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Here’s everything you need to know about Boston’s new professional hockey team
PWHL Boston will open its season on Wednesday night at Lowell's Tsongas Center as a new women's hockey league launches.
A new era for professional women’s hockey in Boston is set to begin on Wednesday night.
With the inaugural season for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) already underway, Boston’s franchise is ready to make its debut against PWHL Minnesota on Wednesday at Lowell’s Tsongas Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Boston is one of six teams that will be featured in the PWHL’s first season, joined by franchises in other hockey hotbeds: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, New York, and Minnesota.
The Greater Boston area is no stranger to elite women’s hockey talent — be it the several nearby powerhouse collegiate hockey programs or the Boston Pride, who won three Isobel Cups during their eight-season existence.
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And with PWHL Boston, hockey fans will have no shortage of top talent to root for in the coming months.
Here’s everything you need to know about Boston’s newest professional hockey franchise.
What is the PWHL?
The PWHL will stand as the lone professional women’s hockey league in North America this winter, with top talent across women’s hockey uniting under one entity backed by billionaire ownership and an eight-year collective bargaining agreement that offers benefits like living wages, training resources, and guaranteed ice time.
The PWHL is owned by the Mark Walter Group, which includes Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter, his wife, Kimbra Walter, tennis legend Billie Jean King, and Dodgers president Stan Kasten.
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For years, professional women’s hockey in North America was fractured between the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) and the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). A one-league solution eluded the sport, especially after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) folded back in 2019.
To bridge the gap between the PHF and PWHPA and establish one pro women’s hockey league, Billie Jean King Enterprises and the Mark Walter Group — who partnered with the PWHPA back in May 2022 — bought out the PHF back in June 2023, paving the way for the PWHL.
“This league is going to give out tremendous hockey, tremendous skill and I know that the attendance is building for a lot of the teams and I hope we can have that turnout in Boston as well,” PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel said late last month. “But it’s been great to be on the ice and working toward getting those hockey legs back and getting the conditioning back in us has been a big factor.”
When and where will PWHL Boston play?
Like every team in the PWHL, Boston will play a 24-game schedule that will run from January to May. There will be a three-week break beginning in late March for players to take part in World Championships competition.
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PWHL Boston will hold home games during the 2024 season at Lowell’s Tsongas Center, starting with Wednesday’s debut game against PWHL Minnesota. NESN will carry all 24 games of the pro women’s hockey team’s inaugural season, while all PWHL games will be streamed on the league’s YouTube channel.
Here’s a look at the PWHL Boston’s schedule, with some late-game information still to be announced.
- Wednesday, Jan. 3: Minnesota, 7 p.m.
- Monday, Jan. 8: Ottawa, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 13: at Montreal, 3:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 17: at Toronto, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 20: New York, 12:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 24: at Ottawa, 7 p.m. (NESN+)
- Saturday, Jan. 27: Minnesota, 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Feb. 4: Montreal, 3:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 14: Toronto, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 17: New York, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 21: Ottawa, 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Feb. 25: at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
- Saturday, March 2: at Montreal, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 6: at Toronto, 7 p.m.
- Sunday, March 10: New York, 3 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 13: at Minnesota, 8 p.m. (NESN+)
- Saturday, March 16: Ottawa
- Wednesday, March 20: at Toronto, 7 p.m.
- Monday, March 25: at New York, 7 p.m. (NESN+)
- Thursday, April 18: Toronto, 7 p.m. (NESN+)
- Sunday, April 21: at New York
- Wednesday, April 24: Ottawa
- Saturday, April 27: at Minnesota
- Saturday, May 4: Montreal
What about the Boston Pride?
As a result of the PHF buyout in June, the Boston Pride — who won three titles during their tenure with the NWHL/PHF — were folded, along with the rest of the league. According to Sportsnet, the PHF buy-out also voided the contracts of all players within the league.
One of the primary sticking points for PWHPA players about joining the PHF was concern over the long-term financial stability of the league.
