As her team stands at the halfway point of its inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League season, Boston general manager Danielle Marmer feels her squad has accomplished quite a bit, but still has plenty to prove.
Fresh off a big 2-0 road win last weekend in Minnesota, Boston (4-2-2-4) has posted back-to-back regulation wins for the first time. They have 18 points, moving them into sole possession of fourth place, two points ahead of Ottawa and New York, and just three shy of third-place Toronto.
As they hit the road against Montreal on Saturday at Verdun Auditorium, Boston will look to maintain its winning ways.
“I think we’re getting into a groove,” said Marmer. “We’re excited about the team we have. We’ve got an awesome group of hockey players. It’s a special group and I’m excited about the second half.”
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It hasn’t been easy. Boston has struggled to find its identity, especially on home ice. The team has just two victories at the Tsongas Center in eight games, including a 4-3 overtime win against Ottawa on Jan. 27. But the squad is hoping their back-to-back wins, including its stellar 3-1 road victory over Ottawa on Feb. 21, will serve as a springboard in the month ahead.
“We’ve had a tough stretch at home for a bit,” said Marmer. “February was a long month for us with the all-star break and rivalry series, so to cram in a bunch of games for that month with no breaks and not get the outcome that we wanted was hard at times. But I think that those are moments in seasons that define teams. You learn a lot from the losses. I’m happy with how we bounced back the past two games.”
According to Boston defenseman Kaleigh Fratkin, the team has been working hard at turning things around.
“We’ve had some highs and lows over those wins and overtime losses,” said Fratkin. “We’ve run the gamut in all outcomes, but overall we’ve been doing a good job building on each game.”
“Like all the teams, we’re trying to find our footing in this league,” said assistant captain Jamie Lee Rattray. “I think we’re finally starting to hit our stride. We’ve had our ups and downs in terms of consistency, but I really think we’re starting to figure out what works for our group. The two wins in two games definitely helps.”
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Frankel fantastic
Goaltender Aerin Frankel made 41 saves for her first shutout of the season, as Boston blanked Minnesota, 2-0, last Sunday in front of 10,186 PWHL fans at the Xcel Energy Center.
Frankel’s shutout came despite Boston being outshot in all three periods, including a 15-7 blitz in the third with Minnesota trailing by a goal. The 24-year-old Northeastern product has now posted back-to-back regulation wins, sporting a 1.72 goals against average, third best in the league, and .940 save percentage.
“She’s been phenomenal,” said Marmer. “That’s why we took her in free agency, because we knew how valuable she would be for this group. We believe in all the goaltenders. We wanted to give everyone an opportunity to show what we had with her and Emma (Soderberg). Aerin has just been so solid that it’s hard not to go back with her. It’s exciting to see her take her game to where we know it could be.”
Müller, Keller lead way
Forward Alina Müller and defenseman Meghan Keller lead Boston’s attack with 10 points each. The pair are tied for fourth overall among the PWHL scoring leaders.
A Northeastern University product and Boston’s top overall draft pick, Müller is also tied for the league lead with eight assists. She has adapted well to the pro game.
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“Alina has stepped in and has been able to make an impact right off the bat,” said Marmer. “Her confidence and composure with the puck on her stick is so impressive for her age. We have high expectations for her to continue to develop her game.”
Meanwhile, Keller continues to loom large on the Boston blueline. The former Boston College Eagle is tied for the scoring lead among PWHL defenders with 10 points. She has three goals and seven assists in her first 12 games.
“I think Megan the best defenseman in the world,” said Marmer. “She just dominates. I wouldn’t want to go into a corner with her. I think she makes other players feel that same way. They don’t want to end up in a battle with her, which is a special quality. She’s just a generational player in my opinion.”
Forwards Loren Gabel, new acquisition Susanna Tapani and Rattray round out the top five Boston scorers with seven points each.
Packing them in
Sunday’s game at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota generated the third-highest attendance figure of the season (10,186). More than one-third of all first-half games were sold out.
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The league set a women’s hockey attendance record with a crowd of 19,285 on Feb. 16 at Scotiabank Arena for the Battle on Bay Street featuring Montréal at Toronto. Their total first-half attendance is 183,925 for an average of 5,109 per game.
“It’s exceeded expectations by a long shot,” said Marmer. “We felt the product was exciting enough, but just didn’t know if we were going to get it in front of enough people. You can see the success in the numbers.”
“A lot of us were pretty optimistic about what the league could do in the first year,” said Rattray. “I’ve been really happy with the people that have shown up everywhere. The buzz is there.”
Fans show their support for Boston earlier this season at the Tsongas Center. Attendance for PWHL games has been strong across the league. (James Thomas photo)Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel loses her stick and dives backwards to save the puck from Montreal forward Sarah Bujold. (James Thomas photo)
#3 Boston and #4 Minnesota kick off the inaugural PWHL Finals tonight at 5 p.m. EDT. Before the fun begins, it’s time to look at how these two stack up.
