A trio of weekend doubleheaders follows roster freeze
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) regular season is winding down with four weeks of action before the 2023 Isobel Cup Playoffs. A trio of doubleheaders are on this weekend’s schedule as the first place Boston Pride host the fifth place Montreal Force, the second place Toronto Six visit the fourth place Connecticut Whale, and the third place Minnesota Whitecaps host the seventh place Buffalo Beauts.
The PHF team roster freeze has also passed, and any newly submitted contracts for the remainder of the 2022-23 season have been processed ahead of this weekend’s games.
Here’s a closer look at the action:
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2023
7:00 PM ET – Buffalo Beauts (2-12-2) vs Minnesota Whitecaps (10-4-2)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Mark Schoenster and Erica Ayala)
Buffalo and Minnesota each begin a stretch of four-straight weekends in action to wrap up the 2022-23 schedule. The third place Whitecaps are currently riding a six-game winning-streak that’s tied a franchise regular season record and began with a pair of victories over the Beauts on Jan. 7-8 with 4-1 and 5-3 scores. Both team top scorers led the way with three-point weekends in that series including Buffalo’s Claudia Kepler and Minnesota’s Jonna Albers who is now just three points away from 100 all-time. Despite a perfect record so far in the 2023 calendar year, the last six Whitecaps wins have all come on the road while holding just a 3-3 mark so far at Richfield Ice Arena. The Beauts hope to take advantage and grab their first road win of the season and snap a three-game losing-streak. A win this weekend would also be their first away from Buffalo in over a year, with the last one coming coincidentally in Minnesota by a 6-2 score on Feb. 6, 2022, which counts as their only win in six appearances all-time in the State of Hockey. The Whitecaps continue to hold the league’s best power play but are second worst on the penalty kill. The Beauts have demonstrated improved special teams over last season and currently rank fourth with the advantage and third when shorthanded. A successful weekend for Minnesota could clinch a berth in the Isobel Cup semifinals for a fifth-straight season, while Buffalo needs points and help from teams ahead of them to keep their playoff hopes alive.
7:00 PM ET – Toronto Six (13-3-2) vs Connecticut Whale (8-7-2)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Josh Eastern and Carson Duggan)
Toronto and Connecticut connect for the second time in five weeks after splitting their Jan. 21-22 series north of the border. Brittany Howard and Breanne Wilson-Bennett had four and three points respectively to lead T6 to a 7-4 win in the opener, then Kennedy Marchment led the Whale attack with two goals in a 4-1 victory to hand Toronto their first regulation loss on home ice and their only Sunday loss in eight appearances so far this season. Toronto’s last six games have been at home, however their road record so far this season has been an impressive 6-2. Connecticut has dropped their last two decisions, both on the road, and return to their home at ISCC where they carry a 4-3 record including two-straight wins. Toronto’s last visit to the Constitution State provided no shortage of drama to close out the 2021-22 campaign. T6 won a 5-4 overtime thriller on Mar. 19, then the Whale scored a 5-0 shutout on Mar. 20 to secure a first place finish in the overall standings. Critical points are up for grabs once again for both teams. Toronto has clinched a playoff berth and will host one of the league’s semifinals but currently trail first place Boston by one. Connecticut can’t clinch this weekend but can create some cushion over fifth place Montreal while chasing third place Minnesota. The Whale hold the special teams advantage with a third ranked power play and second best penalty kill opposite a sixth best power play and fourth ranked penalty kill for T6.
8:00 PM ET – Montreal Force (7-10-1) vs Boston Pride (14-2-1)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Sam Fryman and Maura Sheridan, NESN+/NESN with Joe Malfa and Paige Capistran, TVASports.ca)
Montreal is currently on the outside of the PHF playoff picture as they make the franchise’s first trip to Boston to take on the first place Pride. The series continues what’s been a busy 2023 for the Force who embark on their seventh-straight weekend of competition since the holiday break. They’ve managed four wins over those 10 games including their first ever shutout last Saturday in Toronto, as well as their first ever overtime victory on Jan. 22, a 2-1 triumph against Boston led by a Jade Downie-Landry game-winner. Unfortunately for the Force, that weekend also included a first shutout against, as Corinne Schroeder continued her remarkable crease composure with a record 50-save performance in the 5-0 decision on Jan. 21. The 50 shots on goal counts as the most Montreal has produced this season, while the 45 they generated in the series opener is their third highest total as Boston continues to lead the league in shots allowed. The Pride have won two-straight games, both at home, and hold a 7-1 record this season at Warrior Ice Arena. Even though they’ve clinched a playoff berth, Boston holds just a single point lead over second place Toronto. Montreal meanwhile trails fourth place Connecticut by seven. Overall, the Pride are the league’s best in special teams situations with the second ranked power play that’s produced 12 goals, and the top ranked penalty kill that’s only been scored on five times. The Force rank fifth in both categories.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2023
12:00 PM ET – Toronto Six vs Connecticut Whale
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Steve Goldstein and Carson Duggan)
2:00 PM ET – Buffalo Beauts vs Minnesota Whitecaps
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Josh Eastern and Erica Ayala)
3:00 PM ET – Montreal Force vs Boston Pride
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Sam Fryman and Maura Sheridan, NESN with Joe Malfa and Paige Capistran, TVA Sports 2)
AROUND THE RINKS
On Saturday night in Boston it’s the Pride’s Hockey Fights Cancer game where the team will be raising money and awareness for the American Cancer Society and wearing special theme jerseys. On Sunday they’ll be celebrating Black History Month and supporting Black Girl Hockey Club. In Connecticut, the Whale will be hosting their annual Alzheimer’s Awareness game in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut with specialty jerseys on Saturday. Their Sunday game is sponsored by The Rideshare Company and will be a 70’s themed celebration. The Whitecaps will be highlighting two local organizations during their Hockey is for Everyone Night on Saturday, including Minnesota Special Hockey and Play For Patrick. The Patrick Schoonover Heart Foundation was started by Michael and Gayle Schoonover after their son Patrick passed away at the age of 14 due to Sudden Cardiac Arrest that was caused by undetected heart defects. They will be in attendance to perform the ceremonial pre-game faceoff. Minnesota Special Hockey was founded in 2006 and started at Richfield Ice Arena, providing a place for everyone, regardless of physical impairment or developmental disorder, to play hockey. Sunday’s contest will be Youth Hockey Day.
