A burning question for each PWHL team ahead of the league's sophomore campaign
League announces several new rules, including harsher penalties on illegal head hits
All six Professional Women's Hockey League teams will hit the ice for pre-season action this week in either Toronto or Montreal, as the league prepares to open its second season at the end of the month.
Each team will play two scrimmages this week, which won't be broadcast to the public, as GMs prepare to make their final roster cuts by Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. ET.
The regular-season will kick off on Nov. 30 with the Toronto Sceptres hosting the Boston Fleet at 2 p.m. ET at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The game will be streamed on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, and CBC Sports App.
The league has also brought in several new rules this time around, including a mandatory major penalty and game misconduct for all illegal checks to the head, and the "no escape rule," which will see players forced to stay on the ice until after the face-off when their team takes a penalty.
Coaches will also be able to challenge delay of game penalties when the puck goes over the glass, and should the challenge fail, the team will receive an additional delay of game penalty.
The league has also tweaked the wording in its rulebook around body checking to try to provide more consistency and clarity for officials.
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"We're always looking to make the game safer for our players and more fun for our fans," Jayna Hefford, the league's senior vice president of hockey operations, said in a statement. "We believe these rule innovations take strides toward both objectives."
Ahead of preseason play beginning on Wednesday, here's one burning question for each of the six PWHL teams:
Toronto Sceptres: When will Spooner return?
Spooner was the best player in the PWHL's inaugural season, and accounted for nearly one-third of Toronto's goals. Zoom into special teams, and you'll see that Spooner was also responsible for the vast majority (about 64 per cent) of her team's power-play goals.
But Spooner won't be on the ice for the Toronto Sceptres when the team begins its regular season.
She was placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) last May after a knee injury took her out of Toronto's playoff run. Spooner had off-season surgery, and the Sceptres announced last week that she'll begin the season on LTIR. The team hasn't provided a timeline for her return.
Trying to replace what Spooner brings to the team will be Toronto's challenge at the beginning of the season. The first player who could help fill the void is free-agent signing Daryl Watts.
The team will also look to first-round draft pick Julia Gosling, who brings a lot of the same elements as Spooner as a power forward who can be annoying to contend with in front of the net.
"She's got a better shot than I have," Spooner said after Gosling was drafted in June.
Ottawa Charge: Can the defence improve?
Ottawa allowed more goals last season than all but one other team, and faced some poor injury luck on the back end toward the end of the season.
The Charge opened training camp with a bit more defensive depth, including six defenders under contract.
The most significant add is Ronja Savolainen, a veteran Finnish defender who is coming off a championship with Luleå in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL), and a bronze medal with Finland at the world championship.
Savolainen's size and grit should be noticeable on the smaller ice.
"My size on the ice, I don't even think about hitting," Savolainen told CBC Sports in April, before she was drafted to Ottawa. "It just comes by itself."
The Charge also revamped its backup goaltending behind starter Emerance Maschmeyer, who played more minutes than any other PWHL goaltender last season.
Gwyneth Philips comes into the league after being the NCAA's top goaltender of the year in 2023, and should be able to take some of the workload off Maschmeyer's shoulders.
Montreal Victoire: Will the Ljungblom gamble pay off?
Montreal GM Danièle Sauvageau picked Ljungblom with the last pick in the 2023 draft, and her gamble could pay big dividends.
While it took Ljungblom a bit longer to come to North America, Montreal is getting a player with a solid shot, and who can play anywhere in the line-up, according to her SDHL head coach, Jared Cipparone.
WATCH | Victoire players hit the ice for a new season:
Ljungblom focused on improving her play away from the puck while in Sweden last season.
The team also drafted Abby Boreen, who proved she can play alongside top players while en route to a Walter Cup in Minnesota.
Boston Fleet: Will they score more?
Putting the puck in the net was Boston's biggest challenge last season. No team scored fewer goals than Boston, and no team performed worse on the power play.
The addition of American forward Hannah Bilka should help. After she selected Bilka fourth overall in June's draft, GM Danielle Marmer said she believed she'd found a dynamic forward who can help players like Hilary Knight or Loren Gabel put the puck in the net more often.
"We've got so many talented goal scorers on our team, and now we have the player to get them the puck," Marmer said in June.
The team also added a puck mover on defence in Daniela Pejšová, who could help revitalize the power play.
New York Sirens: How will a new coach reshape the team?
After finishing at the bottom of the standings, the Sirens come into season two with a new coach at the helm in Greg Fargo, who comes to the PWHL from Colgate University.
"I think when she's on the ice and is around the puck, it feels like she can change the game at any given moment," Fargo said in June, after he was hired.
Fillier, who signed a one-year deal with the Sirens earlier this month, has spent much of her career playing centre.
But she spent time during her final season at Princeton University focusing on honing her skills on the wing, and looking to become more of a Swiss Army knife-type of player who thrives anywhere.
That gives Fargo a few different options, including the tantalizing possibility of being able to send out Fillier and Alex Carpenter as his top two centres.
Minnesota Frost: Repeat champions?
It feels like years have passed since Minnesota lifted the Walter Cup in May, buoyed by stellar performances from players like Taylor Heise and Michela Cava.
Some of that celebration was derailed by the departure of GM Natalie Darwitz just days before Minnesota hosted the draft, and by questions about the social media activity of draft pick Britta Curl, who later apologized to fans.
Since then, the team has hired Melissa Caruso as the new GM, and added an Olympic gold medallist to its blue line in Canadian Claire Thompson, who is taking a break from medical school to resume her hockey career.
The team also returns perhaps the best goaltending tandem in the league in Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney, who both starred at different points in the run to the Walter Cup.
The question is: Will the Frost of season two look like the team that outlasted Boston for a championship, or more like the one that limped to a playoff spot at the end of last season?
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