Pulse of the PWHL: Even on Break, the PWHL Will be the Center of Attention at Women's Worlds
By Scott Lowe - MYHockeyRankings.com
Well, we’ve reached the third international break of the second Professional Women’s Hockey League season, and at this point it’s clear that nothing can diminish the momentum the league has built during its impressive initial two campaigns.
In fact, this break most likely will propel the league into its sophomore postseason on even stronger footing with 57 PWHL players being showcased to an international audience at the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship April 9-20.
The PWHL regular season resumes June 26, with the playoffs slated to begin after May 3, the final day of the regular season.
League players will compete for seven of the 10 teams at this year’s WWC, which is being played Ceske Budejovice, Czechia, and will be televised by NHL Network in the United States and TSN in Canada. Of the rostered PWHL players, 39 will compete for the United States and Canada with another 18 representing other nations from around the world.
Canada, which is the defending champion and has won three of the past four world championships, has 23 PWHL representatives on its roster, and 16 league players will compete for the United States. On top of that, nine PWHL players will represent Czechia, three will play for Finland, two will compete for Germany, three will play for Sweden and one will be on Switzerland’s roster.
All six PWHL teams have players competing at the WWC, led by the Boston Fleet with five. The Ottawa Charge are sending four players to the tournament, with the Montreal Victoire and Toronto Sceptres sending three apiece, the Minnesota Frost sending two and the New York Sirens sending one.
NHL Network will provide live coverage of every game involving the United States during the preliminary round along with the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal round. TSN will provide live coverage of all WWC games via its various over-the-air and online platforms.
Team USA Preliminary Round Schedule - all times Eastern
Wednesday, April 9: USA vs. Finland at 9 a.m.
Friday, April 11: USA vs. Czechia at 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 13: USA vs. Canada at 1 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15: USA vs. Switzerland at 1 p.m.
Team Canada Preliminary Round Schedule - all times Eastern
Thursday, April 10: Canada vs. Finland at 1 p.m.
Friday, April 11: Canada vs. Switzerland at 9 a.m.
Sunday, April 13: Canada vs. USA at 1 p.m.
Monday, April 14: Canada vs. Czechia at 1 p.m.
Quarterfinal games will take place on Thursday, April 17, followed by the semifinals on Saturday, April 19.
The bronze-medal game will be on Sunday, April 20 at 8 a.m. EDT, followed by the gold medal game at noon.
CLICK HERE for the full tournament schedule.
Roster Breakdown of PWHL Players at the WWC
The following PWHL players will be competing at the 2025 WWC in Czechia. All 18 of the players not North American nations have WWC experience, with Finland’s Susanna Tapani having earned six medals.
Czechia
Goalie: Klara Peslarova (BOS)
Defense: Dominika Laskova (MTL), Daniela Pejsova (BOS), Aneta Tejralova (OTT)
Forward: Klara Hymlarova (MIN), Denisa Krízova (MIN), Katerina Mrazova (OTT), Noemi Neubauerova (TOR), Tereza Vanisova (OTT)
Finland
Defense: Ronja Savolainen (OTT)
Forward: Susanna Tapani (BOS), Noora Tulus (NY)
Germany
Goalie: Sandra Abstreiter (MTL), F - Laura Kluge (TOR)
Sweden
Goalie: Emma Soderberg (BOS)
Defense: Anna Kjellbin (TOR)
Forward: Lina Ljungblom (MTL)
Switzerland
Forward: Alina Muller (BOS)
Canada
Goalies: Kristen Campbell (TOR), Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL)
Defenders: Erin Ambrose (MTL), Renata Fast (TOR), Sophie Jaques (MIN), Jocelyne Larocque (OTT), Ella Shelton (NY), Claire Thompson (MIN), Micah Zandee-Hart (NY).
Forwards: Emily Clark (OTT), Sarah Fillier (NY), Jennifer Gardiner (MTL), Brianne Jenner (OTT), Emma Maltais (TOR), Hannah Miller (TOR), Sarah Nurse (TOR), Kristin O’Neill (MTL), Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL), Danielle Serdachny (OTT), Natalie Spooner (TOR), Laura Stacey (MTL), Blayre Turnbull (TOR), Daryl Watts (TOR)
In terms of experience among the Canadians, Poulin has the most as a 12-time medalist (four gold, seven silver, one bronze). She has been on the Canadian teams that have captured three of the last four world championships. Gardiner, Jaques, Miller and Watts are making their Women’s World Championship debut.
United States:
Goalies: Aerin Frankel (BOS), Gwyneth Philips (OTT)
Defenders: Cayla Barnes (MTL), Savannah Harmon (TOR), Megan Keller (BOS), Lee Stecklein (MIN), Anna Wilgren (MTL)
Forwards: Alex Carpenter (NY), Jesse Compher (TOR), Kendall Coyne Schofield (MIN), Britta Curl-Salemme (MIN), Taylor Heise (MIN), Hilary Knight (BOS), Kelly Pannek (MIN), Hayley Scamurra (TOR), Grace Zumwinkle (MIN)
USA captain Hilary Knight has won 14 medals, the most of any player in tournament history, and is the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. Wilgren is making her WWC debut.
The PWHL Sends Its Best
The PWHL’s top 10 goal producers were all scheduled to be at the WWC, with Nos. 1 and 2, Poulin (17) and Knight (15), leading the way. Czechia’s Tereza Vanisova is third in the PWHL goal-scoring race with 15 tallies.
The players ranking among the PWHL’s top seven in assists also were supposed to be lending a helping hand to their homelands’ efforts. Three of those players, Renata Fast (15), Claire Thompson (14) and Sophie Jaques (14) are key members of the Canadian defensive corps, and a fourth Canadian defender, Erin Ambrose, is 10th in assists with 12. Switzerland forward Alina Muller is tied for 10th with Ambrose.
Knight leads the PWHL in scoring with 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points. Budding Canadian superstar Sarah Fillier is next with 12-15-17, and including those two, 15 of the league’s top 16 scorers were scheduled to compete in Czechia. Hannah Miller, who ranks among the league’s top seven in all three offensive categories, recently was ruled ineligible to play for Canada by the IIHF and is being replaced by Julia Gosling of the Toronto Sceptres.
The PWHL’s top non-North American offensive producers who will be at the WWC are Vanisova, Muller and Tapani, who rank 10th, 12th and 15th, respectively in scoring. Vanisova is tied for second in goals with 15 and Tapani is tied for fifth with 11. Muller is tied for 10th in assists.
In goal, the PWHL’s three winningest netminders, Canada’s Ann-Renee Desbiens (13) USA’s Aerin Frankel (12) and Canada’s Kristen Campbell (9), will be competing in Czechia. Desbiens, Frankel and Campbell rank first, second and fifth, respectively, in save percentage. They are first, third and fourth, respectively, in goals-against average.
WWC Outlook
Given the history of overtime and one-goal decisions on the world’s biggest hockey stages when the United States and Canada collide, which of those teams comes home with a gold medal this time around, as usual, basically is a coin flip.
In 23 appearances at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, Canada has captured 13 gold medals (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2024), to go along with nine silver (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023) and one bronze (2019). Meanwhile, the United States has won 10 gold and 13 silver as those two teams have met in the gold-medal game 22 out of the 23 years the WWC has been held.
Finland traditionally is considered the third-best team in the World, having captured 15 medals overall, including a silver medal after upsetting Canada in 2019. Host-nation Czechia, which has claimed three bronze medals, with the most recent coming in 2023, is hoping that a boost from the home crowd might propel them into medal conversation.
Canada captured gold last April thanks to Danielle Serdachny’s overtime goal in Utica, N.Y., a year after the U.S. had returned to the top of the medal podium by winning in Brampton, Ontario.
Canada’s three world championships in the past four tournaments have come on the heels of five consecutive USA gold medals between 2013 and 2019. The Canadians also took home gold from the Winer Olympics in 2022 and have won four straight Rivalry Series against the Americans.
The Canadians clinched this year’s Rivalry Series in February with a deciding 3-1 victory in a winner-take-all Game 5 after the U.S. had rallied to tie them at two games apiece with a 2-1 shootout win in Game 4. The final two games were played on Canadian soil, but this year’s WWC essentially is being contested on neutral ice.
Despite Canada’s recent edge in the medal column, six of the last seven WWC gold-medal games between the rival nations have been decided by a single goal, with five of those contests requiring overtime or a shootout. One goal also has been the difference two of the last three times they’ve met with Olympic gold on the line.
The good news for us is that the United States and Canada are certain to meet during this year’s preliminary round since both teams are in Group A. The 10-team tournament is divided into two groups for the preliminary rounds, with Group A featuring the top five teams from 2024 WWC and Group B including the three next-best teams from Utica along with two promoted nations from a lower-level world championship.
2025 WWC Groups
|
Group A |
Group B |
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Canada |
Germany |
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United States |
Sweden |
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Finland |
Japan |
|
Czechia |
Norway |
|
Switzerland |
Hungary |
The United States and Canada will meet April 13 at 1 p.m. EDT.
Takeover Tour Takes Over North America
The PWHL’s nine-city Takeover Tour began Jan. 5 in Seattle and concluded March 29 in St. Louis as another 8,578 fans turned out to set a professional women’s hockey attendance record for the state of Missouri.
At the nine tour stops, a total of 122,601 fans came out to see the PWHL in person. The tour was an overwhelming success as the league looks toward expanding by one or two teams, perhaps as soon as the 2025-26 season.
The Takeover Tour consisted of nine neutral-site regular-season contests played at mostly NHL venues in cities that currently don’t have PHWL teams. It was a unique barnstorming concept that allowed the league’s players to experience new “major league” cities and venues while also playing in front of larger-than-normal crowds. Of course, the tour also exposed the players and level of play to new fans in new markets, serving as a dress rehearsal for potential markets that might be interested in being part of the league’s upcoming expansion.