PHF PLAYERS PREPARE FOR RIVALRY SERIES
Six PHF players have been selected to compete for their national team programs in the final two games of the 2022-23 Rivalry Series in Quebec. Boston and Minnesota will both be without three of their star players this weekend including forwards Sydney Brodt, Liz Schepers, and Natalie Snodgrass from the Whitecaps who are all representing Team USA alongside Pride forward Becca Gilmore and defender Kali Flanagan. Pride forward Élizabeth Giguère will compete for Team Canada. This marks national team debuts for both Schepers and Snodgrass while Brodt returns to the program with gold medal experience from the 2019 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Gilmore competed in the first three Rivalry Series games in November, with Flanagan suiting up for the two December contests. Giguère has played in all five games to date. Short training camps are currently underway ahead of Monday’s game in Trois-Rivières followed by the series finale in Laval on Wednesday.
BOSTON SIGNS A PAIR TO PTO AGREEMENTS
In the absence of their national team players, the Pride have added two reinforcements for the weekend using the league’s PTO exemption option. Forward Lexie Laing, who has already played five games with the team this season and was a member of the 2021 Isobel Cup champions, will suit up on Saturday. Defender Chloe Gonsalves, a 23-year-old from Toronto and recent graduate of the University of Connecticut, will make her PHF debut after spending part of the 2022-23 season with HV71 of the SDHL.
BEAUTS SIGN BUDDE AND SCHULER
Buffalo officially added two more forwards ahead of the roster freeze including Amy Budde who re-signs after being a member of the 2021-22 Beauts where she played 10 games. The 26-year-old from Lindstrom, MN is a graduate of Lake Forest College with two years of pro experience in the SDHL before joining the PHF. The Beauts have also signed Kristina Schuler for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. The 23-year-old from Webster, NY will make her professional debut after four NCAA seasons at Boston University from 2017-21 and a fifth at Clarkson University where she produced 14 points in 37 games during the 2021-22 campaign.
ADE JOINS WHALE BLUE LINE
Connecticut has added veteran defender Rachael Ade for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. The 27-year-old is no stranger to The Pod having spent three years with the organization from 2017-19 as well as part of the shortened 2021 campaign. Last season the Salisbury, MD native served as an alternate captain for the Riveters where she recorded eight assists in 20 games. Ade has appeared in 52 career regular season games to date and instantly becomes the Whale’s second most experienced active member of the blue line.
BURKE AND WENTE SIGNINGS AMONG MINNESOTA MOVES
The Whitecaps have signed goaltender Chantal Burke and forward Taylor Wente for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. Burke is a 23-year-old from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan who was previously serving as a member of the team’s practice squad after graduating from Minnesota State University where she played five games in 2021-22. Her NCAA tenure also included four years at Penn State University, sharing the crease with fellow Whitecaps goaltender Jenna Brenneman. Her signing coincides with the placement of starter Amanda Leveille on long-term injured reserve due to an upper body injury suffered on the road against Montreal. Wente was Minnesota’s third round pick in the 2021 draft and reunites with former Gophers teammates Sydney Baldwin, Olivia Knowles, and Patti Marshall. The 23-year-old from Plymouth, MN played four years at the University of Minnesota where she recorded 73 points in 127 games between 2017-21. She’s also a two-time gold medallist with the U.S. Under-18 National Team. The Whitecaps also announced that forward Meaghan Pezon has been released from her contract.
