All seven teams in action following All-Star break
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) regular season ramps back up following a successful All-Star weekend with all seven teams in action over seven games. There’s weekend doubleheaders featuring the Minnesota Whitecaps and host Montreal Force, Buffalo Beauts and host Toronto Six, plus single games between Connecticut and Metropolitan, the Riveters and Boston, plus the Whale and Pride.
Here’s a closer look at the action:
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2023
7:00 PM ET – Connecticut Whale (8-6-1) vs Metropolitan Riveters (5-11-0)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Kelly Schultz and Alexis Pearson)
For the sixth time this season, PHF weekend action opens with Friday night hockey and this edition features a Founding Four rivalry between the fourth place Whale and sixth place Riveters. This is the third meeting in the season’s head-to-head series that is currently tied 1-1. The visiting team has won both games so far, including Connecticut in their last visit to American Dream on Jan. 8 where Meeri Räisänen posted a 23-save shutout and Taylor Girard recorded a season-high four points in the 6-0 victory. The Riveters victory in the series came Dec. 17 by a 5-2 score backed by a career-high 40 saves by Eveliina Mäkinen and two goals from Amanda Pelkey. The Whale have a 4-2 record since last facing the Riveters, including two-straight victories. Their most recent win came in the only game on last weekend’s schedule, a 4-1 triumph over Montreal, which counted as the club’s 50th in all-time franchise history. The Riveters are 1-3 since last seeing Connecticut, but also enter the series with a recent win under their belt defeating Buffalo with a franchise-high eight goals before the All-Star break. Connecticut’s special teams have been steadily improving, as they rank second in both power play and penalty kill, while the Riveters are sixth with the advantage, and last when shorthanded.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2023
2:00 PM ET – Buffalo Beauts (2-10-0) vs Toronto Six (10-2-2)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Phil Giubileo and Erica Ayala)
The cross-border rivalry between Buffalo and Toronto is renewed as the Beauts visit the Six for a weekend doubleheader. Last season when the two teams met at Canlan York the Jan. 15-16 series was played without fans due to pandemic restrictions. T6 skated to pair of lopsided victories a year ago on home ice, winning 6-1 and 8-3. While victorious in the first two games of this season’s series, the outcomes have been much closer. The first two games played in Buffalo Dec. 16-17 included a 2-1 T6 triumph outdoors with a 24-save performance by Carly Jackson against her former team, and a 6-4 win powered by a season-high four points from captain Shiann Darkangelo. Despite the loss, that contest was Mikyla Grant-Mentis’ best outing of the season with three points against her former team as she looks forward to a return to her hometown. T6 most recently suffered just their second regulation loss of the season, a 4-1 setback at home to Connecticut after producing points in 10-straight. The second place squad looks to start a new streak and keep pace with first place Boston who they currently trail by four. Before the break, Buffalo snapped a 10-game losing streak with a home ice victory over the Riveters and will be looking for their first points away from Northtown Center as they embark on the first of three-straight road weekends. Of note on special teams, the Beauts lead the league with 12 power play goals which is twice as many as T6 who rank seventh in the category.
2:00 PM ET – Minnesota Whitecaps (8-4-2) vs Montreal Force (6-7-1)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Kelly Schultz and Alexis Pearson, TVASports.ca)
Minnesota makes their first trip to the province of Quebec where they’ll face-off with the Force in Saint-Jérôme, a suburban city northwest of Montreal. This is the second half of the season’s head-to-head series, with the first two games split at Richfield Ice Arena Dec. 17-18. Both decisions before the holiday break were three-goal differentials, including a 5-2 win in favor of the Whitecaps led by a hat-trick from Natalie Snodgrass, and a 4-1 win for the Force backed by 40 saves from Marie-Soleil Deschênes. The Whitecaps enter the series on a four-game winning-streak with sweeps over the Beauts and Riveters, and are well rested after being idle before the All-Star pause. Since their win in Minnesota, the Force are 2-6 and suffered their latest setback a week ago in Connecticut. Minnesota finds themselves in the thick of a race for positioning up top, currently in third place just four points behind Toronto for second and one point ahead of Connecticut in fourth. The best that fifth place Montreal can hope for this weekend is to gain ground on the Whale who they currently trail by nine points. Special team rankings heading into the weekend puts the Whitecaps power play at first with a .222 efficiency, while the Force rank fourth at .179. Montreal also ranks fourth on the penalty kill at .833, but Minnesota is sixth at .744. It’s not precisely a homecoming, but Whitecaps star netminder Amanda Leveille hails from Kingston, Ontario which is a little over a three-hour drive from the rink.
