Toronto Sceptres @ Minnesota Frost
7:00 PM ET @ Grand Casino Arena, St. Paul, MN
Watch in Canada: TSN1 and TSN5, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Watch in Minnesota: FanDuel Sports Network, FOX 9+
Watch Outside Canada: PWHL YouTube Channel and thepwhl.com
The second game on TSN features the Vancouver Goldeneyes vs the Seattle Torrent at 10pm ET on TSN1 and TSN3, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The Sceptres
Who is this team now? In the summer, the team changed dramatically. Gone are Julia Gosling, Izzy Daniel, Megan Carter, Sarah Nurse, Kristen Campbell and Hannah Miller, as well as third goaltender Carly Jackson.
The Sceptres made a trade foe Ella Shelton from the Sirens, and they also signed her to an extension a few days ago. With the in-season trade of Jocelyne Larocque, the defence has a very new look at the top end, but some of the names will be familiar. Draft pick Hanna Baskin joins the team as well.
Elaine Chuli and Jessie McPherson were added to be the second and third goalie behind Raygan Kirk. The PWHL has changed their rules to make teams carry three goalies at all times.
At forward, the team has added newly drafted players Kiara Zanon, Lauren Messier, Clara Van Wieren, Emma Gentry and Swedish veteran Sara Hjalmarsson. They picked up Toronto native Claire Dalton and Clair DeGeorge from the Victoire and Kristin Della Rovere from the Charge.
This team is younger, and in the PWHL, that means most of the players are walking from highly competitive NCAA league play into the pro ranks. We saw the beginnings last season of how this process will change the entire culture of the game. It's going to continue this year with expansion opening up the rosters for younger players. I expect to see a slow rise in the scoring, and a gradual decline in the outsized importance of goaltending.
That said, the PWHL is still very likely to be a goalie-first league. Save percentages for teams with top goalies are extremely high, and the Sceptres are banking a lot on Kirk, who played 10 games last year. She had a Save % of .917, which is in the good range, not the great range. Toronto had the worst playoff Save % by a considerable margin and had to outscore themselves and the other team to win. They can't compete if that happens again.
Expect the Sceptres to be big, strong, aggressive and, we hope, better at puck possession than they were to start last season.
The Frost
The two-time defending champions lost some good players in the summer, but the core of their high octane offence is intact with Kendall Coyne Schofield and Taylor Heise. Their goalie tandem is back, and Lee Stecklein is still the sort of defender that can make you sigh in mixed frustration and admiration.
They added a lot fewer young players than the Sceptres did, and filled their roster out in free agency.
The Game
Well, delightfully (for the Frost fans) tonight will start with the banner raising. Won't that be fun?
Other than that... I don't know what to expect from the Sceptres. We'll find out as the season rolls on.
Game lineups are usually released closer to game time, so watch this space.
