A New Movement
Well, I wasn’t planning on not writing for a month. Not sure what happened there. Sorry about that. Since history was made with the women’s Beanpot final being played at TD Garden for the first time, now is the perfect time to talk women’s hockey. There is a new league if you missed it, the PWHL under the direction in part by Billie Jean King. This is taking over for the Premier Hockey Federation. Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto make up the original six. This article will talk about some of the key names who have joined the league.
Hillary Knight
Boston came in hot securing the best American player in women’s hockey history. Knight is the all time leading goal scorer and ranks first in games played in the winter Olympics by a US player. Knight is the captain and also plays on the top line. Knight won a championship with Boston in the old league and served as the captain for the 2023 gold medal world championship team. She’s off to a slow start with the PWHL, but it’s early.
Arein Frankel
The Northeastern Husky is back in state. Frankel had an amazing tenure in net for Northeastern and still holds major records, and her .958 save percentage set an NCAA record. Frankel became the first U.S. women's goalie to start five consecutive games at an Olympics or worlds in 26 years, and helped team USA lock up gold in 2023 World Championships. So far, she has posted a 2.25 goals against average.
Kendall Coyne Schofield
KCS rightfully was named the captain of Minnesota and like Knight, was on the 2018 gold medal team. Coyne Schofield also has Boston ties with playing at Northeastern and the Boston Pride of the former league. She has also spent time as a broadcaster and as a player development coach in Chicago with the NHL. Despite being an amazing player, she may be best known for setting the NHL all-star skills competition ablaze in 2019 , which you can see here.
Maureen Murphy
Maybe I’ll get a call from Northeastern alumni association since I’ve mentioned three of their most notable players. This was not planned, but I do love a husky - the dog I mean. Anyway, Murphy put up 129 points in her day which includes 57 goals, 72 assists, and 11 game winning goals. She is playing in Montreal and is in a five way tie with the league lead in assists with five.
Marie-Philip Poulin
Captain Canada is naturally playing in Montreal. She leads the league with six goals and is second in points with seven. She’s a decorated Olympian with six total gold medals (counting world championships) who also served as the captain at Boston University. You can’t have a league like this without her.
Sarah Nurse
Sister of Edmonton defenseman Nick Nurse, this is another good add as she starts with Toronto. Her 18 point performance in the 2022 Olympics set a record, and she made history by being on the cover of EA Sports NHL 23. She’s won two gold medals with one silver and one bronze in the world championships and played four years at Wisconsin before turning pro.
So far, Minnesota and Montreal are at the top of the league. Boston and Toronto have started slow but have the talent to pick it up.