Thursday January 4, 2024

Written by Laura Everett and Edited by Abbi Holt

LOWELL, MA: Boston’s inaugural game as a part of the new Professional Women’s Hockey League kicked off in Lowell on Wednesday January 3, 2024 with a massive crowd, over four thousand fans, filling Tsongas Arena, but not quite the win the team had hoped for, falling to Minnesota 3-2.

But the final flurry of play at the end of the third period gave Boston Captain Hilary Knight hope.

With just three minutes left in the game, Minnesota’s Defender Lee Stecklein incurred a penalty for tripping. The two-minute power play set off the Boston final goal by Defender Megan Keller, with assists by Forward Alina Müller and Defender Sidney Morin.  The arena was electric, with fans willing the team to tie the game.

“Its tough to claw your way out of a 2-0 deficit, or be behind by two goals, but I was really encouraged by the way that we fought. I think if we can string together those three minutes a little bit longer earlier in the game it would have helped us a lot,” Knight reflected after the game.  

Boston Head Coach Courtney Kessel concurred with Knight’s assessment.

“Moving from the first period to the second to the third, we continued to get better and better. If we can continue to get better each period, we’re going to be a very hard team to beat. We have so much offensive talent. We’ve got to stick to the basics and make sure we’re defending our end first,” Kessel said.  

Boston’s starting line has enviable depth, with Müller, Knight, and former Boston Pride Forward Loren Gabel.” You put the three of them together, you think you’re going to see tons and tons of offensive talent and we saw that today.”

The second line has Kessel trying out veteran Jamie Lee Rattray at center, leading the younger international players of Canadian Sophie Shirley and Austrian Theresa Schafzahl.

The third line is stacked with Hannah Brandt, Shiann Darkangelo, Taylor Girard. Kessel noted the depth of experience between Brandt and Darkangelo. Fourth line pulls from the depth of Olympians Amanda Pelkey and Gigi Marvin alongside former Boston Pride’s Taylor Wenczkowski. “To have Olympians be willing to do whatever it takes for this team is just incredible,” Kessel said.

Boston’s stacked offense was not lacking with 35 shots on goal, to Minnesota’s 16. But up against Team Minnesota’s Goalie Nicole Hensley, the first goalie drafted in the PWHL and US Olympic gold and silver medalist, finding the back of the net was a real challenge. Hensley is well known to many of the Boston players who also play on Team USA, but there as their teammate, not their opponent. Hensley successfully stopped 32 Boston shots on goal throughout 3 periods of play.

Minnesota’ s Taylor Heise scored early in the first period, with teammate Sophia Kunin following shortly thereafter. First period ended with Boston down 2-0. Boston finally got on the board midway through the second period with the second line’s Theresa Schafzahl, with assists from Jamie Lee Rattray  and Sophie Shirley. The University of Vermont alumna now holds the honor of scoring Boston’s first ever goal.

“It felt unreal honestly.” Shafzahl said after the game. “I honestly kind of blacked out a little bit.”

The arena was electric with Shafzahl’s goal, and fans urged Boston forward. But barely a minute later, Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle made the score 3-1.  Boston’s Megan Keller’s late goal ended the game 3-2 for Minnesota’s win and Boston’s comeback just out of reach.

For those fans who came back from last year’s Boston Pride team, the energy, scale, and location were noticeably different. Tsongas Arena seats about 9 times the capacity of the Boston Pride’s former home in Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton. Attendance came in at 4,012 with an arena seating capacity of 6,500.  

Both the in-arena logistic and the on-ice play need improvement, which hopefully will come as the season continues.

Someone set off the in-arena foghorn too early at the beginning of the 3^rd period, when Alina Müller’s goal was called back after review for not completely crossing the line.

But the Boston team did grow in strength through the periods, facing a strong Minnesota team, who just last week, lost their own head coach who resigned with minimal explanation.  

What has not changed with the new league is the overwhelming emphasis on little girls as reason for adult women play hockey, in the buildup to the PWHL league, the advertising partnerships, and the branding.

Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron dropped the ceremonial puck along with his children Zach, Victoria, and Noah, offering a sort of Bruins and NHL blessing. In-between period activities included girls’ youth teams playing against one another, and a “moms’ shoot off” to the blue line.

And as is required at every Boston sports event, even if they are in Lowell, at the end of the game, the DJ played the Dropkick Murphey’s “Shipping up to Boston.”

The vibe in the arena was upbeat and joyful, with long lines for food and for the women’s bathroom. The crowd groaned at a loud volume when a shot missed, and cheers would start at a noticeably higher pitch than most male dominated sporting events. The single point of entry into the parking areas to Tsongas Arena created major traffic which will need to be addressed, but once inside the building, fans moved around easily and happily.

The gender equity did not yet extend as far as the press box. The Tsongas Arena media desk heights were clearly designed for men, causing multiple people to stand on the chair legs in order to see over the desks enough to view the ice. While it is thrilling to see far more people present to cover the game, in the section where we were (and there were two more overflow media boxes), there were 25 seats total. Of those 25 media in the box we were in, only 9 were women, and of the 25 none were identifiably people of color.

Yet, all in all, even with the loss, the mood was high in Lowell.

“It’s a surreal moment to have hometown fans… to be a part of the Boston legacy and build something here. It’s just an incredible opportunity, one none of us take lightly.” Knight said after the game, musing on her third time donning a Boston uniform.

May this be the last new Boston women’s hockey team.

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