7:00 PM ET – Metropolitan Riveters vs Boston Pride (12-2-1)
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Kelly Schultz and Alexis Pearson, NESN+ with Joe Malfa and Paige Capistran)
Boston begins their weekend homestand at Warrior Ice Arena by welcoming the Metropolitan Riveters who will be fresh off their matchup with Connecticut. The Pride return to action with a league-leading 34 points, four ahead of Toronto atop the PHF’s overall standings despite dropping a 2-1 overtime decision against Montreal before the break. This is the third game in this season’s head-to-head series, with Boston winning the first two games. Corinne Schroeder earned first star honors in both games between-the-pipes, making 32 saves in the Pride’s 4-1 road victory on Jan. 7, and 27 saves in a 2-0 shutout on home ice Nov. 6. The Riveters offense will have to find another level in order to re-write the script, and pucks on net are part of that process. In their last series against Buffalo they recorded 42 and 49 shots on goal which are their two highest totals of the season. Boston has also given up the most shots on goal of any team with 547 which averages a little over 36 per game. The Pride and Riveters led the way with nine PHF All-Stars each and boasted the two top performers including MVP Loren Gabel who scored three goals and one assist, and Fanni Gasparics who scored four goals.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2023
1:00 PM ET – Minnesota Whitecaps vs Montreal Force
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Kelly Schultz and Alexis Pearson, TVA Sports)
2:00 PM ET – Buffalo Beauts vs Toronto Six
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Phil Giubileo and Maura Sheridan)
2:00 PM ET – Connecticut Whale vs Boston Pride
(ESPN+ & TSN+ with Steve Goldstein and Erica Ayala, NESN with Joe Malfa and Paige Capistran)
The weekend wraps up with the fourth and final instalment of the Isobel Cup rematch between Connecticut and Boston. It’s a series that hasn’t disappointed to date, with the defending champions leading 2-1. The Pride opened the season with a 4-0 win over the Whale at home Nov. 5 with a 36-save shutout by Corinne Schroeder. The Whale evened the series on Dec. 18 with a 6-4 victory led by a three-point effort by Kennedy Marchment who was just recognized with Player of the Month honors. Boston reclaimed the series advantage on Jan. 6 with a 5-2 win where five different goal scorers did the damage offensively. Connecticut ranks first in the PHF with shots on goal and proved their productivity in this area in both of their last games against Boston, outshooting them 53-30 and 40-24. Heading into the weekend, the Pride hold the league’s top ranked penalty kill unit operating at .898 efficiency, while the Whale rank second at .882. Both clubs are also opportunistic in these situations with the Whale scoring five shorthanded goals so far this season and the Pride tied for second with three.
ALL-STAR HIGHS
All seven teams are back in action following PHF All-Star weekend, and several top performers are surely hoping to carry that momentum into the home stretch. Boston’s Loren Gabel earned MVP honors for PHF Team Canada with three goals and one assist, finding chemistry with Toronto’s Brittany Howard who scored once with three assists for the All-Star champions. In one night, Riveters forward Fanni Gasparics exceeded her season goal total by tallying four times for Team World. T6 forward Leah Lum also delivered for Team World with a goal and two assists, while Pride captain Jillian Dempsey led Team USA with a goal and an assist. A total of 43 PHF players competed in Sunday’s showcase event.