The Playoffs So Far
Boston celebrates their series win over Montréal. Photo by Adam Richins Photography.
Starting with Boston, many expected their semifinal series with Montréal to go five games but instead, Boston swept it. Despite the sweep, it was an extremely close series and thanks to every game going to overtime, they played a whopping 246:30, equivalent to just over four games. The main reason Boston pulled it off was the ridiculous play of Aerin Frankel. She faced an astounding 145 shots—many of which were high-danger—and stopped 141.
Full recaps of each game in the series are linked below, plus an in-depth look at the series’ main storylines
Minnesota celebrates their series win over Toronto. Photo by Alex D’Addese/PWHL.
As for Minnesota, they pulled off an even more surprising reverse sweep of #1 Toronto, who chose them as an opponent. They also have their goaltender to thank, but it’s not the one most expected. Maddie Rooney took over the net from Nicole Hensley in Game 2 and has played her heart out ever since. She was less busy than Frankel, stopping 92 of 94 shots in four appearances, but remarkably secured two shutouts in three potential elimination games for her club.
Full recaps of each game in the series are linked below.
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Season Series
Alina Müller takes a shot through Minnesota defenders. Photo by Michelle Jay/The Ice Garden.
These clubs meant five times in the regular season. Boston held a slight edge in the series, going 2-1-0-2. Boston’s regulation wins were on the road and their overtime win was at home, while Minnesota split their wins between home and the road.
Full recaps of each game can be found below
Wed, Jan 3 @ BOS- Minnesota 3, Boston 2
Sat, Jan 27 @ BOS- Minnesota 3, Boston 4 (OT)
Sun, Feb 25 @ MIN- Minnesota 0, Boston 2
Wed, Mar 13 @ MIN- Minnesota 4, Boston 0
Sat, April 27 @ MIN- Minnesota 1, Boston 2
Offense
Minnesota players celebrate a goal against Boston. Photo by Adam Richins Photography.
A combined 19 goals were scored on 256 shots in the season series. Boston tallied ten goals on 124 shots, while Minnesota notched 11 goals on 134 shots (stats for both teams include an empty net shot and goal). Boston’s offense was more balanced than Minnesota’s in the regular season, but Minnesota’s big guns appeared on the scoresheet more often.
Boston has been the better offensive team in the playoffs, but not by a lot. Each notched seven goals, but Minnesota got shut out in their first two games. Boston fired 102 shots on goal for an average of 34 per game but only cracked 30 once (they just did it decisively, with 52 shots in Game 2). On the other side, Minnesota fired 133 shots on net for an average of 26.6 per game and only cracked 30 shots once (in Game 5).
Now let’s take a more in-depth look at each team’s offense.
Boston players celebrate a playoff goal against Montréal. Photo by Pascal Ratthe/PWHL.
Boston Leading Scorers
Season Series
Goals- Alina Müller and Theresa Schafzahl (2)
Assists- Jamie Lee Rattray (3)
Points- Müller (4)
Regular Season
Goals- Hilary Knight (6)
Lexie Adzija also has six, but five were with PWHL Ottawa
Assists- Müller and Megan Keller (11)
Points- Müller (16)
Playoffs
Goals- Amanda Pelkey and Susanna Tapani (2)
Assists- Keller, Gigi Marvin, Sidney Morin, and Theresa Schafzahl (2)
Points- Pelkey (3)
In the season series, Boston saw 16 players tally points, seven of which got multiple. Throughout the regular season, 23 of their 25 skaters who appeared in a game notched points, and 22 got more than one. Seven of their skaters cracked the ten-point threshold, but only Müller and Keller topped 0.5 PPG.
Currently, 11 of their 21 skaters have points in the playoffs, and seven have multiple points. Boston’s depth has been highly productive, with their bottom six forwards tallying five of the seven goals. Fourth-line left-wing Pelkey and top-line center Tapani are the only Boston players with multiple playoff goals.
Denisa Křížová shoots during a game against Boston. Photo by Kelly Hagenson/PWHL.
Minnesota Leading Scorers
Season Series
Goals- Grace Zumwinkle (3)
Assists- Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Lee Stecklein (2)
Points- Zumwinkle, Heise, and Coyne Schofield (4)
Regular Season
Goals- Zumwinkle (11)
Assists- Kelly Pannek (12)
Points- Zumwinkle (19)
Playoffs
Goals- Heise and Denisa Křížová (2)
Assists- Sophie Jaques, Liz Schepers, and Stecklein (3)
Points- Jaques, Schepers, and Stecklein (3)
Minnesota had slightly fewer skaters tally points in the season series, with 14 skaters getting on the scoresheet. Over the regular season, they also had fewer skaters notch multiple points, with 17 of their 21 point-getters finding the scoresheet more than once. That said, they also had fewer skaters appear for them, with only 23 to Boston’s 25. While they had fewer players produce, many of the ones who did were potent, with five skaters cracking ten points and six players tallying over 0.5 PPG.
