PWHL Notebook: Heise's Game 1 status remains unknown

Minnesota Frost forward Taylor Heise is sporting a knee brace, New York Sirens forward Abby Roque is thankful to have the help of a former NHLer when it comes to the ins and outs of dishing out and taking hits, and Toronto Sceptres rookie Izzy Daniel has figured out how to pour herself a glass of milk in her new home.

PWHL mini camps opened earlier this week in Montreal and Toronto, and with them came not just a chance for players to prove themselves on the ice, but also a bunch of insight ahead of the league’s second season, which kicks off Nov. 30.

With that in mind, here’s a look around the league as we close in on the season ahead.

New York is grooving

New York finished Season 1 in last place, but as Roque puts it, there’s “a different vibe” heading into Season 2. The Sirens not only have big-name additions to their roster, including first-overall pick Sarah Fillier, but after splitting their home games between three different venues last season, the team will now play most of their home games at Newark’s Prudential Center.

And every time the Sirens score a goal at home this season, fans will hear founding member of Kiss Ace Frehley singing “New York Groove,” the Sirens’ new goal song. "The greatest song on earth,” according to GM Pascal Daoust.

Players picked the Frehley classic, and Daoust chose the tune that’ll blare when the Sirens win at home: “New York, New York" by the one and only Frank Sinatra. “Because there was no other way,” the GM says.

Heise’s Game 1 status unknown

Last season’s playoff MVP, Heise is sporting a brace on her right knee, and while the league’s first-ever first-overall pick is practising, she isn’t participating in full-contact games yet.

Heise also didn’t play for Team USA in the Rivalry Series earlier this month.

“I would say I'm definitely on the ups,” says Heise, who led all scorers in the playoffs last season and hoisted the playoff MVP trophy as well after her Frost won the Walter Cup. “I'm always trying to be positive. Grace (Zumwinkle) is my roommate and every day I'm like, ‘It's a good day to be alive.' So yeah, I'm hoping to be ready there for the first game, and that's just kind of where I'm at."

“Every day my team does a good job of keeping me entertained and making sure that even if I'm not on the ice sometimes, that I feel like I'm a part of the team and still loved and everything,” Heise continues. “So, it's been good. And I'm definitely, like I said, on the ups. So, we’ll see what that leads me to.”  

The defending-champion Frost open their season Dec. 1 at home as they play host to New York. If Heise isn’t in the lineup, it’ll mean both the PWHL’s reigning playoff MVP and the regular season MVP (Toronto’s Natalie Spooner, who’s recovering from a knee injury) are missing to start Year 2.

Ottawa’s hot hand 

Keeping in mind teams have only played mini-camp games, and some aren’t playing all their stars to give on-the-bubble players a chance to earn roster spots, it’s still impossible to ignore Ottawa Charge goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer.

In her team’s mini-camp opener, the long-time Team Canada netminder made 36 saves in a 6-1 win over the Boston Fleet, who out-shot Ottawa 37-28. Despite the lop-sided finish in regulation, the teams played OT and a shootout afterward, and Maschmeyer stopped all five Fleet shootout attempts.

The 30-year-old Harvard grad led all PWHL goalies in minutes last season and earlier this month, she served up a shutout against Team USA in Game 6 of the Rivalry Series. 

Ottawa was in a playoff spot last season before dropping their last three games to fall out of the picture. Certainly, their goaltender showing she can steal games is an encouraging sign, even if it’s only pre-season.

Getting ready to rumble with Ryan Getzlaf 

All six teams had an orientation session with former NHLer Ryan Getzlaf, focused on physical play and hitting. Physicality was an enormous part of the game in the PWHL’s inaugural season, and players learned on the fly how to safely navigate it.

“I think a lot of penalties last year would have been prevented if the person who was getting hit knew how to take the hit,” says Roque, who’s a physical presence in the Sirens lineup. “But if you've played girls’ hockey your whole life, you would almost have to get out of somebody's way sometimes, which (now) you're like: ‘I already have the lane, why am I leaving?’ But it's like, this girl has their head down.

“So, I think having (Getzlaf) come in and being like, ‘This is a clip of last year. If you do this differently, you might like not get injured, you might not go into the boards funny, you might not get stood up in the middle of the ice.’ I think that’s one of the most important pieces.”

