PWHL Power Rankings: Minnesota making waves after Week 1

In part of Daily Faceoff’s coverage of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, Hunter Crowther and Tyler Kuehl will be providing weekly rankings of all six teams and why we think they are as good (or as bad) as their status shows.

Though we are just a few games into the inaugural season, we can see which teams are going to be forces to be reckoned with.

1. Minnesota

Record: 2-0-0, +4

Hunter’s Rank: 1st

Tyler’s Rank: 1st

Hunter: Where do we begin? Beyond the dominance of Grace Zumwinkle, forwards Kelly Pannek and Susanna Tapani have a pair of assists each, the latter leading the league with a plus/minus of plus-five. They looked like they tightened their defensive zone play after giving up 35 shots in the first game and only 24 in their second. Both Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney looked confident in net. Hensley stopped 33 shots vs. Boston and Rooney earned a 24-save shutout against Montreal. 

Tyler: It is hard to ignore how great Zumwinkle performed last week. She scored the game-winning goal against Boston in their first game, and then to pot a hat trick in front of a record crowd against Montreal? Talk about rising to the occasion.

Also, the play of Minnesota’s netminders was worth noting. Nicole Hensley outdueled her U.S. National Team partner, Aerin Frankel. Then, Rooney came up with some big saves against Team Canada’s best.

2. New York

Record: 1-1-0, +3

Hunter’s Rank: 2nd

Tyler’s Rank: 2nd

Hunter: Hockey fans were happy to see the league launch on Jan. 1, but New York spoiled the party for Toronto fans when they ran away with the game in the third period to win 4-0. Toronto may have returned the favor on Jan. 5, but New York looked strong in both games. Forward Alex Carpenter has two goals and an assist through two games and has a 60 percent faceoff percentage.

Tyler: I am going to be honest…I had my doubts about New York. Then the inaugural game in league history happened.

In Toronto, New York came flying out of the gate in front a sold-out Mattamy Athletic Centre. Corrine Schroeder’s 29-save shutout certainly stood out as well. Still donning the Boston Pride mask, she wiped the stigma of Premier Hockey Federation alums with her performance.

3. Toronto

Record: 1-1-0,-3

Hunter’s Rank: 3rd

Tyler’s Rank: 4th

Tyler: Hunter and my first dispute already is over the aforementioned Toronto squad.

What is admirable about this team is how they bounced bad from a pretty embarrassing loss on what was a monumental day in women’s hockey. With their top weapons, Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse and Renata Fast, setting up for a goal against New York on Friday, as well as Emma Maltais scoring the first “Jailbreak” shorthanded goal in league history, you see a team that quickly meshed together after some early adversity.

Hunter: Getting blanked 4-0 in their first game threw the hockey world for a loop, especially when you look at how much Team Canada talent is in Toronto’s lineup. They were led by five-foot-three power forward Maltais and her five shots against N.Y., a thousand hits and the game-winning goal highlighted that they have the firepower to take control of any game at any point. 

4. Montreal

Record: 1-1-0, -2

Hunter’s Rank: 4th

Tyler’s Rank: 3rd

Tyler: I did not think the shutout loss to Zumwinkle and Minnesota was worth pulling Montreal down this far. However, given how highly we both thought of the team from Quebec, not looking overly dominant in the first couple of games was surprising. Even Marie-Philip Poulin was held to one assist in the win over Ottawa. That said, it is still early.

Hunter: Montreal is as stacked with talent as anyone in the league, but the first two games have been…underwhelming? Montreal won its first game in overtime but were dominated in possession and giving up offensive opportunities against Minnesota. I still believe they’ll end up near the top of the league by the end of the season. 

5. Boston

Record: 0-1-0, -1

Hunter’s Rank: 5th

Tyler’s Rank: 6th

Tyler: Boston could have easily won their first game in franchise history, outshooting Minnesota 35-16. However, Hensley stood on her head, and Boston was trying to play catchup from the opening minutes of the game.

With a top line of Hilary Knight, Alina Müller and Loren Gabel, there will not be many games where the New England squad will be getting limited on the scoreboard.

Hunter: Their game on Monday vs. Ottawa was postponed due to inclement weather, so we only have 60 minutes to judge them on. They may have lost 3-2, but they dominated for most of the game. No. 3 overall pick Müller looked fantastic and will be a monster through the season. They don’t play against until Jan. 13 in Montreal, so there might be some rust at puck drop. 

6. Ottawa

Record: 0-0-1, -1

Hunter’s Rank: 5th

Tyler’s Rank: 6th

Hunter: Same issue as Boston – we only have 61:04 of ice time to judge them on. So far? Hey, not bad, Being No. 6 in week one isn’t the same as being number six later in the season. So if they play like they did on Jan. 2 vs. Montreal, and they continue to improve on a power play that went one for six, then everything’s coming up Milhouse. 

Tyler: Ottawa really impressed me the way they jumped on Montreal. I was real big fan of Ashton Bell’s game and can see why the team thought so highly of her that they took her in the second round of the draft.

I felt for Emerance Maschmeyer. Similar to the Hensley vs. Frankel game the next night, Maschmeyer wanted to steal the spotlight from her Team Canada goaltending partner, Ann-Renée Desbiens. However, if she can make the big saves for Ottawa moving forward, they can certainly surprise a couple of teams.

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