Six teams playing six games for the first time in 2021-22 season
It’s week three of the Premier Hockey Federation season and for the first time in 2021-22 it’s a full slate of weekend action with all six teams competing in weekend doubleheaders.
Here’s a closer look at what’s in store over th
e next two days.
Saturday November 20, 2021:
2:00 PM ET – Connecticut Whale vs Toronto Six
(ESPN+ with Joe Malfa & Alexis Pearson, Twitch International with Erica Ayala)
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For the first time in PHF history a game will be played on Canadian ice as the Toronto Six make their highly anticipated home ice debut. The reigning regular season champions won their lone opening weekend contest in Buffalo and remain the PHF’s only undefeated team led by MVP Mikyla Grant-Mentis who picked up three assists. The Connecticut Whale hope to extend their own winning-streak after handing the defending Isobel Cup champion Boston Pride their first loss of the season on Sunday to cap a four-point weekend. Three Whale forwards are tied for first place in PHF scoring with five points in four games including newcomer Kennedy Marchment, and veterans Emma Vlasic and Alyssa Wohlfeiler. Toronto won the only head-to-head meeting between the teams in Lake Placid on January 31 by a 6-0 score with three points for Grant-Mentis and a 25-save shutout by Elaine Chuli.
4:00 PM ET – Buffalo Beauts vs Metropolitan Riveters
(ESPN+, ESPN International & TSN Direct with Brandon Ross & Kaylyn Kyle)
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A founding four rivalry renews after a full season apart as the Buffalo Beauts visit the Metropolitan Riveters for the first time since the end of the 2019-20 campaign. Back then the clubs split the weekend series with the Rivs winning 5-2 on February 29 led by a two-point performance from Kendall Cornine, and the Beauts victorious by a 3-1 score on March 1 with Erin Gehen contributing a goal. There was no head-to-head meeting in 2021 which leaves the all-time series 16-12 in favor of Buffalo. Beauts co-captain Taylor Accursi is fresh off a record-setting opener where she took over the franchise’s all-time scoring mark with 43 points, while Riveters veteran Rebecca Russo shares the PHF scoring lead with five points through two games.
8:00 PM ET – Boston Pride vs Minnesota Whitecaps
(ESPN+ with Joe Malfa & Alexis Pearson, Twitch International with Erica Ayala)
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For the second time in three weeks it’s a rematch between the Isobel Cup finalists of the past two seasons. This time the scene shifts to Minnesota where the Whitecaps make their home ice debut against the rival Boston Pride and hope to flip the script and pull off a weekend sweep of their own. On Boston ice it was the Pride who won both games to start the 2021-22 season outscoring the Whitecaps 7-4 and outshooting them 70-58 in the process. The 1-0 shutout by Katie Burt on November 7 was just the second time in four seasons the Whitecaps were held off the scoresheet. Allie Thunstrom led the Minnesota offense with three points in their first game, while McKenna Brand leads Boston with four points in as many games.
Sunday November 21, 2021:
2:00 PM ET – Connecticut Whale vs Toronto Six
(ESPN+, ESPN International & TSN Direct with Joe Malfa & Erica Ayala)
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3:00 PM ET – Boston Pride vs Minnesota Whitecaps
(ESPN+, ESPN International & TSN Direct with Josh Eastern & Alexis Pearson)
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4:00 PM ET – Buffalo Beauts vs Metropolitan Riveters
(ESPN+, ESPN International & TSN Direct with Steve Goldstein and Katie Gaus)
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OH CANADA
It’s been almost 19 months since the expansion Toronto Six were unveiled in April, 2020. That’s one month for every Canadian player on the PHF’s only entry north of the border who will finally experience the excitement of playing before family and friends. 13 of the 19 Canadian T6 players are from the province of Ontario, with seven hailing from the Greater Toronto Area including goaltender Tera Hofmann, defenders Cristine Chao, Taylor Davison, Stephanie Sucharda, and Saroya Tinker, plus forwards Tori Charron and Mikyla Grant-Mentis. Of the group, Davison has the most familiarity with the home ice at Canlan York which is a facility shared by the York University Lions where she played throughout her U SPORTS career. There are over 40 Canadian players in the PHF including six on the visiting Whale. Goaltender Mariah Fujimagari and captain Shannon Turner are both from nearby Markham.
WHALE OF AN OFFENSE
The sample size is small but the output is substantial when it comes to the Connecticut Whale offense through four games. They stand atop the PHF with 13 goals scored for a 3.3 average which may only equal the Federation’s third highest figure but it’s a mark the franchise hasn’t seen since the 2016-17 season. They’ve also scored in bunches with six straight goals in their second game against the Riveters, followed by a pair of three-goal bursts against the Pride. Seven players in total have found the back of the net thus far including scoring leaders KennedyMarchment, EmmaVlasic and AlyssaWohlfeiler, plus Emily Fluke with two, and singles from Amanda Conway, Taylor Girard, and Taylor Marchin.
