The 2022–23 PHF season was the eighth and final

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

season of the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

(PHF) – known as the National Women's Hockey League during its first six seasons (2015–2021).

League business

The PHF decided not to hold a draft this year.

Montreal expansion

The long-expected

Montreal Force The Montreal Force () were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), based in Montreal, Quebec. The team was established in 2022 and debuted in the 2022–23 PHF season. The Force played only one season, as ...

expansion franchise was announced in July and the team name, colors and logo were revealed in August. The team will not have an official home arena during the 2022–23 season but will instead play home games across the province of Quebec, with expected stops in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city (Quebec), city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the Judicial districts of Quebec ...

Saint-Jérôme Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the North Shore sector of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its reso ...

, and

Sept-Îles, Quebec Sept-Îles (, , ) is a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Quebec. Along with Brador, Quebec, Brador and Blanc-Sablon, Sept-Îles is one of the oldest places in the province. The population was 24,569 as of the 2021 Canadian census. The ...

, among others.

International players

A record twenty international players signed as roster players in the PHF for the 2022–23 season. Of the international players, six are from Finland, five are from Czechia, four are from Sweden, two are from Austria, two are from Hungary, and one is from Switzerland. Signed as a practice player rather than to the main roster, Iveta Klimášová of the

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, at the Northtown Center. The Beauts were established in 2015 as one of the four founding f ...

is from Slovakia. An additional four players are North American-born but hold

multiple citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

and have represented nations outside of North America in international competition (listed with nations of citizenship): Taylor Baker (Canada/Hungary). Janka Hlinka (Slovakia/United States), Leah Lum (Canada/China), and Lenka Serdar (Czechia/United States). Player nationalities * Austria: Antonia Matzka, Janine Weber * China: Leah Lum * Czechia:

Denisa Křížová Denisa Křížová (born 3 November 1994) is a Czech ice hockey player for PWHL Vancouver of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the Czech Republic women's national ice hockey team. Ice hockey career Across four years o ...

, Dominika Lásková,

Kateřina Mrázová Kateřina Mrázová may refer to: * Kateřina Mrázová (figure skater), Czech ice dancer * Kateřina Mrázová (ice hockey), Czech ice hockey player See also * Kateřina Mrázková, Czech ice dancer {{hndis, Mrazova, Katerina ...

, Lenka Serdar, Aneta Tejralová,

Tereza Vanišová Tereza Vanišová (; born 30 January 1996) is a Czech professional ice hockey player for PWHL Vancouver of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the Czech Republic women's national ice hockey team. Playing career Coll ...

* Finland: Anna Kilponen, Eveliina Mäkinen, Emma Nuutinen, Meeri Räisänen, Jenna Suokko, Minttu Tuominen * Hungary: Taylor Baker, Réka Dabasi, Fanni Garát-Gasparics * Slovakia: Janka Hlinka, Iveta Klimášová * Sweden: Lovisa Berndtsson, Ebba Berglund, Ronja Mogren, Lovisa Selander * Switzerland: Sarah Forster

Front office changes

On May 17, 2022, the

Minnesota Whitecaps The Minnesota Whitecaps were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Richfield, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, at the Richfield Ice Arena. Established in 2004, the ...

announced that Jack Brodt, who co-founded the team in 2004, would take a position with NLTT Hockey, the company who bought the Whitecaps in the 2021–22 season. On August 21, 2022, Chi-Yin Tse was named as the new general manager for the Whitecaps.

Coaching changes

On May 9, 2022, Venla Hovi succeeded Ivo Mocek as head coach of the Metropolitan Riveters. Mocek remains with the team as associate head coach. On May 17, 2022, Ronda Engelhardt took over as sole head coach of the Whitecaps.

Regular season

Standings

Schedule

The 2022–23 season schedule was published on September 19, 2022. ''All times in

Eastern Standard Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behind ...

( UTC−05:00); exception of November 5–6, 2022, which are in Eastern Daylight Time ( UTC−04:00).''

News and notes

*December 10, 2022: Boston Pride goaltender Corinne Schroeder set a new PHF single season record for shutouts, recording her fourth shutout in just seven starts for the first place Pride. *December 11, 2022: Boston Pride team captain

Jillian Dempsey Jillian T. Dempsey (born January 19, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The former captain of the Boston Pride of the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federatio ...

tied a PHF record with six points on Sunday including her first career hat-trick to lead Boston to a 7–5 win versus Buffalo.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of the season on March 12, 2023. The following skaters were the top point scorers of teams not represented in the scoring leader table at the conclusion of the season, noted with their overall league scoring rank:

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in regular season

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

at the conclusion of the season on March 12, 2023, while playing at least one-third of games.

