2024-25 PWHL Power Rankings: Week 18 (03/28-04/03)

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.

Just because the PWHL has started its international break doesn’t mean the power rankings have to! It wasn’t the busiest week around the league, but it sure was interesting. The top three teams in the standings lost all their games this week, while the bottom three won theirs. You don’t see that often, but that's the beauty of such an evenly matched league. Anyway, the PWHL is off for three weeks, with the next games slated for April 26. Once it returns, I’ll only have two more power rankings for you before the season ends, which is hard to believe. Anyway, until next time- thanks for reading and be sure to follow along with our Worlds coverage!

Writing weekly power rankings is 1% painstaking, 98% fun, and 2% overwhelming choices for themes. It was part of my Phil’s-osophy this season to employ all my favorite sitcoms by the end of it, which means it’s about time for Modern Family to take center stage! 

Note: This week's clinching numbers are based on fifth-place Minnesota reaching a peak of 47 points. All teams need an extra point than stated depending on tiebreakers at the time.

#1. x- Montréal Victoire (11-6-3-7, 48 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 1 (-)

Path to Playoffs: Clinched a spot, one point from clinching a home seed and seven away from clinching the first seed.

This Week’s Results:

• Tue, April 1 vs NYS- 1-0 L

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, April 26 @ OTT- 12 p.m. ET, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (TSN, RDS, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Mon, April 28 vs BOS- 7 p.m. ET, Place Bell, Laval, QC (TSN, RDS, NESN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Quote: “I hate to get all ballistic, but it has not been a pleasure meeting you”- Andy Bailey (S5E7)

For the most part, it has not been a pleasure watching Montréal lately. Sorry for going so ballistic!

Does Montréal still deserve to be #1 after losing four out of their past five games? No! Were they quite bad enough for the Naughty List? Also no! Does anyone else deserve to take this spot yet? No again! So, by merit of being the only team to clinch a playoff spot heading into this break, I begrudgingly kept Montréal on top. However, there are some serious concerns with this team’s offense. Managing just 16 shots and getting shut out by the last-place team is not good. Scoring more than two goals just once in the past five games and only nine total is also not good. They’ll only have three games to figure it out before playoffs, which will be a good test of this team's resiliency.

#2. Toronto Sceptres (12-2-5-8, 45 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 2 (-)

Path to Playoffs: Two points away from clinching a spot.

This Week’s Results:

• Sun, March 30 @ MIN- 5-2 L

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, April 26 @ BOS- 2 p.m. ET, Tsongas Center, Lowell, MA (CBC, NESN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Tue, April 29 vs NYS- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (Amazon Prime, MSG, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Quote: “Luke…why?”- Claire Dunphy (S3E12)

There’s just one question for the Sceptres this week after they took a big spill against the Minnesota Frost: why? Why can you not start games on time?

The Sceptres had just one game this week, against a team they knew would be desperate to get back on track after a tough stretch. They weren’t ready to match that desperation and found themselves down 2-0 less than two minutes in and 4-0 after two periods. They did show some resiliency in the third to net two goals, but those first two periods can’t happen. The same can be said of their game against Boston the previous week, although they came back to win that one. However, Toronto must find a way to start games on time because playing from behind in the playoffs is not a good strategy.

#3. Ottawa Charge (11-1-4-11, 39 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 6 (+3)

Path to Playoffs: Eight points away from clinching a spot.

This Week’s Results:

• Sat, March 29 @ BOS- 2-1 W
• Wed, April 2 @ BOS- 4-0 W

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, April 26 vs MTL- 12 p.m. ET, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (TSN, RDS, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Wed, April 30 vs MIN- 7 p.m. ET, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (TSN, FanDuel Sports Network North, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Quote: “I like stealing. It makes my heart go fast.”- Joe Pritchett (S8E1)

Ottawa liked stealing the final playoff spot this week. It made their heart go fast.