ROSIE THE RIVETER DAY
Friday night inside The Rink at American Dream it’s Rosie the Riveter Day as the team celebrates the 80th anniversary of the iconic poster and inspiration behind their famous logo. Westinghouse, which has a long and connected history to the Rosie the Riveter brand and image, is the presenting corporate sponsor for the game and will be represented by Ester Hong who will be on hand for a ceremonial puck drop. Fans are encouraged to come to the game dressed up like Rosie who symbolized the women that kept factories up and running during WWII.
FORCE TO HONOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
On Saturday at Aréna régional de la Rivière-du-Nord the Force will be wearing specially designed jerseys by artist Ganadiyoh Jada Hopper that will be auctioned with proceeds to support the local Indigenous not-for-profit – Iakwahwatsiratátie – which means ‘our families are continuing’. The organization is a language nest located in Kahnawá:ke Mohawk Territory, home of Force forward Brooke Stacey. In operation since 2014, they provide an immersive learning environment and support system for those committed to learning the Mohawk language Kanien’kéha and passing it on to their children and families. The red woman figure on the jersey is designed to raise awareness to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, while the two orange child figures that stand below her and under the ground represent the thousands of Indigenous children forcefully taken from their mothers and lost to the horrific Residential School system.
T6 HOST PRIDE GAME
On Saturday afternoon in Toronto, the Six will be celebrating Pride with rainbow socks and ‘Sport a Rainbow’ stickers on their helmets when they take on the Beauts. Canadian Olympic Softball player Larissa Franklin, who won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, will be perform the ceremonial faceoff along with a pair of professional hockey trailblazers. Harrison Browne, the first transgender athlete in professional hockey who won 2017 and 2018 Isobel Cup titles with the Beauts and Riveters, and Jessica Platt, a former member of the CWHL’s Toronto Furies who has also become a spokesperson and role model for transgender athletes around the world.
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP NIGHT IN BOSTON
Ahead of their Saturday night game against the Riveters, the Pride are hosting a panel discussion about women’s sports and leadership presented by The Seyon Group. All fans with a game ticket will have access to the pre-game panel on the event concourse space at Warrior Ice Arena to hear about the intersection of sports and leadership featuring Pride president Colleen Coyne along with Andrew Iglowski (Seyon Group), Lindsay Keeler (USTA New England), and Dr. Allison Smith (UMASS Boston).
WHALE HOST WOMEN’S SPORTS LEADERS
In case you missed it, last Friday night the Whale hosted a National Girls and Women in Sports Day panel with leading women in the sports industry ahead of their game against Montreal. Panelists included DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun, Whale assistant coach and 1998 Olympic gold medalist Sue Merz, Susie Piotrkowski who serves as vice president of espnW, and Kate Whitman Annis who held a variety of leadership roles throughout her PHF tenure before joining the New Jersey Devils Youth Foundation as its executive director.
SERDAR SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL
Whale forward Lenka Serdar entered All-Star weekend on a high note, scoring her first career PHF goal in the team’s 4-1 victory over Montreal. Her power play tally held as the game-winner and gave her three points in 15 games so far this season. The 25-year-old from Lexington, MA was also named to PHF Team World for All-Star competition, having represented Czechia internationally including at the 2022 Olympics.
BEAUTS SIGN RIDGEWELL
Buffalo has officially signed Samantha Ridgewell for the remainder of the 2022-23 PHF season with a contract valued at $6,500. The 26-year-old from Outlook, Saskatchewan spent the shortened 2021 PHF season and parts of the 2021-22 campaign with T6 before competing with HV71 in Sweden’s SDHL. She’s no stranger to several Beauts having played with captain Dominique Kremer with Djurgårdens during the 2019-20 SDHL season, as well as at Merrimack College along with Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Courtney Maud.
LTIR UPDATES
Beauts netminder Kassidy Sauvé will be on long-term injured reserve for the remainder of the current PHF season due to a lower-body injury. With the addition of Samantha Ridgewell, Buffalo now has three active goaltenders on contract including Lovisa Berndtsson and Tera Hofmann. The Whale have also officially placed Mallory Souliotis on LTIR after the defender underwent successful surgery to repair a broken femur suffered in January’s neutral site game in Pittsburgh. Connecticut still has 18 active skaters on their roster including five defenders.