BACK TO BARNABAS
It’s a second home opener of sorts for the Metropolitan Riveters who began the year with two games at Mennen Ice Arena in Morristown, NJ but return to the Barnabas Hockey House in Newark, NJ for their next eight home dates. The New Jersey Devils facility was home to the Riveters from Season 2-4 and is the storied site of the club’s 2018 Isobel Cup triumph, a 1-0 victory over Buffalo, where the banner still hangs. Both RebeccaRusso and captain Madison Packer were part of that celebration with the latter, a Riveters mainstay since the beginning, amassing 26 points on Barnabas ice over 27 games during that three-season stretch.
NEW BEAUTS BACK AT IT
The Buffalo Beauts embark on their first doubleheader weekend of the season two weeks after many of the team’s players experienced their first taste of PHF action. The Beauts lead the PHF with 10 newcomers including eight who competed in their home opener. Four of them found the scoresheet including Cassidy Vinkle who holds the team’s early scoring lead with two assists. Missy Segall got her first PHF goal, with Emma Keenan getting her first assist, and Jenna Suokko assisting to become the first skater from Finland to ever record a PHF point.
RETURN TO THE STATE OF HOCKEY
There’s no place in the PHF like TRIA where the Whitecaps call home, and for the first time since March 8, 2020 there will be PHF action in the State of Hockey. Minnesota compiled a 9-3 regular season record on home ice during the 2019-20 campaign that included a series split with Boston January 25-26 with a 4-3 victory and a 4-2 loss for the hosts. 19 of the 24 players signed to the Whitecaps this season are Minnesota natives which makes every home game something special. Goaltender Jenna Brenneman, defender Patti Marshall, and forward Mak Langei are among the home state heroes who will play their first game before their faithful fans.
BOSTON BOUNCES BACK
Losing is not a habit for the PHF’s most winningest franchise over the past three seasons which makes this weekend an interesting opportunity to rebound after suffering defeat at the hands of Connecticut. Throughout the entire 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns the Pride never lost consecutive regular-season games. Last year in Lake Placid they did suffer three-straight losses before finding the rhythm that carried them to the title. The game that followed the last Pride loss on January 30 to Buffalo was a 6-0 victory against the Beauts powered by the defense with two goals from Mallory Souliotis, three assists from Kaleigh Fratkin, and a 31-save shutout from Lovisa Selander.
CENTURY CLUB
Kaleigh Fratkin’s career currently stands at 98 regular-season games played meaning a healthy weekend for the Pride defender will make her just the second in PHF history to reach 100 following teammate Jillian Dempsey who met the milestone marker on opening weekend. The Beauts are also on pace to play their 100th regular-season game on Sunday. They’ve won 44 of their first 98.
STREAKS TO WATCH
Whale forwards KennedyMarchment and EmmaVlasic have the longest active point-streaks in the 2021-22 PHF season at three games apiece. Six Riveters picked up points in both of their opening games and look to stay hot including MadisonPacker, RebeccaRusso, Kelly Babstock, Kristen Barbara, Kendall Cornine, and Emily Janiga. Sammy Davis is the Pride’s active leader with a point in two-straight games. Counting the 2021 season, Toronto’s MikylaGrant-Mentis has points in seven-straight games.
CREASE CUTS
Katie Burt leads the PHF with a 1.46 goals-against-average followed by Connecticut’s Abbie Ives (2.63) and Toronto’s Elaine Chuli (3.00) in her single appearance this season. Burt also holds the best save percentage with a mark of .951, followed by Minnesota’s Amanda Leveille (.900) and Ives (.893). Boston’s Lovisa Selander (3.50/.877) and Metropolitan’s Sonjia Shelly (3.58/.829) are the only other netminders with two starts to date.
STATS SNAPSHOT
Riveters newcomer Nora MacLaine is the only player with a perfect shooting percentage scoring her first career PHF goal on her one and only shot thus far. Madison Packer and Alyssa Wohlfeiler are tied for the PHF lead in plus-minus with a plus-6 rating followed by Kendall Cornine at plus-5. McKenna Brand leads the PHF with 20 shots on goal followed by Pride teammate Taylor Wenczkowski and Kennedy Marchment with 19. Pride defender Amanda Boulier and Shannon Turner are tied with five shot blocks. Turner also leads with 13 takeaways tied with Pride defender Lauren Kelly. Jillian Dempsey leads with 59 faceoff wins and a .608 winning percentage, followed by the Whale’s Catherine Crawley (.593) and EmmaVlasic (.582) winning 35 and 53 draws respectively.
by PAUL KROTZ
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