What a week for the Charge. This is the largest single-week power rankings jump this season, and I was rather hesitant to do it, but it was warranted considering how things are going for those below them. I was probably too harsh on Ottawa last week for an epically bad third period, so it balances out. Anyway, they entered the week in a precarious spot, still technically in control of their destiny but needing to win the game they had in hand over Minnesota. They were staring down the barrel of two games against Boston, who they had yet to beat this season, but they walked away with two massive regulation wins and are now in the final playoff spot. Unfortunately, this break is coming at a bit of a bad time for them since it interrupts their momentum, although it may allow Emerance Maschmeyer to get healthy. Even if she isn't ready though, Gwyneth Philips has been phenomenal in her absence, and if the rest of the team comes back and plays close to how they have been recently, they should be able to hang on to that final playoff spot. The Wednesday game against Minnesota will be particularly important, as it's probably safe to say whoever wins that will be the only one to make playoffs (barring a continued collapse from Boston).

#4 (tied). Boston Fleet (8-6-4-9, 40 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 3 (-1)

Path to Playoffs: Seven points away from clinching a spot.

This Week’s Results:

• Sat, March 29 vs OTT- 2-1 L
• Wed, April 2 vs OTT- 4-0 L

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, April 26 vs TOR- 2 p.m. ET, Tsongas Center, Lowell, MA (NESN, CBC, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Mon, April 28 @ MON- 7 p.m. ET, Place Bell, Laval, QC (NESN, TSN, RDS, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Quote: “Gotta fix that step!”- Phil Dunphy (recurring)

Gotta fix that offense! 

Boston came into the week in a pretty good spot in terms of the playoffs, five points ahead of then-fourth-place Minnesota and seven points ahead of Ottawa. Now, they're still hanging on to third place, but they're just two points away from falling out of the playoffs. They narrowly avoided a larger drop in the rankings simply because they still control their destiny, while the others tied with and below them do not. Anyway, Boston kicked off the week with another third-period collapse that saw them allow two goals in 32 seconds and lose, which they followed up with an even worse performance in Lowell. Going into a long break on a three-game losing streak is not ideal, but on the bright side, they emerged from the break last year better than ever. On the unfortunate side, they now really need to do that again instead of having relatively smooth sailing until playoffs.

#4 (tied). Minnesota Frost (8-5-4-10, 38 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 4 (-)

Path to Playoffs: One point back of Ottawa for the final spot, eight away from elimination.

This Week’s Results:

• Sun, March 30 vs TOR- 5-2 W

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, April 26 vs NYS- Time TBD, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (FanDuel Sports Network North, MSG, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Wed, April 30 @ OTT- 6 p.m. CT, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (FanDuel Sports Network North, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Quote: From S2E1:

Claire Dunphy- “What’s the plan, Phil?” 

Phil Dunphy- “At least I’m trying something!”

I’m not sure what Minnesota’s plan is. Like Phil valiantly tried to save the car, the Frost did their best this week to get back into the playoff picture with a big win. However, just like Phil couldn't save the car, I'm not convinced Minnesota can save their season.

The good news for Minnesota fans is that they got a solid win this week. The bad news is they still do not control their playoff destiny. It'll be a tough task this week for the Frost, with games against the utterly desperate Sirens and the surging Charge, against whom they really cannot afford a regulation loss. The Frost have had some trouble coming out of breaks this season, so they’ll need to find a way to dig deep and change that because if they don’t, the season is over.

#6. New York Sirens (7-4-4-12, 33 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 6 (-1)

Path to Playoffs: Six points back of Ottawa for the final spot, three away from elimination.

This Week’s Results:

• Tue, April 1 @ MTL- 1-0 W

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, April 26 @ MIN- Time TBD, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (MSG, FanDuel Sports Network North, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Tue, April 29 @ TOR- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (MSG, Amazon Prime, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Quote: “There are dreamers and there are realists in this world”- Cameron Tucker (S3E9)

There are the dreamers who believe New York’s recent surge will let them sneak into playoffs. And then there are realists who say it’ll never happen. Who will be proven right in the end?

It’s really a shame this Sirens team imploded midseason and torpedoed their playoff hopes because they’ve been playing some great hockey lately. They’re winning games in a variety of ways and finally getting some of the depth scoring they’d been missing. Dropping them a spot in the rankings this week is a bit unfair, but the fact of the matter is that things still look bleak for them in the basement of the standings despite their level of play. It would've been nice to see them in playoffs, but assuming they don't get that miracle, another first overall pick won’t be a bad consolation prize.