2024-25 PWHL Power Rankings: Week 4 (12/20-12/26)

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.

Another week, another limited slate of PWHL games. Luckily, last week was the last slow one for a while. The league picks back up from the holiday break tonight when the Boston Fleet and Toronto Sceptres face off in the 100th PWHL game. The rest of the week will be busy, with Wednesday being the only day without a game. With all but the Sirens playing multiple games and no looming breaks, we should see teams settle into a better groove (and give me more things to discuss here).

The holiday season may be wrapping up, but for this week’s theme, I’ll be pulling from one of my favorite traditions: watching the Peanuts holiday specials. “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” are all holiday classics (there are other good ones, but they aren’t featured here), so join me as I choose a scene to describe how things are going for each team.

#1. Minnesota Frost (3-1-1-0, 12 points)

This Week’s Results:

• Sun, Dec 22 @ NYC- 4-3 SOW

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, Dec 28 vs MTL- 1 p.m. CT, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (FanDuel Sports Network North, CBC, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Thu, Jan 2 vs BOS- 6:30 p.m. CT, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (FanDuel Sports Network North, NESN, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com).

Peanuts Scene: Snoopy plays all animals- "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Much like Snoopy in this scene, the Frost have shown remarkable versatility this season. They can score, defend, suppress shots like no one else, and their goaltending is solid. What more can you ask for?

The Frost are riding a four-game win streak and have yet to lose in regulation, banking 12 of a possible 15 points. The only team to have taken points from them this season is the New York Sirens, who took the first meeting in overtime 4-3 before the Frost beat them 4-3 in a shootout this past week. It was the Frost’s worst performance of the season and the only time they’ve allowed a team to notch over 30 shots and outshoot them, but they still managed to find a way to win (although they nearly blew it after having a 3-0 lead by the 2:15 mark of the second). Provided they don’t make a habit of games like that, the Frost should stay at or near the top of the league for the foreseeable future.

#2. New York Sirens (2-1-1-1, 9 points)

This Week’s Results:

• Sun, Dec 22 vs MIN- 4-3 SOL

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sun, Dec 29 vs OTT- 1 p.m. ET, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ (MSG, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Peanuts Scene: Snoopy ice skating- "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Early on in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the Peanuts gang is skating on a pond and Snoopy comes in and creates chaos as only Snoopy can. In just over 30 seconds, he takes out every skater. Similarly, the Sirens have caused plenty of chaos this season en route to second place. The only team left for them to take down is the Frost and they'll be top dog.

It was a difficult decision bumping the Sirens down to second place this week. They largely outplayed the Frost, and had it not been for a tough showing from Abbey Levy before she got replaced by rookie netminder Kayle Osborne, they probably would’ve won the game. In the end, it’s been a tough call between the two every week but the Frost earned it with the win. Regardless, the Sirens are still a great team with a lot to be proud of, and they should continue to give opposing defenders and goaltenders a lot of trouble.

#3. Montréal Victoire (1-2-0-1, 7 points)

This Week’s Results:

• Sat, Dec 21 @ TOR- 4-3 OT

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sat, Dec 28 @ MIN- 2 p.m. ET, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (CBC, FanDuel Sports Network North, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Mon, Dec 30 vs BOS- 7 p.m. ET, Place Bell, Laval, QC (TSN, RDS, NESN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Peanuts Scene: Snoopy fights chair- "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving"

It’s hard to say who won the fight between Snoppy and the chair. Snoopy did pretty well in the end and caused a lot of damage, but the chair also got in plenty of good shots that left Snoopy’s head spinning. In that vein, the Victoire have been doing pretty well this season but an ironic lack of clutchness in regulation is giving them a run for their money right now. If that doesn’t change soon, the lost points may prove costly come the end of the season. That said, much like this iconic fight, the Victoire are still highly entertaining to watch and there isn't much to criticize.

After playing three games in a week to open the season, the Victoire had 15 days off between Games 3 and 4, partly due to the international break. That’s a difficult schedule, but they managed to pull off an overtime win coming out of that break, so I’d say they handled it pretty well. One thing that would’ve been nice to see improved in that long break is the power play, which continues to struggle and arguably cost them a regulation win, but there are worse things to have as a glaring flaw. So, if they can start closing out more wins in regulation, they'll be in good shape.

#4. Boston Fleet (2-0-0-2, 6 points)

This Week’s Results:

• No games this week

Upcoming Schedule:

• Fri, Dec 27 @ TOR- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (NESN, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Mon, Dec 30 @ MTL- 7 p.m. ET, Place Bell, Laval, QC (NESN, TSN, RDS, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Thu, Jan 2 @ MIN- 7:30 p.m. ET, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (NESN, FanDuel Sports Network North, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Peanuts Scene: Everyone applauds Charlie Brown's entrance, but Snoopy boos- “A Charlie Brown Christmas”

After their first two games had many skeptical about the team's ability to fix last season's flaws, the Fleet gave fans plenty of things to cheer about in their past two games. They’re getting goals from all over the lineup, their defense is solid, and Aerin Frankel remains scary good. However, their discipline still deserves to be booed. Only Ottawa has more penalties (17, to the Fleet's 16), and they’ve played one more game. Luckily for the Fleet, they also have the top penalty kill in the league (87.5%), but they must find a way to keep their physical style more within the rules.

After playing just one game in 18 days, the Fleet will play three games this week, all on the road. They kick things off against the struggling Sceptres before moving on to two of the league’s best in Montréal and Minnesota. It’ll be a tough test, but it’s also a chance for the Fleet to finally get into a groove and show what they’re really made of.

#5. Toronto Sceptres (1-0-1-3, 4 points)

This Week’s Results:

• Sat, Dec 21 vs MTL- 4-3 OTL

Upcoming Schedule:

• Fri, Dec 27 vs BOS- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (TSN, NESN, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Tue, Dec 31 vs OTT- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (Amazon Prime, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Peanuts Scene: Lucy pulls the football away from Charlie Brown- "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving"

The Sceptres nearly snapped their skid this past week, but they fell flat on their backs just 15 seconds into overtime and let the losing streak hit four. Aaaaaugh!

The Sceptres had another less-than-ideal week. While the score was close against the Victoire and they managed to get a point, the Sceptres were outshot a whopping 39-22. In good news, despite allowing four goals, rookie goaltender Raygan Kirk was great in her first PWHL start and the main reason the game got to overtime. Also, their offense has been remarkably opportunistic this season, so they've scored a fair amount despite taking few shots. However, something has to give. They'll get a big boost once Natalie Spooner returns from injury, but always trying to outscore your problems is not a good long-term strategy.

#6. Ottawa Charge (1-0-1-3, 4 points)

This Week’s Results:

• No games this week.

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sun, Dec 29 @ NYC- 1 p.m. ET, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ (TSN, MSG, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)
• Tue, Dec 31 @ TOR- 7 p.m. ET, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, ON (Amazon Prime, PWHL Youtube Channel, thepwhl.com)

Peanuts Scene: Charlie Brown gets rocks- “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”

While most other teams are having fun and collecting wins, Ottawa keeps getting rocked. 

The Charge didn’t play this week and it was probably the best thing for them. They desperately need to shake things up and a lot of time to practice is a good way to find out if there’s an internal solution. On the other hand, if they can’t start turning things around now, GM Mike Hirshfield needs to consider taking action sooner rather than later, or it'll be another early offseason.