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Behind the Glass: the CWHL’s 12th season is underway

News, notes, and rumors from the world of professional women’s hockey

It’s time for another installment of Behind the Glass. Both the NWHL and CWHL 2018-19 seasons have begun, and that means we have plenty of things to talk about this week. Let’s sink our teeth into some thoughts, stories, and rumors from the world of professional women’s hockey.

  • The Ice Garden’s own Erica Ayala got to the bottom of the Connecticut Whale’s mystery skater from their first road game of the season. Erica also learned about a new rule regarding NWHL rosters, which allows each team to have a maximum of five PTO agreements. /
  • The world of women’s hockey analytics just keeps on growing. Blueshirt Banter’s Evan Oppenheimer has created some scoring network visualizations from the 2017-18 NWHL season.
  • Through two games Buffalo Beauts’ forward Hayley Scamurra has an NWHL-leading five primary points. The 2018 NWHL Rookie of the Year had 12 primary points (14 total) in 14 games last year.
  • Ten of the 11 goals that Katie Fitzgerald has allowed this year have been scored from inside of the “home plate” area in front of her goal crease. The only exception was a perfect snipe from the point by Amanda Boulier of the Minnesota Whitecaps. Clearly, the Riveters are allowing too many high-quality scoring chances./
  • Katerina Mrázová put five shots on net in her NWHL debut with the Connecticut Whale against Shannon Szabados and the Beauts. She and her teammates were shutout, but Mrázová already looks like she can be a difference-maker for Connecticut. The Whale were out-shot 38-10 in their first meeting with the Beauts but managed to improve that ratio to 34-22 in their second meeting. Don’t worry Whale fans, that first goal of the season is coming.
  • Alex Carpenter is one of two CWHL skaters who already have three goals in the 2018-19 season. There were a lot of eyes on what Carpenter was going to bring to the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays after the departure of Kelli Stack. Thus far she has three goals, one primary assist, and one secondary assist. She definitely made a statement with her play last weekend.
  • Hilary Knight recorded her first point as a member of Les Canadiennes de Montréal in their 2-1 victory over the Calgary Inferno on Oct. 13. Knight was credited with a primary assist on Sarah Lefort’s game-winning goal in the third period. It was Knight’s first point in the CWHL since the 2015 Clarkson Cup Final when she picked up a secondary assist on a power play goal.
  • It took Victoria Bach all of 6:54 to score her first goal in the CWHL with the Markham Thunder. Thus far, she’s also the only player in the CWHL with both a power play goal and a shorthanded goal. Bach had six power play goals and three shorthanded goals in her senior season at Boston University.
  • Jess Jones scored three goals for the Thunder in her first two games since returning to the CWHL. Just a reminder: she scored four goals in 14 games last season in the NWHL with the Beauts. I guess there really is no place like home.
  • The disappointment over how few CWHL games would be streaming this year was somewhat lessened by the news that live play-by-play for four Calgary Inferno games will be broadcast by Sportsnet 960. This marks the first time a commercial radio station in North America will broadcast CWHL hockey.
  • Swiss star Lara Stalder has started her second season in the SDHL with 25 points in her first eight games. Stalder, Pernilla Winberg, and Kennedy Marchment have been a devastating offensive force for Linköping HC. As a trio, they have 33 combined goals in 13 games (Stalder has been out for five of those games)./
  • Tatiana Rafter had a goal, 10 shots on net, and two minor penalties in SK Gorny’s 5-4 upset over Tornado on Oct. 14. She and fellow NWHL alumna Hayley Williams both scored in the first period to give SK Gorny the early lead that it needed to put an end to Tornado’s win streak./

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