May is supposed to be a busy time for pro sports in Boston. If it’s a good year, both the Bruins and Celtics are occupied with playoff runs, as they are now. The Red Sox season is starting to hit its summer stride, as is the Revolution’s. Training camp is beginning to feel closer and closer for the Patriots.
And this year, there’s another squad to add to that packed schedule: Our local Professional Women’s Hockey League franchise.
On Thursday, Boston's team — which, like every squad in the PWHL, does not yet have a name — will take part in the league's first-ever playoffs. It comes on the heels of a pioneering season for the team and the PWHL, whose regular season got underway in January.
For members of PWHL Boston, the goal is to keep the momentum from a solid first-season going through a playoff run.
New season, big changes
For PWHL Boston forward Jamie Lee Rattray, this year has been a much-needed step forward for the game.
Rattray, a member of Canada's 2022 Winter Olympics team, previously played in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League before it folded in 2019. She also played with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.
She stressed just how professional the experience has been for the PWHL, with everything from the facilities they use to the product on the ice. She said pro women's hockey hasn't always received this kind of treatment.
“I think we are treated like professionals at every aspect. We have the staff in place and the support that we can just be hockey players, and I think that's honestly the biggest thing that has changed over this year,” she said. “It's been a ton of fun and I don't take it granted one bit because I've seen the other side of it and it's been a ton of fun just having that now at our disposal.”
The results have spoken for themselves: Nearly 400,000 fans were in attendance across the PWHL’s regular season. For PWHL Boston, it’s been of a bit of an up-and-down campaign. The team won 12 games and lost another 12. But the green and silver finished strong, winning four of its final five games. Over the weekend, they beat Montreal 4-3 to secure a spot in the playoffs.
Now the team wants to carry some of its late-season energy into the postseason.
“You know, it’s easier with the vibes in the room when you’re winning, right?” team captain Hilary Knight said this week. “So there’s definitely momentum. But at this point in the season, all teams have momentum if you’re one of the four teams that’s moving forward. But [I’m] really looking forward to puck drop and getting to work.”
A different kind of playoffs
The top four finishers in the PWHL’s regular season all earned spots in the league's inaugural playoffs.
Usually, most pro playoffs are set up simply: The best regular-season team gets the top seed and typically plays the lowest-ranked opponent in its first matchup.
But the PWHL went a different route: Toronto, which finished with the best regular season record, got to choose its opponent between the third- and fourth-place teams, ultimately deciding on facing four-seed Minnesota. It adds a new layer of strategy that gives a fresh spin to playoff thinking.
That means Boston will face off against Montreal, the second seed. The teams split the regular season series 2-2.
Boston will be on the road in Montreal for the first two games of the best-of-five series. Game 3 will be on Boston’s home ice at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, as will Game 4, if necessary. Game 5 would be back in Montreal.
The four teams will all have their eyes on the Walter Cup, which is named after Los Angeles Dodgers majority owner and PWHL bankroller Mark Walter. And, of course, there are bragging rights on the line.
Now, as Boston and Montreal face off in a new twist on an old rivalry, Boston is hopeful it can keep the form it’s had following an international hockey break.
“I think it’s a new season,” said head coach Courtney Kessel. “We had a great ending, and we came out hot after Worlds, but this is playoff hockey. And anything can happen.”