Early learnings

Izzy Daniel won the Patty Kazmaier Award last season, the first Cornell player to earn the NCAA's top honour, and a couple of months later, the Minnesotan was drafted 18th overall by the Toronto Sceptres.

“I was so happy where I ended up. I was weirdly hoping to end up here, to just experience something new in the Canadian market,” Daniel says. “They’re hockey crazy here, the fans, just watching it on TV, Toronto was definitely a destination that looked pretty appealing, I think, as an outsider looking in.”

The biggest adjustment just three days into Daniel’s time in the city?

“Oh, bagged milk,” she says. “I'm a big milk-drinker back home. So, I drink a lot of milk and then I saw the bagged milk and I’m like, ‘What the heck?’ And you have to get those little (milk jugs), whatever the heck those things are, I don’t know what they’re called. So, I have that in the fridge now. But that’s been an adjustment.”

Innovative new rule costs role players

The PWHL is continuing to push and innovate and introduce new rules, and this season the league added one that requires a penalized team to leave its players out for the first faceoff after the whistle sounds for the penalty. The idea is that those four players who remain on the ice are gassed, and this could lead to more scoring.

“I think the only downside is, I think a lot of players in this league, like every hockey team, you have a role and some people's role is to be a really great penalty killer,” Roque says. “And I think it kind of takes that away from some people, obviously, if maybe you get stuck on the ice for 45 seconds, you might not get your turn to do what you're really good at.”

Roque points to an incredibly deep group of NCAA grads coming into the league as another source of increased offence, and adds she likes the innovation and the idea behind the new rule.

“If you’ve got three dead forwards out there, some people are going to be flopping around, so it'll be exciting,” Roque says.

Don’t be shy

The Sirens signed Finnish national team star Noora Tulus to a two-year deal in late July, which marks a major move for the 29-year-old, who led Sweden’s SDHL in scoring last season.

“I felt like I really need to try something new if I want to take a step forward, so I was kind of like, if I'm not going to take this now, probably I'm not going to take it ever,” says Tulus, who’s suited up in the SDHL for the past nine seasons. “I want to take the chance and see how far I can go.”

It’s early, but Tulus notes she’s discovering something new every day, being alongside top players in the world. “It’s easy to learn,” she adds. “I’d like to see what this brings for me.”

With the possibility of expansion next season, Tulus hopes more European players attempt to crack PWHL rosters. “It's important because now the places (on teams) are limited, so not that many players (are) going to get a spot here,” she says. “It's important for all the European players to be able to come here to see how good hockey is here and develop from that. So, I'm hoping that more players really take the chance and follow their dreams and, like, don't be shy.”

Roque wears many hats

All six teams have names and logos for Year 2. Players are obviously excited the league took that step in the off-season and they’ve all been walking around in their brand new gear, lots of it still creased down the arms because it’s that fresh.

Roque is extra happy the Sirens now have a name because it means the Team USA star doesn’t have to have the conversation she had too many times last year when she was asked what her team was called.

“I would say, ‘PWHL New York’ and they'd be like, ‘No, but like, what's your name?’ And I'd be like, ‘PWHL New York,’” Roque recalls. “And then they'd kind of be like, ‘What?’ And I was just like, ‘OK, whatever.’”

The 27-year-old says all this while sporting a ballcap with a rope and SIRENS written upside down across the front — a very unique design, which team staff later confirmed she came up with herself.

Roque helped lead the University of Wisconsin to an NCAA championship in 2019, then graduated a year later with a degree in marketing, which it appears she’s putting to good use.

Best fans in the league?

Toronto forward Jesse Compher has no doubt as to where the best fans in the league live, and it’s the first thing that comes to mind for the 25-year-old when she’s asked about her team’s new venue, Coca-Cola Coliseum.

“Obviously it’s bigger, and I think it will be a sellout every game because we have the best fans in the league,” says Compher, who’s from Illinois.

Who does the 2022 Olympic silver medallist rank as the PWHL’s second-best fanbase?

“I don’t know,” Compher says with a shrug. “All I know is we’re the best.”