PWHL Power Rankings: Week 3 (01/15-01/21)

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

There was some shuffling in the middle of this week’s power rankings, but overall, there was less movement than last week. Theoretically, that means we’re starting to get a better idea of the identity of each team, but I’m not sure that’s the case. Regardless, this upcoming week will be exciting, as it is the busiest one yet and features some marquee match-ups. Two teams (Minnesota and Ottawa) will have three-game weeks, including a back-to-back, both of which are a first in the PWHL, so keep an eye on them.

I decided to get creative with this week’s theme because power rankings are a great place for unconventional fun. I am a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, so I’ve matched each team with a member of the Fellowship of the Ring from The Lord of the Rings (LOTR). If you’re a fellow Tolkien nerd, please enjoy. If you’re not, well, you should be, so I’m not sorry. Let’s dig in.

Note: the PWHL updated how they display standings yet again, so team records have been altered to match how they appear on the PWHL website, with some slight modifications. They are now back to how TIG wrote them the first week. The order is: regulation wins-overtime/shootout wins-overtime/shootout losses-regulation losses.

#1: Minnesota (3-1-1-0, 12 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 1 (-)

This Week’s Results:

• Weds, Jan 17 @ OTT- 3-2 W

Upcoming Schedule:

• Weds, Jan 24 vs MTL- 7 p.m. CST, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (Bally Sports North Extra, PWHL Youtube Channel, TSN+, TOU.TV)
• Sat, Jan 27 @ BOS- 4 p.m. EST, Tsongas Center, Lowell, MA (Bally Sports North Extra, NESN, Sportsnet, PWHL Youtube Channel, SN+)
• Sun, Jan 28 @ NYC- 1 p.m. EST, Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, CT (Bally Sports North Extra, MSG, Sportsnet, PWHL Youtube Channel, SN+)

LOTR Character: Aragon

Aragorn is the king of Gondor, and Minnesota is the queen of the PWHL. Of all the men we met in LOTR, Aragorn was the best. While corruptible by the Ring of Power, he understood that he was and let Frodo go before it could get to him. He was selfless, kind, and overall, exactly what you’d want a king to be. Meanwhile, Minnesota has been the best in the PWHL so far. They’ve got it all: excellent goaltending, a good offense, and a surprisingly solid defense. What more could you ask from a hockey team? I could keep going with the comparisons, but I’ll spare you here.

Minnesota may have only played one game this week, but they won it, so that’s enough to stay in the number-one spot. Sure, New York has had a wacky season, and Minnesota didn’t beat them by much, but New York is still a good team. Minnesota is about to have a busy week, as they play three games, including a back-to-back with travel (a PWHL first, since Ottawa does not travel during theirs earlier in the week). It’ll be a great test to see just how good they are.

#2: Montréal (2-1-2-1, 10 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 2 (-)

This Week’s Results:

• Tues, Jan 16 vs NYC- 3-2 W
• Sat, Jan 20 vs TOR- 4-3 SOL

Upcoming Schedule:

• Weds, Jan 24 @ MIN- 8 p.m. EST, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (Bally Sports North Extra, TSN+, TOU.TV, PWHL Youtube Channel)
• Sat, Jan 27 vs OTT- 3:30 p.m. EST, Place Bell, Montréal, QC (CBC, GEM, RDS2, PWHL Youtube Channel)

LOTR Character: Gandalf

Gandalf the Grey is perhaps the strongest overall member of the fellowship, between his wisdom, power, and penchant for showing up at exactly the right moment. Meanwhile, while Minnesota has the better record so far, Montréal is the deepest team in the PWHL. Plus, they have Captain Clutch herself, Marie-Philip Poulin. While Gandalf returned at exactly the right moment at the Battle of Helm’s Deep, Poulin shines the brightest for Montréal when they need her most. She has scored a game-winning goal, a hat trick in their blowout win over New York, and she got the game-tying goal against Toronto in the dying seconds before going 1-for-4 in the shootout. There’s simply no one like Gandalf or Poulin, and since the rest of the Montréal team fits with Gandalf too, they’re a perfect match.