After the CWHL ended in 2019, many players in that league opted to not play in any other North American league until they felt a sustainable league was put in place, opting instead to play in PWHPA tours across the U.S. and Canada in preparation for international tournaments.
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Even though the Boston Pride are no more, there are several players on the PWHL Boston roster who previously played for that team — including Kaleigh Fratkin, Pembroke’s own Sammy Davis, Loren Gabel, Hilary Knight, Gigi Marvin, Amanda Pelkey, and Taylor Wenczkowski.
What about a team name?
There are none this season for all six PWHL teams. In an effort to get the new league up and rolling this winter, the league delayed branding the teams with unique logos and names — with announcements to come at a later date.
As a result, each PWHL team will be identified by its location and branded by color, with PWHL Boston’s players draped in green.
PWHL Boston GM Danielle Marmer isn’t concerned about the lack of unique branding to start off this season.
“I mean, in my perspective, it’s minor,” Marmer said. “I think we see on social media, there’s rumblings about the names and I think that’s happening in every market. But we’re not too worried about it. Whatever we end up going with with a name, I think our fans will get behind.”
So far, Marmer has been encouraged by the reception that PWHL Boston has received in the market — with fan interest especially piqued by the number of star players on the roster.
“It’s been incredibly positive so far,” Marmer said. “People are excited — the talent that we have, the names that we have… they’re familiar with these players from watching the Olympics and watching World Championships. And Boston and the Greater Boston area have so much emphasis and investment in youth hockey and especially in the girls game that is ever-growing.
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“And so to see the excitement from these teams. We have so much support from even the college teams in the area and the high-school teams in the area. There are people telling me that their son’s peewee teams are excited to see Hilary Knight play, so it’s awesome to see that it’s not just the young girls teams, but it’s also the boys in the Boston area who are excited about this team.”
Who is leading PWHL Boston?
PWHL Boston will be coached by Courtney Kessel, who has made several coaching stops on the way to her current post in Boston. The Mississauga, Ontario native and University of New Hampshire product coached the CWHL’s Toronto Furies and also served as an assistant coach at Princeton University.
As head coach of Team Canada’s 2022-23 U18 team, Kessel led her squad to a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championships.
Danielle Marmer will take the helm of PWHL Boston as the team’s GM after serving as a player development and scouting assistant with the Bruins. Marmer, a Vermont native and Quinnipiac University alum, hopes to instill the same core values she drew from the Bruins into this new operation with PWHL Boston.
“My relationship with the Bruins, I am on a call with their head of scouting once a week. I was on call yesterday with Don Sweeney and Evan Gold, their GM and assistant GM. So staying connected with them and relying on my network as well to help make sure that I’m bringing this in the right direction. And then an emphasis on culture.
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“We have our core values and I’m really working hard to wrap myself in the values and, I said this early on, that I think Court’s in the business of winning hockey games and I’m in the people business and if I can get our staff and our players all working as efficiently as possible with as little friction as possible, we can go a long way.”
On the ice, PWHL Boston will be led by superstar forward Hilary Knight — who was named the team’s captain in a special announcement by former Bruin Patrice Bergeron on Tuesday.
Knight, 34, is arguably the greatest American hockey player of all time — with the skilled forward winning four Olympic medals (three silver, one gold) with Team USA over the course of her career.
The reigning IIHF Female Player of the Year, Knight still has plenty of gas left in the tank entering her first season with PWHL Boston. Knight will be joined on PWHL Boston’s leadership group in the dressing room by alternate captains Jamie Lee Rattray and defenseman Megan Keller.
PWHL Boston might be title favorites in 2024
Knight is far from the only reason why PWHL Boston might be the team to beat in 2024, with several key signings and a fruitful draft by Marmer rounding out a roster featuring elite players across the depth chart.
PWHL’s top forward line alone is expected to dole out plenty of damage. Along with Knight on the wing, Kessell is expected to roll out 2023 PHF MVP Loren Gabel and center Alina Müller — who was selected third overall by Boston in the league’s inaugural draft.