The Takeover Tour game between the New York Sirens and Minnesota Frost March 15 drew 14,288 fans to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit to eclipse the United States women’s professional hockey attendance record. The previous mark was established at an earlier Takeover Tour stop in Denver, with 14,018 turning out to watch Minnesota and Montreal face off at Ball Arena. Denver broke the previous record of 13,736, which was established at another PWHL neutral-site contest in Detroit during the league’s inaugural campaign.
“This is truly a ‘pinch-me’ moment,” Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations, told reporters in Detroit. “The overwhelming support from fans, the energy in the arenas and the league’s rapid growth all highlight how much people are connecting with the PWHL. Today is a moment we’ll always remember, and we’re grateful to the fans of Detroit for celebrating it with us in such a big way.”
The spectacular fan showing in Detroit for the second consecutive year indicates that the Motor City may be one of the frontrunners to receive an expansion franchise.
“Although not in our Original Six, it’s somewhere that we still, I think, have our eyes on,” PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford explained, speaking in Detroit. “And tonight has just been another proof point that this is a market that loves hockey and I think loves women’s hockey.”
More Than A Million Reasons Why
On top of the success of the Takeover Tour, which averaged better than 13,600 fans across its nine contests, the PWHL’s second-year overall attendance numbers continue to dwarf attendance figures from the league’s immensely successful first season.
During the week preceding the current international break, a total of 12,605 fans showed up for games in Lowell, Mass., and Montreal, bringing the league’s total attendance to nearly 600,000 for Season 2. Thus far, an average of 7,328 fans have attended PWHL contests during the 2024-25 season, up from last year’s average of 5,500.
In addition, the league eclipsed the 1-million total spectator mark in just 15 months of play at the record-setting Takeover Tour stop in Detroit. Last season, the PWHL drew a total of 483,530 fans for 72 regular-season and 13 playoff games. More than 518,000 fans attended the league’s first 70 contests of the 2024-25 campaign to push the total for two seasons past 1 million.
“Reaching 1 million fans is a huge milestone for our league,” Hefford said. “To see the league grow so rapidly is a reflection of the dedication of our players, who demonstrate their world-class talent every day, as well as the countless individuals behind the scenes who work relentlessly to ensure the league's success. The passion and support from our fans has been incredible, and this is only the beginning.”
"Suprastars" of the Month
The PWHL announced its “Suprastars” for March on April 3, with forwards Hilary Knight of the Boston Fleet, Laura Stacey of the Montreal Victoire and Tereza Vanisova of the Ottawa Charge garnering recognition along with defenders Renata Fast of the Toronto Sceptres and Sophie Jaques of the Minnesota Frost and goaltender Kristen Campbell of Toronto.
Forwards
Knight posted seven goals and four assists in seven March outings and ended the month as the league’s scoring leader with 15-13-28. She recorded her first PWHL hat trick to go along with an assist in a 5-2 win vs. New York March 5.
Stacey had at least one point in each of Montreal’s four March victories, recording multiple-point efforts three times. She netted the overtime game-winning goal in a 3-2 win against Boston March 1 and recorded four points in a 4-1 March 26 victory against Minnesota to help her team clinch a playoff berth.
Vanisova potted six goals in March and scored the fastest two goals by the same player in PWHL history 32 seconds apart in a 3-2 victory against Boston in St. Louis. Those third-period tallies were her seventh and eighth third-period markers of the season, the most recorded by any player in the final 20 minutes of play. She also recorded her second hat trick of the season in a 5-2 victory at New York March 22.
Defense
Fast also received “Suprastar” recognition in February, following that up with two goals and two assists in March in helping the Sceptres win four of their six contests. She finished the month leading all PWHL defenders in scoring and had recorded more than half of the team’s 11 goals from blueliners and nearly half of the defensive unit’s 44 points.
Jaques also made the “Suprastar” list in February and doubled down in March by recording five points and 24 shots for the month. She ended March with five goals and 14 assists, with her 19 points trailing only Fast among all PWHL defenders.
Goalie
Campbell was the winning netminder in all four of Toronto’s March victories, limiting the opposition to one goal three times. She has held opponents to one goal eight times this season to lead the PWHL and finished the month ranked third in league with nine victories.
What’s the Scenario?
Montreal is the only team to have clinched a playoff berth, entering the break in first place at 11-6-3-7 and with 48 points. Each of the remaining five teams has three games left and still is in contention for one of the three other playoff spots. Toronto is in second place with 45 points and needs just one more point to clinch.
Boston is next with 40 points, followed by Ottawa with 39 and Minnesota with 38. The battle among those three teams might come down to the final game of the season.
New York is in sixth place with 33 points and must earn at least seven of its remaining nine available points to stay alive while also getting help from other teams.
CLICK HERE for the complete standings
CLICK HERE for the PWHL schedule