This was an up-and-down week for Montréal. They beat a good but inconsistent New York team and then lost to the league’s worst team in Toronto. That said, Toronto played one heck of a game. They looked the best they have all season, and while Toronto has statistically been the league’s worst team, they’re still pretty damn good. So, the loss wasn’t enough to knock Montréal out of second place, especially since it came during the skills competition—I mean, shootout. As for this upcoming week, pay particular attention to the game against Minnesota. This is the first time these two powerhouses play each other. It could be the determining factor in next week’s #1 spot in my rankings and possibly vault Montréal into first place in the standings (a much lesser honor, if you ask me).

#3: New York (2-1-0-3, 8 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 4 (+1)

This Week’s Results:

• Tues, Jan 16 @ MON- 3-2 L
• Sat, Jan 20 @ BOS- 4-1 W

Upcoming Schedule:

• Fri, Jan 26 @ TOR- 7 p.m. EST, Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, ON (MSG, TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel)
• Sun, Jan 28 vs MIN- 1 p.m. EST, Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, CN (MSG, Bally Sports North Extra, Sportsnet, PWHL Youtube Channel, SN+)

LOTR Character: Pippin Took

Ah, New York, what a beautifully chaotic team. Much like Pippin, sometimes they’re great, and sometimes they’re bad. For example, Pippin saved Faramir’s life when his father, Denethor, nearly committed a murder-suicide when he was convinced Gondor was lost and Faramir was beyond saving after being injured in battle. Meanwhile, New York handed queen-bee Minnesota their first loss last week (albeit in overtime). But, Pippin also accidentally knocked a skeleton into a well, creating a racket that revealed the fellowship’s presence and location in the Mines of Moria, which led the orcs straight to them and ultimately led to Gandalf falling with the Balrog. Meanwhile, New York was blown out by Montréal last week and also lost to Toronto the week prior in what was just not a good showing from the team.

So far this season, New York’s success has laid squarely on Corinne Schroeder’s shoulders. They have only won games she has played, and she stole the ones against Minnesota and Boston. She has been the best goalie in the league this season, and I don’t think many would argue with me on that. I understand why New York has rotated their goalies so far, but unless they quickly learn to win without Schroeder stealing the game, they may need to start playing her a little more and bank some points. This week, they play Toronto for the third time, and they split the first two games, with Schroeder getting a shutout in the win. Then, Minnesota comes to town, and it’s a safe bet they’ll be looking to avenge their first loss. How they perform this week will say a lot about them, particularly since you can bet on the goalie rotation to continue with two games in three days.

#4 Ottawa (1-0-2-0, 5 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 5 (+1)

This Week’s Results:

• Weds, Jan 17 vs MIN- 3-2 L

Upcoming Schedule:

• Tues, Jan 23 vs TOR- 7 p.m. EST, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (Sportsnet, SN+, PWHL Youtube Channel)
• Weds, Jan 24 vs BOS- 7 p.m. EST, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel)
• Sat, Jan 27 @ MON- 3:30 p.m. EST, Place Bell, Montréal, QC (CBC, GEM, RDS2, PWHL Youtube Channel)

LOTR Character: Samwise Gamgee

Perhaps the least obvious of all my matches, Samwise and Ottawa share one big thing: they are often overlooked. Tolkien calls Sam the chief hero of LOTR (and I agree), but he is often brushed aside, particularly among those who have only seen the movies. But his kindness and heroism were ultimately responsible for Sauron’s defeat because Frodo never would’ve gotten to Mordor without him, and he spared Gollum (who ultimately caused the destruction of the One Ring) despite wanting to kill him and having numerous chances to do so. Meanwhile, Ottawa has only played three games this season and only won one, making them easy to overlook (and impossible to put in the top half of the rankings). However, they have yet to lose in regulation and have played some damn good hockey, and they’re not getting enough credit for that. They’re a deep team with few flaws beyond perhaps a lack of goaltending depth.

