Which star would you build a women’s hockey team around?
19.7.2023 15:06
So, you want to build a professional women’s hockey team. Great! The new league starts in January.
There’s a lot we don’t yet know about this brand new league, the vision of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association and their financial backers that will soon come to life.
We have a rough start date (January 2024), a general framework (six teams; three in Canada and three stateside) and, most importantly, a signed and sealed CBA that was ratified shortly after last month’s seismic announcement of the league’s launching and the shuttering of the Premier Hockey Federation. The dust is still settling on that sport-altering news, with many now-former PHF players facing uncertain futures after having their contracts voided as a result of the league’s sale.
As we continue to understand the new landscape of women’s hockey as a new foundation is built around this single league, we can’t help but daydream about the great hockey to come. And while we don’t know exactly how each team will come together — there’s promise of a draft and free agency, but few details have emerged — we thought it would be fun to do a little scouting considering all the incredible talent that’s about to come together under one league.
Which begs the question: with a clean slate and 23 roster spots to fill, who would you want to build a team around? As we see in the game at every level, there are many different approaches to building a hockey team. Maybe you’re looking to build from the back end, focusing on landing a solid netminder first and establishing a defence-led roster. Perhaps you want value experience above all else, choosing a vocal veteran and proven leader to hit the ground running, or maybe you’d prefer to start young and build for the long-term. Identity will be key as each team looks to carve out its place in a new market, which means the importance of bringing in starpower not just on the ice but off it should not be overlooked.
An important note: You’ll notice the omission of some major names here, which is why we’re pointing out that for the sake of this thought experiment, we left off college stars like Sarah Fillier and Caroline Harvey. (Hey, at a time when we still don’t know all the ins and outs of this new league, we have to create our own rules!) Fillier is entering her senior year as Princeton University’s captain while Harvey is fresh off an electric freshman campaign at Wisconsin. Their contributions to their respective national teams have already been massive — Harvey led all players in points at this year’s world championship and was the tournament’s best defender enroute to USA gold while Fillier, who won Olympic gold with Canada in 2022, was named best forward and tournament MVP. We will likely have to wait a little longer to see them suit up in the pros.
There’s a lot we don’t yet know about this brand new league, the vision of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association and their financial backers that will soon come to life.
We have a rough start date (January 2024), a general framework (six teams; three in Canada and three stateside) and, most importantly, a signed and sealed CBA that was ratified shortly after last month’s seismic announcement of the league’s launching and the shuttering of the Premier Hockey Federation. The dust is still settling on that sport-altering news, with many now-former PHF players facing uncertain futures after having their contracts voided as a result of the league’s sale.
As we continue to understand the new landscape of women’s hockey as a new foundation is built around this single league, we can’t help but daydream about the great hockey to come. And while we don’t know exactly how each team will come together — there’s promise of a draft and free agency, but few details have emerged — we thought it would be fun to do a little scouting considering all the incredible talent that’s about to come together under one league.
Which begs the question: with a clean slate and 23 roster spots to fill, who would you want to build a team around? As we see in the game at every level, there are many different approaches to building a hockey team. Maybe you’re looking to build from the back end, focusing on landing a solid netminder first and establishing a defence-led roster. Perhaps you want value experience above all else, choosing a vocal veteran and proven leader to hit the ground running, or maybe you’d prefer to start young and build for the long-term. Identity will be key as each team looks to carve out its place in a new market, which means the importance of bringing in starpower not just on the ice but off it should not be overlooked.
An important note: You’ll notice the omission of some major names here, which is why we’re pointing out that for the sake of this thought experiment, we left off college stars like Sarah Fillier and Caroline Harvey. (Hey, at a time when we still don’t know all the ins and outs of this new league, we have to create our own rules!) Fillier is entering her senior year as Princeton University’s captain while Harvey is fresh off an electric freshman campaign at Wisconsin. Their contributions to their respective national teams have already been massive — Harvey led all players in points at this year’s world championship and was the tournament’s best defender enroute to USA gold while Fillier, who won Olympic gold with Canada in 2022, was named best forward and tournament MVP. We will likely have to wait a little longer to see them suit up in the pros.