It has been a big week for women’s ice hockey this week as the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) launched and has left us wanting more. Hockey Hype Australia took a quick look around the league to examine each team’s debut performance.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the league, the six foundational franchises are located in Boston, Montreal, Minnesota, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. Teams will be determine names, logos, and mascots, at a future date.
Early signs show there is a definite appetite for women’s hockey, as 2.9 million people in Canada tuned in to watch the first ever game, and Toronto sold out all of its home games for the season before playing its first game!
Game One – New York at Toronto
In a New Year’s matchup to open the season, the league debuted with a matchup between two of the biggest hockey markets on the planet – New York and Toronto.
Alex Carpenter, Assistant Captain of New York, spoke with PWHL media ahead of the game and shared, “We are super excited; this is awesome. We have a great crowd here and are excited to play today. We have to play our game, jump on the pucks first, and have a lot of fun while doing it.”
New York defeated the home team 4-0, and Ella Shelton had the honour of scoring the first goal in PWHL history.
Between periods, PWHL media spoke with Ella Shelton about her goal; she shared, “I think the emotions are surreal right now with this crowd, and coming to play your first professional hockey game is a great way to start the year. We have a special group and have a lot of fun together, and we come with our best foot forward to have a successful year.”
New York’s goaltender, Corinne Schroeder, put her name in the history books as the first goaltender to record both a win and a shutout in the PWHL.
Game Two – Montreal at Ottawa
Game two provided an overtime thriller with Montreal at Ottawa. This exciting game saw many highs and lows, and the capacity crowd reaction to all the action was felt through the stream.
At the end of the first period, PWHL media spoke with Emily Clarke, Assistant Captain for Ottawa, “We can go back in the room super happy with that first 20. We came into this game wanting to have fun, not worry about winning and losing but about the process, and that’s a great starting point for us. It is electric in here, and both teams are feeding off the energy. It’s such a special day for both teams, and I am so glad we all get to experience this together.”
Milestone moments in this matchup included Hayley Scamurra scoring the first goal in Ottawa franchise history, and Claire Dalton for Montreal. This game also saw the fans set the bar for the record-setting crowd at a professional women’s ice hockey game with 8,318 fans cheering them on.
Game Three – Minnesota at Boston
The pre-game ceremony featured Boston Bruins’ legend Patrice Bergeron handling the ceremonial puck drop, and the announcement of women’s hockey icon Hilary Knight as Boston’s inaugural captain.
PWHL media spoke with Knight ahead of the game, “This is something that everyone dreams about when they’re a young girl. To finally see this through and play it at a professional level is a dream come true. It’s a huge honour to be captain. Whenever you’re trusted to lead a group, you can’t take that lightly.”
Minnesota led the game, but Boston showed their character in scoring late in the third to reduce the deficit to 3-2. However, Minnesota netminder Nicole Hensley stood tall and kept the home team at bay with a glove save to seal the victory at the final buzzer.
Theresa Schafzahl goes down in Boston history for the first PWHL goal in franchise history, and the league’s first overall pick, Taylor Heise, scored a bar-down beauty for Minnesota’s first ever goal.
In these opening three games, each visitor defeated the home team, marking another notable mention for the PWHL history books.
This is just the beginning; don’t miss any of the action and visit the schedule here: https://www.thepwhl.com/stats/schedule/all-teams/1/1
You can catch all the games live and free outside of Canada via YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thepwhlofficial
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