Swiss star Alina Müller among PWHL Boston squad boasting depth up and down lineup
25-year-old rookie forward is poised to pace head coach Courtney Kessel's team
On paper, PWHL Boston has one of the strongest lineups in the league, with no obvious holes.
They've got what could be the best one-two across the PWHL in net, with world champion Aerin Frankel and rookie pro Emma Söderberg.
They're solid on the blue line, led by Megan Keller and rookie Sophie Jaques.
There's also lots of talent to go around up front, between Hilary Knight, Jamie Lee Rattray, Loren Gabel, and Alina Müller, who's already one of the best players in the world at only 25.
Coverage of the first PWHL regular-season game on Jan. 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET (New York at Toronto) will be available on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and CBC TV, beginning with a pre-game show at 12 p.m. ET.
The challenge for head coach Courtney Kessel is mixing all those ingredients together.
"I definitely think the chemistry is coming along," Kessel said on Wednesday, noting that the team's practices have become faster and more physical since their pre-season trip to Utica, N.Y.
Boston opted to sit some of its veterans throughout its first two pre-season games, giving players who were on the bubble more opportunity to shine. But game three, a 3-1 win over Ottawa with Boston's roster at full strength, might have been the best glimpse at what the team can do this season.
"Our team's speed and our skill is off the charts, and also just our competitive nature," Frankel said during the pre-season. "We don't have a lot of girls in that locker room that are OK with losing puck battles. We want to win."
WATCH | Sophie Shirley talks about learning from veteran teammates in her first season in Boston:
For Boston GM Danielle Marmer, the pre-season confirmed her confidence in her team's drafting. It felt like Marmer got away with robbery, nabbing Rattray in the third round and Gabel in the fourth.
"I'm excited about the talent level," Marmer said.
A veteran leader
Boston's leader on and off the ice will be Knight, who may go down as the best American female hockey player when all is said and done.
Knight started her career with the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), where she found herself sitting on milk cartons in the dressing room and playing for no pay.
The 2018 Olympic gold medallist still boasts game-breaking talent, especially when it comes to shooting the puck. Offered the chance to steal a skill from any player in the league, Knight's shot was one of Marie-Philip Poulin's choices.
And she wasn't the only one who wanted to steal something from Knight.
"She doesn't always shoot it as hard as she can, but she knows exactly where she's shooting it and she can just seem to find a way to put it anywhere she wants," Minnesota forward Kelly Pannek said of Knight's shooting precision.
Knight will be joined at the top of the lineup by Müller, who just graduated from Northeastern University but has already represented her home country of Switzerland at seven world championships and three Olympic tournaments. She was named best forward at the 2018 Olympics.
Müller was a five-time, top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award as college hockey's best female player, thanks to her hockey IQ and offensive ability.
"She has quite the talent and I think playing against her internationally you've seen how good she is," said Rattray, who logged time alongside Müller during the pre-season.
"But I think up close every day, she makes everything easy for her linemates, and I think she makes everybody else on the ice better."
Draft steals
Rattray has been a do-everything player on Team Canada. The 2014 Patty Kazmaier winner kills penalties, can play a gritty game, and can score big goals, like the ninth-round shootout winner against the U.S. during the group stage of last year's world championship.
She's a player who's overdue for more opportunity, and it looks like she'll have the chance to show her full range of skill in Boston.
"She's just really tenacious," said Ottawa forward Hayley Scamurra, who chose Rattray as the most underrated player in the league going into this season.
"She's that player that maybe does the little things that you don't notice and they lead to goals for their team. She's just an all-around really great person and player."
Fourth-round draft pick Gabel, another Patty Kazmaier winner, has been up and down with Canada's senior national team. But she broke out in her sole season with the Premier Hockey Federation's Boston Pride last year, earning league MVP honours.
PWHL team previews:
- Familiarity an asset for PWHL Toronto heading into 1st season
- PWHL Minnesota enters season with firepower up front, led by 1st overall pick
- 'Focusing on us': PWHL Ottawa aims to build on team culture heading into inaugural season
Gabel's shot is something to behold, with Kessel describing it as one of the quickest releases in the world. She scored two goals in Boston's final pre-season game.
Solid depth on forward
Former PHF newcomer of the year Taylor Girard could have an edge on a top-six role with Boston, after putting up solid totals in two seasons with the Connecticut Whale.
