2024-25 PWHL Power Rankings: Week 11 (02/07-02/13)

Welcome back to The Ice Garden’s weekly power rankings! Check back every Friday for a new installment and remember: if you think your team is ranked too low, it’s definitely, totally, 100% because we hate them.

This is Week 11 of Season 2 of my PWHL power rankings, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try new things! One PWHL team decided to get so wacky in their return from the international break that I created a whole new category for them. Meanwhile, others forced me to declare my first-ever tie. The PWHL heads into an extremely busy week with eight games on the docket, so things might get extra fun here.

Last month, I made a very important purchase after eyeing it for a long time: a “Lord of the Rings” Aragorn hockey jersey. I finally got to take it for a spin last week at a New York Rangers home game, where it earned several compliments. It made my little nerd heart a little too happy, so I figured what better theme this week than some of the King of Gondor’s most famous moments? Let's dig in!

#1. Montréal Victoire (8-3-1-2, 31 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 1 (-)

This Week’s Results:

• No games this week

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, Feb 15 vs NYS- 2 p.m. ET, Place Bell, Laval, QC (CBC, Radio Canada, MSG, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Tue, Feb 18 vs MIN- 7 p.m. ET, Place Bell. Laval, QC (Amazon Prime, FanDuel Sports Network North, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Aragorn Quote: “My friends, you bow to no one.”- The Return of the King (2003)

The Victoire bow to no one.

In a league lauded for its parity, the Victoire own a 73.8% points percentage this season. The next closest team, the Minnesota Frost, sit at 51%. That's all I have to say here.

#2. No one. See my new “Naughty List” section.

#3. Boston Fleet (4-3-2-5, 20 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 3 (-)

This Week’s Results:

• Wed, Feb 12 @ NYS- 4-0 W

Upcoming Schedule:

• Fri, Feb 14 @ TOR- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (NESN, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Sun, Feb 16 vs MIN- 1 p.m. ET, Tsongas Center, Lowell, MA (NESN, FanDuel Sports Network North, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Mon, Feb 17 @ NYS- 4 p.m. ET, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ (NESN, MSG, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Thu, Feb 20 @ OTT- 7 p.m. ET, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (NESN, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Aragorn Quote: “Let’s hunt some Orc.”- The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The Fleet have taken some lumps this season just like Aragorn and co., but they’re finally looking prepared to hunt down the other teams.

The Fleet put an exclamation point on their recent uptick with a big win over the Sirens this week. They’re finally looking more like the team many expected them to be preseason. If they can continue this upward trajectory despite Hannah Bilka’s absence, they’ll have a chance to make some real noise in the second half. They have 2-3 games in hand on all by the Victoire right now, some of which will be made up in what is a wild schedule this week. They are set to become the only team in the PWHL this season to play four games in six days. However, if they can start pulling off more regulation wins, even second place isn’t out of their reach, as they sit just six points back of the Frost with three games in hand. My my, how quickly the tables can turn in the PWHL.

#4. Toronto Sceptres (5-1-4-6, 21 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 5 (+1)

This Week’s Results:

• Tue, Feb 11 vs MIN- 3-2 OTW

Upcoming Schedule:

• Fri, Feb 14 vs BOS- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (TSN, NESN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Sun, Feb 16 @ OTT- 4 p.m. ET, Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB (TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Wed, Feb 19 @ NYS- 7 p.m. ET, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ (TSN, MSG, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Aragorn Quote: “For Frodo”- The Return of the King (2003)

First, it was 'for Natalie Spooner.' Now, it’s 'for Sarah Nurse.' And boy, is it beginning to look like a good rallying cry.

The Sceptres continued their hot streak this week and have banked 10 out of 15 points in their last five games. Things are looking up for them, especially since Natalie Spooner finally made her long-awaited season debut this week and tallied an assist. That said, it wasn’t all fun and games for the Sceptres, as Sarah Nurse landed on LTIR on Feb. 10 after getting injured in the Rivalry Series. She is out indefinitely, which is a huge loss. However, towards the end of Spooner's recovery, they finally learned how to win without her, so one imagines they’ll continue that for Nurse. If that's the case, they’ll put themselves in a decent position to make the playoffs again.