In the playoffs, they have a similar spread to Boston, with 11 of their 20 skaters tallying points, seven of which have gotten multiple. Their depth has also been pitching in offensively, with four of their seven goals coming from their bottom-six forwards and one from a bottom-pairing defender. Third-line left-wing Křížová was also the only skater to get multiple goals past Toronto’s Kristen Campbell (one of Heise’s was into the empty net).
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Special Teams
Megan Keller and teammates celebrate a power play goal against Minnesota. Photo by Michael Riley/PWHL.
In the season series, 25 penalties were taken (all minors) but only three power-play goals were scored. Lee Stecklein took the most penalties for Minnesota with three, while Kaleigh Fratkin led the way for Boston with four. On the power play, Boston went 2/11 (18.2%), while Minnesota went 1/14 (7.1%). Conversely, Boston’s penalty kill was 93% successful while Minnesota’s was 81.8%.
Outside of the season series, both teams have generally abysmal power plays. Boston was dead last in the league in the regular season with a 7.5% success rate, and they have yet to score a postseason power-play goal in six opportunities. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s regular season power play was marginally better, sitting fifth with an 8.2% success rate, and they tallied two power-play goals in Game 5 against Toronto for a 13.3% success rate through five games.
As for the penalty kill, Minnesota’s was dreadful in the regular season. They were last by a wide margin after killing 67.2% of their penalties. Yet, they’re perfect in the playoffs, killing all ten of their penalties. Meanwhile, Boston’s penalty kill was fifth in the league in the regular season, with an 80% success rate. Statistically, it’s only been marginally better this postseason, with an 83% success rate. However, they did kill a five-minute match penalty in a Game 2 overtime, and Pelkey scored a jailbreak goal to tie Game 3, so they deserve some bonus points for those.
Barring any sudden changes, neither power play will likely be very active in this series. Neither has clicked consistently and it’s doubtful that changes now. That said, considering the looming goaltending battle, even one power-play goal could be enough to change the course of the series so don’t underestimate the value of a sporadic successful power play.
Goaltending
Aerin Frankel makes a save against Minnesota. Photo by Kelly Hagenson/PWHL.
In the season series, Boston started Frankel three times and Emma Söderberg once. Frankel sported a 0.925 SV% and 2.00 GAA, while Söderberg has an eerily similar 0.924 SV% and 2.00 GAA. Meanwhile, Minnesota started Nicole Hensley four times and Maddie Rooney once. Hensley earned a sparkling 0.953 SV% and 1.25 GAA, while Rooney’s one appearance was one she’d like to forget, resulting in a 0.733 SV% and 3.97 GAA.
This series will be a goalie-off, but not between the two goaltenders many would have expected leading into the playoffs. Most would’ve guessed Frankel versus Hensley, but instead, it’ll be Frankel versus Rooney barring an epic collapse by either goaltender. Frankel was the better goaltender in the regular season, with a 2.00 GAA and 0.929 SV% (both third overall) through 18 games. Meanwhile, Rooney had a 2.08 GAA (fourth overall) and 0.915 SV% (tied for seventh overall) through 10 games. Both have been nearly unbeatable in the playoffs, with Rooney holding a slight statistical edge. Frankel carries a 0.97 GAA (third overall) and 0.972 SV% (second overall) through three games, while Rooney has a 0.45 GAA and 0.979 SV% (both first overall) through four games.
Standard goalie statistics aside, Frankel is currently the goaltender to beat. She faced 51 more shots than Rooney in two fewer games and made numerous highlight reel saves. Rooney was outstanding when needed, but Minnesota’s defensive structure suffocated Toronto so she wasn’t tested as much. However, unless something rattles these goaltenders, both teams will have to find another gear offensively if they want to get anywhere.
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The puck drops on Game 1 tonight at 5 p.m. at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA. The full schedule and where to watch information can be found on the league’s website here.
Jeff Jacoby is exactly right that Boston dodged a bullet — no, make that a cannonball — in not hosting the Olympic Games this summer (“I rejoice that Boston didn’t get the 2024 Olympics,” Ideas, May 12). The likely costs and disruption were staggering. Imagine Boston’s current fiscal woes with a few hundred million dollars of Olympic shortfall added to the mix.
Unfortunately, the laudable goal of international, peaceable athletic competition has been sullied by an untransparent, unaccountable organization, the International Olympic Committee, and the trail of financial and physical ruin to its host cities is long and well-documented.
