PWHL Season 3 preview: Amid expansion, roster shuffles, 2-time champion Frost eager to defend title

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Hilary Knight is blazing the Professional Women’s Hockey League's expansion trail in Seattle. Sarah Nurse left Toronto to do the same in Vancouver.

Amid the roster upheaval that took place to stock two new teams, the influx of draft talent and an expanded 120-game coast-to-coast schedule, there remains one constant as the PWHL prepares to open its third season on Friday.

The Minnesota Frost are the two-time defending Walter Cup champions, return much of their core captained by Kendall Coyne Schofield and are ready to take on any and all challengers.

“I still think we have the horses to be able to complete with everybody and be right up there when it counts,” coach Ken Klee said of a team that also returns forwards Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise, defenseman Lee Stecklein and the goalie tandem of Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney.

Just don’t call it a chance to threepeat, Pannek said, in light of Minnesota losing several key pieces, including the defensive duo of Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques, who are now in Vancouver.

“I think the beauty of where we’re at is, does it feel like a threepeat if your team looks different?” she said. “It’s not so much about repeating what we’ve done or having a threepeat. It’s really just how can we bring this new team together and keep building every single day.”

Welcome to the PWHL’s first expansion era, where the Frost and their fellow original six franchises are challenged to rebuild their identities following a process in which each team lost four players.

Then there are the newcomers, the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes, who have the benefit of starting with competitive rosters but are starting from scratch.

“We’re extremely prepared,” said Knight, who will represent the U.S. at her fifth Winter Olympics in February, and left Boston to sign with Seattle. “The expectations will always be there. ... And if we do our work, we’re going to fulfill them.”

Difficult as it was for teams and fans to bid farewell to star players, the PWHL set up its expansion process to ensure Seattle and Vancouver would be able to compete from the opening faceoff.

Montreal’s Marie-Philip Poulin looked at the bright side, saying this is what the founding players signed up for in July 2023 to create a sustainable league showcasing the world’s best players.

More expansion is on the horizon, with the eight-team league already exploring whether to add between two and four new franchises next year.

The four-team playoff bracket — which stays in place this year — wasn’t decided until the final day of the season the first two years of the PWHL's existence. Last season’s race was so close, Ottawa, Minnesota and Boston each finished with 44 points, with the Fleet eliminated due to a tiebreaker.

The Frost have won both titles — beating Boston in the 2024 final and Ottawa in May — despite finishing fourth in the standings each time. The Montreal Victoire and Toronto Sceptres share the common issue of being dominant in the regular season and losing in the opening semifinal round.

“Hopefully, we can take those feelings, those emotions, those losses, the disappointment and use them as learning,” Montreal forward Laura Stacey said.

In New York, the Sirens restocked their lineup with young draft talent in a bid to build a contender after consecutive last-place finishes.

“We’ve got to find our own identity of what’s going to allow us to have success,” Sirens coach Greg Fargo said of a team that added first-round picks Kristýna Kaltounková and Casey O’Brien to a roster led by Sarah Fillier, last season’s rookie of the year.

In Boston, the Fleet are regrouping following Knight’s departure and with Kris Sparre taking over as coach after Courtney Kessel left for Princeton.

“More excitement, honestly, than confusion,” forward Alina Muller said. “Definitely feels like a fresh start. And being one of the players they trust ... means a lot and motivated me even more to come back stronger than ever.”

In Ottawa, the Charge face on- and off-ice challenges. The team is in jeopardy of moving out of its current home after this season following the city’s decision to go ahead with renovation plans to reduce TD Place’s capacity by about 3,000 seats.

On the ice, the Charge are rebuilding their defense-first identity that led them to the Walter Cup finals before losing the best-of-five series in four games, all decided in overtime by 2-1 scores.

“You get that close, it was probably one of the biggest heartbreaks I’ve experienced in hockey,” forward Emily Clark said. “You learn a lot about yourself and definitely hungry to get back in that same position and have a different result.”

Expectations are high in all eight markets.

“I wouldn't say pressure, but challenge. It's really run to see the way this group is embracing it,” Vancouver GM Cara Gardner Morey said. “And I think we're going to rise to those challenges.”

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey