Not all is well in New York hockey. The New York franchise of the new Professional Women’s Hockey League ended dead last in the standings during their inaugural season. The franchise has seen struggles on and off the ice, with attendance not meeting standards set by the other PWHL teams, However, not all hope is lost. Like any young franchise, there is room for growth and change, and we will hopefully see that manifest in New York.
Now that their season is over, what should PWHL New York work towards for next season?
Taking Advantage Of The Gold Plan
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The new league introduced the “Gold Plan,” a system that awards the first overall draft pick to the team that accrues the most points following their mathematical elimination. The PWHL works with a 3-2-1 scoring system, awarding three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, and one for an overtime loss. No points are awarded for a regulation loss.
In New York’s case, they secured their first overall draft pick by earning the most “draft order picks” following their elimination. They have played two games since elimination, and won one of them, grabbing three extra draft order points. This game was against Ottawa on Tuesday night, where they sealed the deal with a 4-3 regulation win.
Now that they’ve secured the first pick in the 2024 PWHL draft, what’s next?
Well, they have the chance to select Sarah Fillier, the No.1 PWHL prospect in this year’s draft pool according to The Athletic. The 23-year-old played as captain of the Princeton University women’s hockey team and scored a career-high 30 goals just this past season.
Apart from her collegiate career, Fillier played for Team Canada, winning an Olympic gold medal, and two world championships, and was named MVP of the 2023 Women’s World Championship.
A highly decorated player might be headed to PWHL New York. The impact she will make on the team is yet to be determined. However, the star forward would be a perfect winger on the top line, playing alongside Alex Carpenter, who tied for the league-leading 23 points scored.
PWHL New York will have the first pick in all seven rounds of the 2024 draft, in contrast to the snake format of the draft held last year.
PWHL New York’s Permanent Home
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The New York franchise of the PWHL had some burning attendance concerns during their inaugural season. Firstly, they split their home games between two arenas: Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. The latter saw more success than the former, but both were subpar compared to other PWHL franchises that broke attendance records for women’s hockey as a whole.
PWHL New York had begun to phase out its Bridgeport appearances beginning in late March, relocating their final home games to be played at UBS Arena. This change came after less than 800 fans attended the Bridgeport home game against PWHL Montreal. This was the lowest-attended PWHL game, which was surprising considering Montreal’s ability to draw crowds. Just not in Connecticut, apparently.
PWHL New York needs to have a permanent location locked up by next season if they want fans to consistently show up. They played two games in late April at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, where the New Jersey Devils of the NHL play their home games. This is a location that’s seen support for hockey, therefore the higher attendance was to be expected.
UBS Arena has seen good attendance as well. Back in early March, the home game between New York and Minnesota on Long Island brought in almost 4500 fans, a franchise-high for New York.
It will be interesting to see which direction the PWHL takes their New York team. Will they stay on Long Island, or will they travel across the river to New Jersey, prompting a possible name change?
A Team That Clicks Is A Team That Wins
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For a team to succeed, players need to want to play on that team. Unfortunately for PWHL New York, this first season of play saw some tensions between the leadership, and among the team. As has been stated before by many others in the sports world, whatever occurs off of the ice will surely affect what happens on the ice. A questionable state of team culture definitely contributed to PWHL New York’s downfall this season.
Head coach Howie Draper is a very respected coach in the women’s ice hockey world. He served as head coach of the University of Alberta women’s hockey team for 26 years and won 14 Canada West titles and eight national championship titles during his time with the team. He was a perfect fit to coach a team in a new professional women’s league. So he went to New York.
Unfortunately, the past success was not reflected in the present. Players reported that his performance and demeanor as head coach did not click with the team. It was also rumored that one of the players went to the league leaders and requested Draper’s removal.
On the bench, hierarchies began to form between those signed to three-year deals and those with one-year contracts. This affected individual players’ attitudes towards playing times and line positioning and created animosity between the players, who have been seen arguing on the bench. Not a good look for the team that is still building up its core, as many players may choose to leave after this season due to culture problems.
PWHL New York will have to undergo several changes on and off the ice if they want to become a competitive team in the league next season. However, the future looks promising.
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About the Author
River Caraballo (she/they) is a hockey writer for Total Apex Sports. Despite being based in Connecticut, she is a big fan of the New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild. They host a weekly podcast and radio show, Round the Rink, where they discuss hockey from the NHL to the PWHL and college hockey. You can follow River on Twitter/X to keep up with her sports content.