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Gabel, who scored 20 goals and 40 points in just 22 games with the Pride last season, is a threat on every shift. But Müller might be PWHL Boston’s franchise fixture for the long-haul.
The Swiss forward carved up the collegiate ranks during her five years at Northeastern, setting the program record for scoring with 254 points (98 goals, 156 assists) in 159 games. She was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award — given to the top collegiate women’s hockey player — in all five of her seasons with the Huskies.
Proven star players like Hannah Brandt, Rattray, Marvin, Pelkey, Theresa Schafzahl, and Sophie Shirley will round out a dangerous forward corps.
And given their personnel, PWHL Boston might generate plenty of chances by way of a dynamic defense.
Keller, who starred at Boston College for four seasons, is one of the most prolific scorers from the blue line in women’s hockey, while Marmer managed to select the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner in Ohio State’s Sophie Jaques in the second round of the 2023 PWHL Draft.
Jaques — just the second defenseman to win the Patty Kazmaier after Hall of Famer Angela Ruggiero — scored 45 goals and posted 107 total points over her last two seasons (79 games) with the Buckeyes.
“I was an offensive defenseman, so I love to see that and you got Sophie Jaques, coming out of Ohio State, just won Patty Kaz — put up some great numbers,” Kessel said. “Megan Keller, I think is one of, if not the best defensive player in the world. I’m super excited. I think one thing we’re really focusing on is closing our gap and that’s going to allow us to play offense and we want to play offense because we got some super-powered forwards out there that can put the puck in the back of the net.
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“So I think breaking the puck out, using our speed as defensemen, pushing the pace of the game, and allowing our forwards to do what they do best and that score some goals.”
For Kessel, the top hurdle out of the gate will likely revolve around forging chemistry with a roster featuring plenty of star players — some of whom will have to settle into roles further down the lineup.
“I definitely think the chemistry is coming along,” Kessel added. “I think when you get together, you got 20 players at camp and you’re all trying to figure each other out… The refs are gonna let us play physical and so I think with that part, like building that in your practice and building that chemistry [to] where it needs to be. Still trying out lines and I think you’re gonna see a little bit of shuffling throughout the beginning of the league from every team.”
PWHL has a similar goalie set-up as the Bruins
The Bruins have established themselves as one of the top teams in the NHL over the last few years thanks to two elite goalies in Sweden’s Linus Ullmark and American Jeremy Swayman.
PWHL Boston might have a similar stout tandem in place with their goalies in USA’s Aerin Frankel and Sweden’s Emma Söderberg.
Frankel won the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Award at Northeastern, going 103-22-10 with the Huskies — posting 39 shutouts and a .949 save percentage. Frankel earned the nod as Team USA’s No. 1 goalie at the 2023 World Championships, posting a .932 save percentage in the tournament en route to a goal medal.
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Not to be outdone, Söderberg ended her collegiate career at Minnesota Duluth with the fifth-most wins in NCAA history. She represented Sweden at the 2023 World Championships, where she recorded a 2.58 GAA and a .924 save percentage in five games — earning an All-Star team nod.
Marmer also stressed that PWHL Boston’s third goalie in Cami Kronish should not be overlooked. The 23-year-old netminder helped Wisconsin win the 2023 NCAA National Championship, earning the nod for NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Performer for her efforts.
“With Aerin, she’s a competitor… She knows where she is in the crease, she knows what she has to do to make a save,” Marmer said. “She just has incredible awareness and she plays aggressive, she’s confident and it kind of goes against if you’re a technical goalie person. You’re not used to seeing a goalie be so aggressive like that. And it’s exciting to watch.
“It makes it really fun. So it’s cool that [she] and Emma might have different styles, and that way you know if one feels like they’re struggling with something — Emma might have a way to figure out how to make a save that Aerin is struggling with and vice versa and they can help each other out… The three of them together, they’re going to learn from each other, they’re going to grow and we trust any one of them in net on any given night.”
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