History was made Friday night when Toronto and Montreal faced off for a regular season game at Scotiabank Arena, officially the best-attended game in women’s hockey history.
Toronto goalie Kristen Campbell put on a show for all 19,285 fans in the stands, proving to each one that she’s at her best when the pressure’s on.
“When she’s confident, she’s very dangerous,” Toronto head coach Troy Ryan said of his starting netminder. Campbell now leads the league in wins (six) and shutouts (two, including Friday’s 30-save effort).
The season is less than two months old, and yet it feels like Toronto has already been on a journey, and you can draw a parallel between Campbell’s growth and that of the rest of the roster. The team started out slow but now has won five of its last six games, with Friday’s historic matchup marking their fourth straight victory.
“I’m feeling really confident with my game. Every game, my mentality is to always to get better,” Campbell said post-game on Friday. “Just keeping it simple has been the key for me, making a couple adjustments each game, just rolling with it and I’m feeling really good.”
Campbell acknowledged the season didn’t start out how she and her teammates wanted, but said the unit is stronger for it.
“I think I’ve always had that confidence. Deep down, I know what I’m capable of. I’ve gone through a lot in my career, so I’ve had a lot of lows and a lot of highs and I always find a way to come out on top through the adversity,” she said. “It’s gotten us to where we are right now and we kind of needed that, I think, to go through that and to come out on top as a group and we’re rolling now.”
Toronto, Montreal fulfilling all the expectations of great rivalry
“Historic” and “special” and “momentous” were some of the words used to describe Friday’s showdown at Scotiabank, but when it comes to describing the way Montreal and Toronto show up against one another, there’s another word you could use: Physical.
“Lots of good physical contact out there, and a good rivalry, definitely,” Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie said post-game of the matchup.
These rivals have met twice so far this season, both times turning that physicality up. That’s no surprise to Cheverie.
“Two Nova Scotia coaches,” she says with a smile. Cheverie hails from New Glasgow, while Toronto coach Troy Ryan is from the Halifax area. “I think we’ve had to battle our whole lives in the hockey world so I think that’s kind of a mentality and a mindset that we both share.”
Cheverie’s on Ryan’s coaching staff with the women’s national team, so there’s a friendly rivalry on the benches, too, when they’re not collaborating on Team Canada.
You up next, Bell Centre?
Asked whether they want to see the Quebec-side of the Toronto-Montreal rivalry set the bar even higher for attendance after Friday’s historic hockey game at the home of the Maple Leafs, Montreal’s Marie-Philip Poulin and Erin Ambrose both agreed.
“It’d be a pretty special opportunity to play at the Bell Centre,” said Ambrose. “I wouldn’t be surprised if our GM is doing some things to try to make that happen.”
This collaboration between the Canadiens and PWHL Montreal looks like a good start:
PWHL’s first trade has Jaques jet-setting
In a season filled with firsts, Sophie Jaques will forever lay claim to a unique piece of PWHL history — not that she’s had much time to let it sink in, of course. Earlier this month, the 23-year-old defender was part of the league’s first-ever trade, one of three pieces in a transaction that took the league — and Jaques herself — by surprise.
“I had no idea anything was coming,” Jaques told Sportsnet last week. The deal saw Jaques, Boston’s 10thoverall draft pick back in September, sent to Minnesota in exchange for forward Susanna Tapani and defender Abby Cook.
This first-ever trade brings a learning experience for not just Jaques, but the league overall.
“I was like, ‘What does that mean? Like, how long do I have to get there?’ Like, I just had a bunch of logistical questions about how everything worked,” said Jaques, who learned of the trade via a phone call from Boston GM Danielle Marmer on Super Bowl Sunday.
Some of the answers to those questions are more easily answered than others. As stated in the PWHL’s CBA, a player traded in-season has 48 hours to report to the new team. As for costs, players are entitled to receive reimbursement of up to $2,500 for “reasonable relocation expenses” as well as temporary lodging, travel fees, and rental car costs or other transportation like the use of Uber during their first few weeks.
“I think the league still has a lot of stuff to work through and obviously this is the first one,” said Jaques, who’s staying with teammate Liz Schepers as she settles in. Jaques turned to her agent with most of her questions — particularly those related to how, exactly, she’ll be getting all of her belongings (including her vehicle) from Boston to Minnesota.
Jaques’ hurried exit meant very few farewells — three of her Boston roommates, Americans Emily Brown and Taylor Girard and Canadian Jessica DiGirolamo, were away at Rivalry Series at the time of the trade. And no one was at the rink yet in the early-morning hours before her flight when Jaques stopped to pick up her hockey gear en route to the airport.
She’ll see her Boston pals — now frenemies — soon enough, though. Boston visits Minnesota on Sunday, which will mark two weeks since the trade.
“Hopefully then I’ll chat with everyone and say bye to them,” said Jaques.
Jaques looking right at home on Minnesota’s blue line
Minnesota head coach Ken Klee wasted no time throwing his newest rearguard into the mix in Minnesota, pairing Jaques with veteran Lee Stecklein as one half of the team’s top duo.
“She’s incredible, just such a great leader, person, teammate, hockey player. So, I was really happy to be with her,” Jaques of Stecklein following that first game together, in which Jaques registered her first point of the season (an assist).
“Lee’s a great communicator and just an incredible player and so easy to work with. I think we definitely played to each other’s strengths. It was just a lot of fun.”
So clear was their chemistry, Klee paired the two over the weekend, too, as Minnesota met Ottawa and Montreal on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. (Minnesota defeated Ottawa 2-1 on Saturday and then lost to Montreal by the same score the following afternoon.)
How long will Heise miss after Rivalry Series injury?
Her absence is now at three games and counting, and according to The Star Tribune Taylor Heisee was seen in a sling — not a great sign for the Minnesota star forward, who suffered an upper-body injury during Team USA’s Feb. 11 Rivalry Series game against Canada.
Minnesota management has been pretty tight-lipped about a timeline for Heise’s return, but GM Natalie Darwitz sounded optimistic it’s not long-term.
“Given this high level of hockey — with international hockey and the PWHL — she’s just taking a beating with these open-ice hits they’re allowing,” Darwitz said, via the Star Tribune. “It doesn’t bode well for the skilled players who carry the puck. Knowing Taylor, she’s superhuman. She’ll probably be back sooner than what her prognosis is.”
Minnesota has won two of three games without Heise, but with mid-season approaching and wear-and-tear on every player hitting a little different as athletes continue to adjust to this pace and schedule, the team could be facing a pivotal stretch. Minnesota sits atop the PWHL standings by a single point over Montreal.
UP NEXT (all times ET)
Wed. Feb. 21: Ottawa @ Boston, 7 p.m.; Montreal @ New York, 7 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 23: New York @ Toronto, 7 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 24: Ottawa @ Montreal, 2:30 p.m. on Sportsnet+
Sun. Feb. 25: Boston @ Minnesota, 4 p.m. on Sportsnet