#5 (tie). New York Sirens (4-3-2-6, 20 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 4 (-1)

This Week’s Results:

• Wed, Feb 12 vs BOS- 4-0 L

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, Feb 15 @ MTL- 2 p.m. ET, Place Bell, Laval, QC (MSG, CBC, Radio Canada, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Mon, Feb 17 vs BOS- 4 p.m. ET, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ (MSG, NESN, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Wed, Feb 19 vs TOR- 7 p.m. ET, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ (MSG, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Aragorn Quote: “In one thing you haven’t changed, dear friend– you still speak in riddles.”- The Two Towers (2002)

Before the wheels fully came off last season, trying to figure out then-PWHL New York was quite the riddle. This season, they have a new name and got off to a hot start, but now we’re right back to the riddles.

The Sirens are going through some growing pains. They have just six points in their last five games, which is particularly bad news considering how the Fleet and Sceptres are surging. They’ve been missing Alex Carpenter the past two games, and it’s further exposing just how reliant they are on her line (often completed by Sarah Fillier and Jessie Eldridge) and netminder Corinne Schroeder. That’s not a sustainable winning strategy, and the Sirens need to figure out how to get back on track quickly before this tough stretch spirals too far out of control.

#5 (tie). Ottawa Charge (6-0-2-8, 20 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 6 (+1)

This Week’s Results:

• Thu, Feb 13 vs MIN- 8-3 W

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sun, Feb 16 vs TOR- 4 p.m. ET, Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB (TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Thu, Feb 20 vs BOS- 7 p.m. ET, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (TSN, NESN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Aragorn Quote: “I do not fear death.”- The Return of the King (2003)

Lately, the Charge have looked like they’re doomed to another playoff-less season. However, this week showed they’re not resigned to their perceived fate, as they rose to the challenge, at least temporarily. Only time will tell if they can rally the troops like Aragorn and arrive in the nick of time.

I’ve been extremely hard on the Charge recently, and often for good reason. However, I cannot ignore that they broke the PWHL single-game goal record and scored as many in one game as they had in their past eight combined. Sure, a good part of that can be attributed to a disastrous performance by the Frost, especially in their own end (the Charge only managed 26 shots after all). But eight goals are enough to enter a tie with the skidding Sirens for at least a week. Who knows, maybe the international break is just what they needed after all.

Naughty List

Welcome to the TIG Power Rankings Naughty List. I hope I’m not doing this every time, but this will be a new place for a team that decides to go so wacky for a week that I can’t decide what to do with them. Without further ado, let’s meet the list’s inaugural member.

Minnesota Frost (5-4-3-5, 26 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 2 (N/A)

This Week’s Results:

• Tue, Feb 11 @ TOR- 3-2 OTL
• Thu, Feb 13 @ OTT- 8-3 L

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sun, Feb 16 @ BOS- 12 p.m. CT, Tsongas Center, Lowell, MA (FanDuel Sports Network North, NESN, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Tue, Feb 18 @ MTL- 6 p.m. CT, Place Bell. Laval, QC (FanDuel Sports Network North, Amazon Prime, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Aragorn Quote: Viggo Mortensen screams after kicking a helmet- The Two Towers (2002)

In what has become a classic piece of LOTR trivia, Viggo Mortensen’s scream of anguish in this scene is genuine, as he broke two toes when he kicked the helmet. That scream also happens to be the perfect way to sum up the Frost’s week.

What on earth happened to the Frost over the break? They didn’t play great against the Sceptres and then got utterly embarrassed by the Charge. They're as healthy as they've been all season, and yet they've never looked worse. They certainly didn’t deserve to stay in second place this week, but I didn’t feel any other teams quite did enough to jump up there, so instead, they get a whole new category created just for them. All in all, yikes!