Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Challenge #9

Rec Us Your Newest Thing. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Last February, I made a Women's Hockey Primer for halfamoon (returning this February, join us!). In the section on "Leagues", I wrote There has been much discussion over the years regarding the need for one women's hockey league in North America. With the two sides (PHF & PWHPA) as they are, they are never going to agree on how to do things.

Little did I expect that a group of investors would buy out the PHF in June and begin the development of one unified women's hockey league in North America, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). It came together very quickly- a CBA ratified by the players was the first thing. After that, it was announced that the league would consist of six teams - Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. Then came a free agency period which allowed each team to select three players- some of the biggest names in women's hockey were signed as free agents. After that was a fifteen round draft, and to round out their rosters, teams were allowed to invite players to the training camps which began in November.

The PWHL brought a couple of interesting rules with it:
-Standings, which in the NHL are 2 points for a win (any scenario), 1 point for an overtime or shootout loss, and 0 points for a loss, have been modified to 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an overtime or shootout win, 1 point for an overtime or shootout loss, and 0 points for a regulation loss.
-The "Jailbreak" goal - unlike the NHL or international hockey, when a shorthanded goal is scored in the PWHL (for a minor penalty only), the penalized player is sprung from the penalty box. It makes for a more interesting game than just having a team ice the puck to kill off the two minutes.
-There are differences in the shootout as well. The shootout is at least five rounds and teams can repeat shooters as much as they'd like. So, if you're PWHL Montreal, you could have Marie-Philip Poulin handle all five shootout attempts.

Physical play has been heightened from the rules in women's international hockey. Referees are more inclined to allow physicality in board battles, but they want to prevent dangerous open ice hits, so there are a lot more scrums than people are used to seeing in women's hockey.

Players to watch-
Boston - Hillary Knight, Alina Muller, Aerin Frankel
Minnesota - Taylor Heise (1st overall draft choice), Grace Zumwinkle, Lee Stecklein
Montreal - Marie-Philip Poulin, Erin Ambrose, Ann-Renee Desbiens
New York - Abby Roque, Ella Shelton, Emma Woods
Ottawa - Jincy Roese, Daryl Watts, Mikyla Grant-Mentis
Toronto - Sarah Nurse, Emma Maltais, Renata Fast

Official Website
PWHL YouTube Channel