So it’s especially heartening, and an important lesson for us today, that the determined efforts of a few committed citizens can overcome the powers that be every once in a while. The grass-roots effort that beat back Boston’s proposal about 10 years ago was much like the successful effort in the late 1960s to prevent the Inner Belt freeway from destroying city neighborhoods. A few so-called little guys said no to the self-aggrandizing plans of Boston’s monied and political elite and won. Sometimes it takes a few Davids to take down a Goliath.
BOSTON — A highly anticipated trial in Massachusetts involving a woman accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a snowbank is finishing its third week on Friday.
The case has garnered national attention because the defense alleges that state and local law enforcement officials framed Karen Read and allowed the real killer to go free.
Karen Read listens to testimony during her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court on Friday in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor’easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. Charles Krupa/Associated Press pool
John O’Keefe died in the Boston suburb of Canton on Jan. 29, 2022. His body was found on another officer’s front lawn, and the defense argues the homeowner’s relationship with local and state police tainted their investigation.
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A look at the facts and legal arguments:
THE PROSECUTION: A TUMULTUOUS RELATIONSHIP TURNS DEADLY
Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, has been charged with second-degree murder, among other charges, in the death of O’Keefe, 46. She has pleaded not guilty. The 16-year police veteran was found unresponsive outside the home of a fellow Boston police officer.
After a night out drinking at several bars, prosecutors say Read dropped O’Keefe off at a house party just after midnight. As she made a three-point turn, prosecutors say, she struck O’Keefe before driving away. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.
Prosecutors have put up witnesses who testified the couple had a stormy relationship before O’Keefe died and several first responders who recalled hearing Read say she hit O’Keefe.
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On Friday, jurors heard from Jennifer McCabe, whose sister and brother-in-law were hosting the party. She said Read asked frantically and repeatedly, “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?” even before O’Keefe’s body was discovered.
McCabe said she saw Read’s SUV outside the home around midnight, but O’Keefe never came inside. Read called her the next morning, hysterical, and then showed up at her house, McCabe said. Together they went to McCabe’s sister’s home, where Read immediately ran over to O’Keefe’s body, McCabe said.
McCabe called 911 and one of the first responders asked what happened.
“I hit him. I hit him. I hit him,” McCabe said Read told him. “Earlier it was, ‘Could I? Did I?’ When she spoke to the paramedic it was crystal clear: I hit him.”
THE DEFENSE: POLICE ARE FRAMING THE SUSPECT
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Read’s lawyers have alleged that O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a family dog and then left outside. They have portrayed the investigation as shoddy and undermined by the close relationship investigators had with the police and other law enforcement agents at the house party.
They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider other suspects.
The defense said police have not searched the house where they say the crime happened and that forensic teams never looked for trace or physical evidence there.
This week, they have tried to raise doubts about the integrity of the investigation, showing that many of the investigators and prosecution witnesses came from the suburban town where the crime happened and were either close friends or related.
They challenged Colin Albert, a witness who is the nephew of the homeowner and had been at the gathering, about his relationship with Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who was investigating the case. Proctor interviewed Albert, despite the fact that they had known each other for most of Albert’s life and Albert had served as ring bearer at a Proctor family wedding.
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WHO ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT?
Through their questioning, the defense has started hinting that at least three people — Boston police detective and the homeowner where the body was found, Brian Albert, Colin Albert or Brian Higgins, a special agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who was with the group drinking that night — all had a motive and means to kill O’Keefe. They successfully argued ahead of the trial they should be able to present what is called third-party culprit evidence.
The defense tried this week to show that Brian and Colin Albert had the means to kill O’Keefe. They pressed Brian Albert on his past boxing experience and brought up the fact he was play fighting at the bar that night with Higgins – suggesting he was capable of actually fighting. They also questioned late night phone calls between Albert and Higgins that were made before the body was found. Albert said he must have “butt dialed” Higgins and does not remember a phone call that lasted for 20 seconds less than a minute later.
They also questioned Colin Albert about cuts on his hand that he said resulted from a fall on an icy driveway and from hitting a punching bag. They were also allowed to introduce videos showing Albert making unrelated verbal threats directly into a camera when he was a teenager. Albert said the threats involved a beef with a group of boys over girls that never resulted in a physical altercation.
WITNESS INTIMIDATION?
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At least two witnesses this week detailed the toll that harassment from supporters of Read has taken on their family.
Allison McCabe, a good friend of Colin Albert, testified about text exchanges with him before she picked him up from the party. She also broke down as she explained that her family endured harassment in the months leading up to the trial from people online.
Albert also said his family has endured harassment for the past year mostly from people on social media calling his family murderers.
Neither witness singled out any person or people responsible for the alleged harassment.
Aidan Timothy Kearney, a blogger known as “Turtleboy,” has been charged with harassing, threatening and intimidating witnesses in the case.
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