Awards and honors

* Most Valuable Player: Loren Gabel (BOS) * Outstanding Player of the Year: Loren Gabel (BOS) * Defender of the Year:

Kali Flanagan Kali Dora Flanagan (born September 19, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She also ...

(BOS) * Goaltender of the Year: Corinne Schroeder (BOS) * Newcomer of the Year: Loren Gabel (BOS) * Rookie of the Year: Corinne Schroeder (BOS) * Denna Laing Award: Lauren Kelly (BOS) PHF Foundation Award Winners * Boston: Sammy Davis * Buffalo: Cassidy MacPherson * Connecticut: Shannon Turner * Metropolitan: Reagan Rust * Minnesota:

* Montreal: Laura Jardin * Toronto: Shiann Darkangelo Player of the Month * November 2022: Corinne Schroeder (BOS) * December 2022:

Brittany Howard Brittany Amber Howard (born October 2, 1988) is an American musician from Athens, Alabama. She rose to prominence in the early 2010s as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter of Alabama Shakes. Her work with Alabama Shakes ...

(TOR) * January 2023: Kennedy Marchment (CTW) * February 2023: Loren Gabel (BOS) * March 2023: Madison Packer (MET) Three Stars of the Week * November 5–6: 1. Corinne Schroeder (BOS), 2. Brittany Howard (TOR), 3.

Élizabeth Giguère Élizabeth Giguère (born May 8, 1997) is a Canadian ice hockey player for the Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She previously played for the New York Sirens of the PWHL and the Boston Pride of the Premier Hockey ...

(BOS) * November 18–20: 1. Sarah Bujold (MET), 2. Corinne Schroeder (BOS), 3. Leah Lum (TOR) * November 26–27: 1. Jade Downie-Landry (MON), 2.

Ann-Sophie Bettez Ann-Sophie Bettez (born October 14, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward that played for the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Playing career CIS She was CIS rookie of the year in 2008 and voted l ...

(MON), 3. Fanni Garát-Gasparics (MET) * December 3–4: 1. Kennedy Marchment (CTW), 2. Minttu Tuominen (MET), 3. Sydney Brodt (MIN) * December 9–11: 1.

(BOS), 2. Loren Gabel (BOS), 3. Brittany Howard (TOR) * December 16–18: 1. Natalie Snodgrass (MIN), 2. Shiann Darkangelo (TOR), 3. Taylor Girard (CTW) * January 6–8: 1. Taylor Girard (CTW), 2. Loren Gabel (BOS), 3. Elaine Chuli (TOR) * January 14–15: 1. Allie Thunstrom (BOS), 2. Ann-Sophie Bettez (MON), 3. Jonna Albers (MIN) * January 17–22: 1. Loren Gabel (BOS), 2. Kennedy Marchment (CTW), 3. Brittany Howard (TOR) * February 3–6: 1. Loren Gabel (BOS), 2. Shiann Darkangelo (TOR), 3. Corinne Schroeder (BOS) * February 11–12: 1. Tricia Deguire (MON), 2. Elaine Chuli (TOR), 3. Alexandra Labelle (MON) * February 18–19: 1. Corinne Schroeder (BOS), 2. Samantha Ridgewell (BUF), 3. Michela Cava (TOR) * February 24–26: 1. Madison Packer (MET), 2.

(TOR), 3. Justine Reyes (CTW) * March 3–5: 1. Kennedy Marchment (CTW), 2. Sarah Bujold (MET), 3. Jillian Dempsey (BOS) * March 10–12: 1. Madison Packer (MET), 2. Daryl Watts (TOR), 3. Abbie Ives (CTW) * March 16–20: 1. Jonna Albers (MIN), 2.

Amanda Leveille Amanda Leveille (born 10 June 1994) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Formerly a member of the Buffalo Beauts and Minnesota Whitecaps of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), Leveille holds the PHF all-time records for win ...

(MIN), 3. Michela Cava, (TOR)

Playoffs

The top four teams in the standings qualified for the Isobel Cup playoffs, which were held in two rounds. The first round was a best-of-three series, hosted at Bentley Arena in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

and

Mattamy Athletic Centre Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hockey games. Consider ...

at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, starting Thursday, March 16, 2023. The two semi-final winners played a one-game championship final on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Mullett Arena in

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

Bracket

Semifinals

(1) Boston Pride vs. (4) Minnesota Whitecaps

(2) Toronto Six vs. (3) Connecticut Whale

Isobel Cup final

References

Gamesheets

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 PHF season 2022-23 PHF season 2022-23 PHF season 2022–23 PHF season PHF PHF PHF PHF