All-Canadian rivalry continues as Toronto hosts Montreal
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) regular season continues with an all-Canadian battle between the second place Toronto Six and the expansion Montreal Force who make their first trip to Ontario for a weekend doubleheader.
Here’s a closer look at the action:
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2023
2:00 PM ET – Montreal Force (6-9-1) vs Toronto Six (12-2-2)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Donny Baarns and Erica Ayala, TVA Sports 2)
All eyes will be north of the border when the league’s two Canadian clubs write the next chapter in their new rivalry. Important points are up for grabs for both teams, with Toronto in position to potentially overtake Boston for first place in the overall standings while distancing themselves from third place Minnesota. Meanwhile Montreal hopes to reinvigorate their push for the playoffs as they chase Connecticut for fourth place which would mean breaking away from a fifth place tie with the Riveters. The last time these two teams played was Jan. 7-8 in Rimouski with T6 winning both decisions by 3-2 scores. The first game went to shootout where Brittany Howard scored the winner in the fourth round, giving T6 their first ever shootout victory. A two-goal performance by Emma Woods followed in the rematch. Alexandra Labelle led the Force offense with three points in two games. Including that series, T6 carries a 5-1-0 record so far in 2023 compared to the Force’s 2-5-1 stretch. Both clubs find themselves on the bottom half of the special teams standings with Montreal’s power play and penalty kill units both ranked fifth, while Toronto ranks fourth when shorthanded and sixth when playing with the advantage. 41 of the 45 players rostered across both teams are Canadian and part of a PHF record 70 Canadians signed to 2022-23 contracts.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2023
2:00 PM ET – Montreal Force vs Toronto Six
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Phil Giubileo and Erica Ayala, TVA Sports)
WOODS THE NEW ALL-TIME T6 POINTS LEADER
After recording a career-high four points last Sunday against Buffalo, Emma Woods is Toronto’s new all-time points leader. The alternate captain has 41 points including 17 goals and 24 assists in 40 career games and is one of seven T6 players who has competed in each of the franchise’s first three seasons. She’s also a two-time All-Star who has climbed her way up to sixth in PHF scoring in 2022-23 with 19 points in 16 games, and one of just six active players who has maintained a points-per-game average of 1.0 or more over the last three years. The team’s previous high-water mark of 39 points was held by Mikyla Grant-Mentis which includes 18 goals.
DOWNIE-LANDRY NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-CANADIAN
Montreal’s Jade Downie-Landry is one of eight U SPORTS players nominated for excellence both on and off the field of play with the prestigious Academic All-Canadian status for the 2021-22 season. The elite group was honored Jan. 26 by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, at Rideau Hall in the nation’s capital. The eight consists of one female and one male student-athlete from each of the four U SPORTS conferences who maintained an average of 80 percent or better over the academic year while competing for a varsity team. The PHF All-Star capped her storied career at McGill University by winning the Brodrick Trophy as the U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Player of the Year.
ONTARIO HOMECOMING
While this series marks a historic first in the Montreal and Toronto rivalry, it will be a special homecoming for several Force players who will make their first professional appearances in Ontario. Four players grew up in the province including All-Star Taylor Baker who is from Toronto, Alyssa Holmes who hails from nearby Burlington, plus Kaity Howarth and Samantha Isbell from Thunder Bay. Two defenders also played their U SPORTS careers in Ontario and will be familiar with the big ice at Canlan York including Gabrielle De Serres from her time with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, and Christine Deaudelin as a member of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
CANADIAN PHF LEADERSHIP IN THE NEWS
Toronto Six President Sami Jo Small was recently announced as part of the Canada Games Hall of Honour Class of 2023. The Canada Games Council will recognize her on Feb. 17 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on the eve of the 2023 Canada Winter Games. She represented Manitoba three times in Canada Games competition, first in hockey in 1991, then athletics in 1993, and again in 1997 where she won a gold medal in javelin and a silver medal in discus and carried her province’s flag at the Closing Ceremony.
T6 General Manager Angela James recently attended NHL All-Star Weekend and was a special guest on the NHL @TheRink podcast. Bernice Carnegie, a member of the T6 ownership group, was also a recent podcast guest joining The Undercurrent hosted by Tara Slone, to discuss the Hockey Hall of Fame legacy of her father Herb Carnegie. Ted Nolan, another member of the T6 ownership group, is one of eight Canadian Indigenous hockey players featured as part of Upper Deck’s limited edition NHL First Peoples Rookie Cards. Force President Kevin Raphaël also announced on Friday a donation of $25,000 over the next five years to the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey program.
CREASE CUTS
Elaine Chuli started both games for Toronto the last time they played Montreal, stopping 35 of 37 shots and a career-high 44 of 46. She also posted a shutout in her last appearance on Saturday against Buffalo to bring her season total to nine wins with a goals-against-average of 2.72 and a save percentage of .913 that both rank fourth among PHF starters. Carly Jackson got the call last Sunday for T6 and won her third game of the season and currently carries a 1.53 GAA and .932 SV%. Marie-Soleil Deschênes stopped 35 of 37 in the Force’s first shootout loss to T6. She’s won three times in eight starts and ranks third among starters with a 2.60 GAA and .918 SV%. Tricia Deguire also saw action in the last all-Canadian battle, stopping 28 of 31. She also played both games last weekend against Minnesota and has three wins over three starts with a 3.09 GAA and .898 SV%.
STATS SNAPSHOT
Looking specifically at this weekend’s head-to-head series, Brittany Howard is Toronto’s top scorer and ranks second overall with 24 points including 15 goals in 16 games. Ann-Sophie Bettez and Jade Downie-Landry lead the way for Montreal with 16 points each. Toronto’s Kati Tabin is tied for the league lead in scoring among defenders with 15 points in 16 games, with Montreal’s Christine Deaudelin leading her team at the position with seven points. Shots on goal leaders are Howard (69) and Downie-Landry (63). Bettez and Howard both have three power play goals, while neither team has scored a shorthanded marker yet this season. Toronto’s Shiann Darkangelo leads the PHF with 224 faceoff wins and an overall efficiency of .609, while Montreal counters with Alexandra Labelle who has a win-percentage of .562 at the dot.
IIHF INTERNATIONAL BREAK
This weekend coincides with another IIHF International Break that provides PHF players the opportunity to compete with national team programs. Underway through Feb. 12 is a Five Nations Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament in Budapest, Hungary that features Riveters forwards Fanni Gasparics and Réka Dabasi. Gasparics scored two goals and Dabasi chipped in three assists in Hungary’s 7-6 win over Slovakia on Tuesday, then Gasparics scored a goal and an assist and Dabasi had one helper in Thursday’s 3-0 victory against Norway. They’ll finish the event with games against France and Japan on Saturday and Sunday.
SUPPORT FOR THE ICE GARDEN
It’s been three weeks since The Ice Garden, one of the world’s leading homes for women’s hockey news, learned it would no longer be managed and monetized by Vox Media and SB Nation. The popular website has covered the PHF extensively since its inception in 2016, with many published pieces this season by writers Mike Murphy, Dan Rice, Holly Morrison, Angelica Rodriguez, and J Gray who are all among the team’s dedicated contributors. As TIG transitions to their next chapter of online coverage, a GoFundMe has been set up to help cover costs. Donations have already eclipsed $12,000. Visit theicegarden.com more for information and click here to support their fundraising goals.
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+ available on 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 Arianne Bergeron