RIVS SIGN LUNNY TO PTO
The Riveters will have a new face in their lineup on Friday night with addition of forward Hayley Lunny who has been signed to a PTO agreement. The 23-year-old from Bedford, NY was most recently a member of the PWHPA after graduating from Providence College last spring. She played five seasons with the Friars where she set a program record for all-time games played with 164 and led the 2021-22 team in scoring with 21 points in 33 games.
WHITECAPS PART OF MINNESOTA’S HOCKEY DAY
Even without PHF action there was no keeping members of the Whitecaps away from the rink as the State of Hockey celebrated its annual Hockey Day in Minnesota. Forward Sydney Brodt skated in the outdoor celebrity game before making her way to Toronto for PHF All-Star weekend, meanwhile defender Sydney Baldwin joined the Bally Sports North set to share some of her fondest memories in the game and to discuss her pro career, and Emma Staubertalked about her coaching and the success of her Proctor/Hermantown Mirage.
CREASE CUTS
Boston’s All-Star backstopper Corinne Schroeder leads the PHF with 12 wins including six shutout victories, a goals-against-average of 1.73, and a save percentage of .952. Four more starting goaltenders have a GAA below 3.00 and a save percentage above .900 including Connecticut’s Abbie Ives (2.52 / .907), Minnesota’s Amanda Leveille (2.55 / .916), Montreal’s Marie-Soleil Deschênes (2.60 / .918), and Toronto’s Elaine Chuli (2.95 / .907). Riveters All-Star Eveliina Mäkinen carries a 3.24 GAA and .886 SV% in five starts, while Lovisa Berndtsson of the Beauts has elevated her SV% up to .893.
STATS SNAPSHOT
Boston’s Loren Gabel leads the PHF in scoring with 24 points in 13 games, followed closely by Toronto’s Brittany Howard who has 23 points in 14 games, and Connecticut’s Kennedy Marchment with 22 points in 15 games. Other team leaders include Montreal’s Jade Downie-Landry who has 16 points in 14 games, Kelly Babstock of the Riveters with 16 points in 16 games, Minnesota’s Natalie Snodgrass with 16 points in 14 games, and both Claudia Kepler and Mikyla Grant-Mentis from Buffalo with 12 points in 14 games. Howard leads the PHF with 15 goals, followed by both Gabel and Marchment with 14 each. Whale defender Allie Munroe and forward Taylor Girard share the assist lead with 12. Marchment and Pride captain Jillian Dempsey both have four game-winning goals. Three power play goals is the league’s leading figure shared by Gabel, Howard, Montreal’s Ann-Sophie Bettez, Buffalo’s Courtney Maud, and Minttu Tuominen of the Riveters. Girard leads the way with three shorthanded goals. Team shots on goal leaders include Gabel (82), the Riveters’ Sarah Bujold (70), Marchment (66), Howard (64), Minnesota’s Sidney Morin (60), Downie-Landry (56), and Grant-Mentis (45). Team faceoff leaders by efficiency include Babstock (.611), T6 captain Shiann Darkangelo (.589), Minnesota’s Liz Schepers (.561), Connecticut’s Lenka Serdar (.561), Montreal’s Alexandra Labelle (.551), Boston’s Taylor Wenczkowski (.500), and Grant-Mentis (.474).
PHF IN THE NEWS
There was plenty of attention around PHF All-Star weekend in the news. Some examples include Ian Kennedy’s highlight of the growth of women’s professional hockey in this piece for Yahoo Sports Canada, Donna Spencer profiled a day in the life of a PHF player for Canadian Press, and Kerry Gillespie wrote about the league’s salary increase and future of professional women’s hockey for the Toronto Star. Commissioner Reagan Carey joined The Jeff Marek Show, was a guest on Erica Ayala’s Locked On podcast, and also chatted with Jee-Yun Lee of CP24 Breakfast as part of a live-eye at Canlan York with members of T6 and the Force. As part of their Black History Month celebrations, TSN is airing daily features including one on T6 defender Saroya Tinker.
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 Manny Fernandes @mdphotoandink