This week is going to be a huge test for Ottawa. After playing just three games in three weeks, they will play three games this week alone, including the first back-to-back in PWHL history. It will be interesting to see how they respond to such a big change. It’s a great opportunity for them to bank some points, but it also means they’ll start catching up to everyone else in games played, so they can’t afford to keep leaving them on the table as they have. Notably, the back-to-back also means we should start to get an answer to the team’s biggest question: are the backup goalies good enough? For better or for worse, this is the week we’ll really start to see what Ottawa is made of.

#5 Boston (1-1-0-2, 5 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 3 (-2)

This Week’s Results:

• Weds, Jan 17 @ TOR- 3-2 W
• Sat, Jan 20 vs NYC- 4-1 L

Upcoming Schedule:

• Weds, Jan 24 @ OTT- 7 p.m. EST, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (TSN, PWHL Youtube Channel)
• Sat, Jan 27 vs MIN- 4 p.m. EST, Tsongas Center, Lowell, MA (NESN, Bally Sports North Extra, Sportsnet, PWHL Youtube Channel, SN+)

LOTR Character: Frodo Baggins

This is another not-so-clear match, but hear me out. Frodo did a remarkable job carrying the One Ring from the Shire to Mordor. Few, if any, others could’ve carried it as far as he did without it completely overtaking them. Meanwhile, Boston has played some excellent hockey, and they boast perhaps the league’s best goaltending tandem and, on paper, the best offense (although we have yet to see that come to fruition). However, they can’t string together a full 60-minute effort. Meanwhile, Frodo ultimately could not destroy the ring, and had it not been for Gollum attacking him and then falling into Mount Doom, it would’ve spelled the doom of Middle-Earth, much like Boston’s temporary lapses have spelled their doom or nearly done so in all their games so far. However, one big difference is that Frodo’s quest was always doomed to fail, as Tolkien stated that no one would have been able to resist the pressure of the ring at its maximum, and Boston has the power to change and fix these lapses.

Boston is a good team with a remarkable inability to play a full 60 minutes. They have had at least one period in each game where they outplayed their opponent and often did so significantly. But, for whatever reason, they just cannot string it together for three periods. This week, they had two poor periods versus Toronto before waking up and largely controlling the game. Then, against New York, outside of the first half of the second period, Boston completely outplayed them. If they can just figure out how to play at that level for a full 60 minutes, they will be scary. Until then, they will keep losing games they shouldn’t be losing, and frustration will mount.

#6 Toronto (1-1-0-4, 5 points)

Last Week’s Ranking: 6 (-)

This Week’s Results:

• Weds, Jan 17 vs BOS- 3-2 L
• Sat, Jan 20 @ MON- 4-3 SOW

Upcoming Schedule:

• Tues, Jan 23 @ OTT- 7 p.m. EST, TD Place, Ottawa, ON (Sportsnet, SN+, PWHL Youtube Channel)
• Fri, Jan 26 vs NYC- 7 p.m. EST, Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, ON (TSN, MSG, PWHL Youtube Channel)

LOTR Character: Boromir

Boromir was a great man. Toronto has some great players. However, out of everyone in the fellowship, Boromir was the most easily corrupted by the One Ring, even going so far as to try to take it from Frodo. Meanwhile, Toronto has been the easiest team to beat this season, although if their last game was any indication, that might be changing soon. Boromir made up for his fault by sacrificing himself to save Merry and Pippin, so why can’t Toronto make up for a poor start by going on a hot streak?

If only Toronto had not lost to Boston earlier in the week, they would’ve moved up a spot. Or, even if they’d beat Montréal in regulation, they would’ve gotten out of the basement. But, they did neither of those things, so they remain in sixth place. That said, they were excellent in the first two periods against Boston and followed that up by playing a phenomenal full game at Montréal. They still have a lot of things to figure out, and they’ve lost a concerning amount of ground in the standings, but they’ll have a chance to continue turning things around this week and prove that their win against one of the league’s best teams was more than just a flash in the pan.