The PWHL effect: Players expand their individual arsenals for international stage

Donna Spencer · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 10:57 AM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

The Professional Women's Hockey League not lone altered the constitution of rosters astatine the women's satellite hockey title but allowed adjacent experienced players to grow their instrumentality kit for the satellite stage.

A subordinate who mightiness not get a sniff of power-play clip with her nationalist squad mightiness get those minutes with her PWHL club, which is simply a accidental to beryllium she tin grip that responsibility.

That poses absorbing decisions for Canada's caput manager Troy Ryan, who besides coaches the PWHL's Toronto Sceptres.

With 23 of Canada's 25 players astatine the satellite title from the PWHL, Ryan has seen however players' accomplishment sets evolved successful a league present successful its 2nd season.

"Do we set to acceptable their caller roles oregon bash we effort to compression them backmost into what they've done truthful good astatine the national-team level?" helium asked from Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, wherever the Canadians boast a 3-1 grounds entering Thursday's quarterfinal against Germany oregon Japan.

"Those dynamics tin beryllium really, truly pugnacious due to the fact that they've branched disconnected a small spot and they're liking their caller relation and their caller responsibility.

"Do they recognize that whitethorn not use here? There's different radical to bash that? Those are the things our caller dynamics exposed a small bit."

The six-team PWHL, which enactment 57 players connected 7 of 10 rosters astatine this satellite championship, has 9 games remaining successful its regular play erstwhile it resumes April 26.

An illustration of the PWHL altering a player's relation connected the nationalist squad tin beryllium seen connected its guardant line.

Laura Stacey, Blayre Turnbull and Emily Clark were a Canadian staple, but the Montreal Victoire's apical enactment of Stacey, Marie-Philip Poulin and Jennifer Gardiner stayed intact successful the preliminary circular successful the Czech Republic. The trio was Canada's astir productive with a combined 7 goals and 15 points implicit 4 games.

WATCH | 5 Canadians people successful 7-1 drubbing of Czechs astatine women's hockey worlds:

Stacey, successful her 2nd play with the Victoire, said "100 per cent I deliberation I've decidedly grown arsenic a idiosyncratic and arsenic a player, and I deliberation besides arsenic a leader."

The PWHL freed players from the shackles of uncertainty, the 30-year-old said, due to the fact that the league present provides what they were scrounging for earlier its archetypal crippled Jan. 1, 2024.

"There's conscionable truthful galore resources astir america that present our sole absorption is however bash we get amended each azygous day," Stacey explained. "In the past, we had to absorption connected however bash we get to and from training? Where is training? Are we going to play this weekend? How bash we get much crystal time?

"Now, we virtually amusement up. We person coaches who privation to marque america better. We person skills coaches who are pushing america extracurricular of our comfortableness zone. Just the magnitude of attraction that's available, it's similar everything is to marque america execute astatine our champion erstwhile it's clip to perform."

Kendall Coyne Schofield of the Minnesota Frost, who was a operator down the enactment of the PWHL, echoed that sentiment connected the U.S. side, which is carrying 14 PWHL players successful Czechia.

A player's maturation slowed aft NCAA graduation due to the fact that she nary longer had regular crystal clip and regular games to grow her accomplishment set, which successful crook constricted what she showcased to nationalist squad scouts.

"You're benignant of ever successful that tryout mentality versus trying thing new," explained the 32-year-old American forward. "You're truly conscionable sticking to your strengths due to the fact that your absorption was conscionable trying to marque a team.

"While you're inactive trying to bash that, playing successful the PWHL gives you that accidental to play 30 games, person the aforesaid coaches successful beforehand of you each day, ticker video connected a accordant ground with the aforesaid radical each day, enactment with an adjunct connected the aforesaid strategy each day, akin to the assemblage process you went through. You perfectly person the quality to get better."

'Games are wherever you get better'

Canadian and Ottawa Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque, 36, feels her crippled has taken a measurement forward.

"Prior to the PWHL, we were playing random games connected random weekends, and we were conscionable practicing," she said. "Practice is important for development, but games are wherever you get better.

"I've had present a play and 3 quarters of playing an highly precocious level of hockey day-in, day-out. I cognize I'm getting adjacent to the extremity of my career, but I genuinely judge that I'm getting amended each crippled and each season."

Canadian guardant Daryl Watts was retired of hockey wholly little than 3 years ago. The PWHL-forerunner Premier Hockey Federation rebooted her hockey career, earlier the PWHL launched her onto the nationalist team.

"Without the PWHL, I would not beryllium here, and without the PHF I wouldn't person travel backmost to women's hockey," Watts said.

The 25-year-old, who has 2 goals successful 4 games successful Czechia, says her biggest betterment successful the PWHL is her pace.

"I would accidental I'm faster," she said. "Probably my velocity is the astir notable quality from assemblage to now. Speed kills successful the PWHL. If you can't support up, nary substance however skilled you are, you won't beryllium capable to marque an impact."

Players who weren't identified aboriginal successful their careers arsenic national-team prospects present person an avenue to a satellite title oregon Olympic Games arsenic a precocious bloomer.

"For truthful long, we thought the model of preparedness and highest for players astatine this level is simply a batch younger," said U.S. guardant Hilary Knight of the Boston Fleet. "Some radical conscionable instrumentality a small spot longer to develop.

"You're seeing players who haven't needfully scratched the surface, their capabilities and their imaginable upside is huge, and present they get to enactment connected those capabilities, time successful and time retired with the league with teammates astatine the highest level."