabel (BOS) 3. Elaine Chuli (TOR)
December 16-18:
1. Natalie Snodgrass (MIN) 2. Shiann Darkangelo (TOR) 3. Taylor Girard (CTW)
December 9-11:
1. Jillian Dempsey (BOS) 2. Loren Gabel (BOS) 3. Brittany Howard (TOR)
December 3-4:
1. Kennedy Marchment (CTW) 2. Minttu Tuominen (MET) 3. Sydney Brodt (MIN)
November 26-27:
1. Jade Downie-Landry (MON) 2. Ann-Sophie Bettez (MON) 3. Fanni Gasparics (MET)
November 18-20:
1. Sarah Bujold (MET) 2. Corinne Schroeder (BOS) 3. Leah Lum (TOR)
November 5-6:
1. Corinne Schroeder (BOS) 2. Brittany Howard (TOR) 3. Élizabeth Giguère (BOS)
About the Premier Hockey Federation
The PHF is the home of professional women’s hockey in North America. Established in 2015 as the National Women’s Hockey League, the NWHL rebranded to become the PHF in 2021 and provide opportunities for elite athletes to earn a living playing the game they love while fueling the continued growth of the sport. The league is made up of the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force, and the Toronto Six who all compete annually for the Isobel Cup. As part of a two-year agreement with ESPN, live coverage of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 PHF seasons is available exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States, and provides international rights for games which includes TSN in Canada. For more information visit premierhockeyfederation.com.