After signing Girard to a two-year contract, Marmer praised her "dynamic and effortless skating," paired with solid playmaking and finishing.
The forward depth feels neverending for Boston, with rookie pro Theresa Schafzahl, NCAA champion Sophie Shirley, former Toronto Six captain Shiann Darkangelo and U.S. Olympic gold medalists Hannah Brandt and Gigi Marvin all available to deploy.
Darkangelo was a reliable top-line centre all last season for the Six, the team she led to an Isobel Cup. Kessel, who coached Darkangelo in the CWHL a few seasons ago, singled her out as a player who impressed during the pre-season.
"It's nice to see five years later, she's in impeccable shape and just such a reliable centre," Kessel said. "You can play her whether you're shorthanded or whether you're up, but you just know you're going to get great defensive play out of her."
Blueliners led by Keller
Keller has been a force on the U.S. national team's blue line for the last few years, and will now try to bring a championship to a city she knows well, having spent four seasons with Boston College.
Her skating and defending are always what makes Keller stand out most, but she has offence to give, too. She recorded 12 points in 20 games with Team Scotiabank of the PWHPA last season.
And she's not the only one who can drive offence from the back end. Jaques is an offensive defender who led the NCAA in both points and goals by defenders last season with Ohio State. It earned her the Patty Kazmaier, becoming only the second defender ever to win the award, following in the footsteps of Hockey Hall of Famer Angela Ruggiero.
WATCH | PWHLers pick their Mt. Rushmore of greatest women's hockey players:
Her smart play is already impressing her Boston teammates.
Rounding out the top four on defence could be Jessica DiGirolamo, who earned a call-up to the Canadian national team last month, and Kaleigh Fratkin, a smooth-skating, shutdown defender who was a steal for Boston in free agency.
Frankel to be Boston's starter
In net, Boston's number one will no doubt be Frankel, another former Patty Kazmaier winner.
She's done a lot to secure the title of Team USA's starter over the last year, leading the team to a world championship this past spring. That came after a solid pro debut with Team Adidas in the PWHPA.
"She's so quick on her feet and can get into all the spots she needs to," fellow Boston goalie Söderberg said.
Söderberg looked like a brick wall for Sweden in the quarterfinals of this year's world championship against Canada, before Sarah Nurse beat her in overtime. She'll benefit from the ability to face shots from elite players regularly.
Fresh off a collegiate career with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, Söderberg led the team to back-to-back Frozen Four appearances.
The team's third goaltender will be Cami Kronish, who backstopped the University of Wisconsin to three NCAA titles. She may be the team's number three, but Boston's leadership thinks highly of her.
"Don't sleep on Cami Kronish," Marmer said this week, describing her performance in Utica as "very impressive."
Boston will open its season at home against Minnesota on Jan. 3.
Full Boston roster
Forwards
#9 Sophie Shirley (Saskatoon, Sask.)
#11 Alina Müller (Winterthur, Switzerland)
#12 Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.)
#16 Amanda Pelkey (Montpelier, Vt.)
#17 Taylor Girard (Macomb, Mich.)
#19 Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.)
#20 Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.)
#21 Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho)
#27 Shiann Darkangelo (Brighton, Mich.)
#36 Loren Gabel (Kitchener, Ont.)
#37 Theresa Schafzahl (Weiz, Austria)
#47 Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, Ont.)
#77 Nicole Kosta (Sudbury, Ont.)
Defenders
#2 Emily Brown (Blaine, Minn.)
#5 Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, Mich.)
#7 Sidney Morin (Minnetonka, Minn.)
#13 Kaleigh Fratkin (Burnaby, B.C.)
#18 Sophie Jaques (Toronto, Ont.)
#22 Jessica Digirolamo (Mississauga, Ont.)
#97 Jess Healey (Edmonton, Alta.)
Goaltenders
#30 Emma Söderberg (Örnsköldsvik, Sweden)
#31 Aerin Frankel (Chappaqua, N.Y.)
#35 Cami Kronish (New York, N.Y.)
Reserves
Emma Buckles, D (Toronto, Ont.)
Sammy Davis, F (Pembroke, Mass.)
Samantha Isbell, F (Thunder Bay, Ont.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