LUNNY OFFICIALLY A RIVETER
The Riveters have added another forward for the home stretch as Hayley Lunny officially signs a contract for the remainder of the 2022-23 season after suiting up for the team’s last two games Feb. 3-4 on a PTO agreement. The 23-year-old from Bedford, NY joins the PHF with some pro experience as a member of the PWHPA after completing her five-year tenure at Providence College. She’s the Friars’ all-time games played leader with 164 and produced 21 points in 33 games her final 2021-22 season.
FAMILIARITY FOR THE FORCE IN BOSTON
Several members of the expansion Montreal Force have undoubtedly had this weekend’s road trip to Boston circled on their calendars. The team’s lone American is Sally Hoerr who hails from Colchester, VT, while both Alyssa Holmes and Kristina Shanahan spent their NCAA careers at the nearby University of Vermont. The club also boasts a pair of forwards who attended Boston University including Deziray De Sousa from 2016-20 which coincided with Pride forward Sammy Davis, and Sarah Lefort from 2012-16 with a couple of overlapping years as a Terrier with Pride defender Kaleigh Fratkin.
T6 HONOR HAZEL
A state funeral was held on Tuesday for Hazel McCallion, the beloved long-time Mayor of Mississauga, Ontario on what would have been her 102nd birthday. The funeral was attended by Canadian dignitaries including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and members of the hockey community like Toronto Six president Sami Jo Small, as well as general manager Angela James and head coach Geraldine Heaney who both served as pallbearers. Affectionately known as ‘Hurricane Hazel’, McCallion was a trailblazer in politics and a lifelong advocate for women’s hockey – the sport she grew up playing and even competed in professionally in Quebec from 1940-42. She was a driving force to put women’s hockey in the Olympics, and behind the development of city facilities like the Paramount Fine Foods Centre that hosted the 2000 IIHF Women’s World Championship where she proudly celebrated Canada’s gold medal triumph. Since her passing on Jan. 29, special ‘HAZEL’ stickers have been placed on all T6 helmets in honor of her legacy and contributions to the game.
25TH ANNIVERSARY OF USA’S OLYMPIC GOLD
25 years ago Friday, history was made in Nagano, Japan where the United States defeated Canada 3-1 to win the first ever women’s hockey gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. Boston Pride president Colleen Coyne and Connecticut Whale assistant coach Sue Merz were both defenders for Team USA, competing opposite Toronto Six head coach Geraldine Heaney who patrolled the blue line for Team Canada while T6 president Sami Jo Small served as the team’s third goaltender. The moment that inspired so many of today’s women’s hockey players is considered one of the primary catalysts for growing the game in the U.S. where girls and women’s registration numbers have more than tripled from 28,000 to over 88,000 in the last quarter-century. For more golden memories, check out this usahockey.com feature by Heather Rule.
CREASE CUTS
Boston’s Corinne Schroeder continues to lead all PHF goaltenders with 17 starts, 14 wins, seven shutouts, a goals-against-average of 1.64, and save percentage of .955. She’ll likely be called to action against Montreal and face the PHF’s First Star of the Week in Tricia Deguire who earned her first career shutout last weekend against Toronto and carries a 2.68 GAA and .912 SV%. Marie-Soleil Deschênes has also been solid for the Force with a 2.60 GAA and .918 SV%. Toronto’s Elaine Chuli is also primed to see more action between-the-pipes having won 10 games with one shutout in her 15 starts thus far in 2022-23 where she’s compiled a 2.56 GAA and .918 SV%. Abbie Ives started both of Connecticut’s last two games against T6 and leads the Whale with six wins in 11 starts, two shutouts, a 2.75 GAA and a .901 SV%. Minnesota’s Jenna Brenneman won her only start of the season against the Beauts allowing one goal on 13 shots. Buffalo’s Lovisa Berndtsson has started nine games and holds a .882 SV%.
STATS SNAPSHOT
Boston’s Loren Gabel leads the PHF with 31 points and 17 goals in 15 games, followed by Toronto’s Brittany Howard and Connecticut’s Kennedy Marchment who each have 24 points. Montreal top scorers are Ann-Sophie Bettez and Jade Downie-Landry with 17 points each that is tied with Minnesota’s top point producers in Jonna Albers and Natalie Snodgrass. Claudia Kepler leads Buffalo with 13 points. Marchment and Pride captain Jillian Dempsey share the lead with four game-winning goals, the Whale’s Taylor Girard has three shorthanded goals, and Dempsey paces all power play producers with four tucks. Shots on goal leaders among teams in action include Gabel (95), Marchment (79), Howard and Shiann Darkangelo (69), Minnesota’s Sidney Morin (69), Downie-Landry (67), and Buffalo’s Mikyla Grant-Mentis (46). Faceoff leaders by percentage with over 50 wins are Minnesota’s Sydney Brodt (.624), Toronto’s Darkangelo (.614), Connecticut’s Lenka Serdar (.567), Montreal’s Laura Jardin (.539), Boston’s Taylor Wenczkowski (.507), and Buffalo’s Grant-Mentis (.441).
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
