Around the PWHL: Midway mark standings and a Tragically Hip collab

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This article was published 30/01/2026 (214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The mid-season mark was capped off Wednesday with a quadruple header. And now, with the Olympic break officially underway, this week’s Backcheck is going to do things a little differently. We’ll be checking the pulse of each team in the league to see how they’re faring and what to watch for after the Games conclude.

Boston Fleet (8-2-2-2)

While the Boston Fleet currently remain in the top spot in the standings with 30 points, the Minnesota Frost and Montreal Victoire are close behind. The Frost are one regulation win away from taking the top spot, while the Victoire are one regulation win away from tying the Fleet. This is more of a scheduling problem for the club, having won their last two games, but those two games were 10 days apart. Goaltender Aerin Frankel has remained solid for the club, boasting a 1.35 goals-against average and .946 save percentage. If the Green Monster is still in peak form after the Olympics, the Fleet may not be caught.

Minnesota Frost (7-2-3-3)

The Frost have proven, yet again, why they remain back-to-back Walter Cup champions. After a roller-coaster ride this season around the bottom and middle marks of the standings, Minnesota has gone on a 4-1 tear over the last five games — with two of those being six goal affairs. The club’s last game before the break saw the team net a three-goal first period in a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Goldeneyes. What’s more is Kelly Pannek seems unstoppable. The Minnesota forward has 15 points over the first 15 games, netting eight goals and seven assists. Other teams will have to figure out the power forward if they want to stop a potential Cup three-peat.

Montreal Victoire (7-3-0-5)

The Victoire have been pretty steady all season. Like the Frost — who they are only one point behind in the standings — they have gone 4-1 over the last five games. At 34, Captain Clutch herself, Marie-Philip Poulin, has shown no signs of her age, and her fellow Olympian Ann-Renée Desbiens once again backstopped the team to a 3-0 shutout win over the Toronto Sceptres on Wednesday. What will be interesting is where Montreal will end up in the standings before the playoffs. This is a team that needs to prove to itself it can get past the first round. But with young blood, like rookie Natalie Mlynkova on the roster, this iteration of the Victoire might just have the right chemistry this time around.

New York Sirens (7-0-3-6)

Like the Victoire, the Sirens have been more in-the-mix over this past half a season. The club currently sits in the final playoff spot, but only has a two-point lead over the surging Ottawa Charge. New York has dropped three straight games. The Sirens last win was over the Victoire during the Takeover Tour game in Washington. However, Seattle has proved its mettle against the Boston Fleet, forcing the top club into a tightly-contested eight-round shootout Wednesday night, where Czech phenom Kristyna Kaltounkova put up two goals. They are a team to watch and a threat to climb the standings.

Ottawa Charge (4-5-0-7)

The Ottawa Charge are red hot. The club climbed out of the basement and hasn’t looked back. The secret to the Charge’s success? Ottawa has netted five overtime wins — that’s 10 points to show for the team’s hard-nosed play. The Charge’s not-so-secret weapon, of course, is netminder extraordinaire Gwenyth Philips. Coming out of the Olympic break will be interesting for Philips. The goalie may spend more time out of action in favour of U.S. teammate Frankel. But if she keeps in form, there’s no stopping the Charge climbing the standings. The club’s biggest test to prove its mettle will be on Feb. 28 in the first game back against the Fleet. Even if they simply force overtime, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Vancouver Goldeneyes (5-2-2-8)

The Goldeneyes are in the mix of things. While they lost the last game before the break against the surging Frost, the return of Sarah Nurse to the lineup has injected a tenacity into the club. Nurse has a point a game in the last four since returning from an arm injury, including a two-goal night in the 5-0 shutout against her former team. With a stacked netminding lineup — including Olympian Emerance Maschmeyer and Brandon’s Kristen Campbell — the club can easily turn its season around. In fact, the Goldeneyes are one regulation win from catching the Charge.

Toronto Sceptres (4-1-3-8)

Head coach Troy Ryan has said it isn’t time to panic for the Sceptres. Toronto has dropped four of its last three games, pulling an overtime win over the Goldeneyes back on Jan. 17, but it does have 14 games remaining in the regular season. And, with seven other teams in the mix, it’s not impossible for the Goldeneyes to make a playoff push. With a stacked roster featuring Natalie Spooner, Blayre Turnbull and Daryl Watts, there’s no reason to panic…yet.

Seattle Torrent (4-1-2-7)

The Torrent have been a Jekyll-and-Hyde club so far this season. Currently sitting in the league’s basement, Seattle was blown out of the water 6-2 by the Frost Jan. 11, before turning around and putting up an exciting shootout push against the Fleet on Jan. 18, took those two losses and put up six goals on the Sceptres two nights later. And it’s not a goalie problem. Elm Creek’s Corinne Schroeder and Kingston, Ont., product Hannah Murphy have been a solid duo in net. Even Captain America Hilary Knight has 10 points through 14 games. Taking a page from Ottawa’s playbook of digging for any sort of points may help through the club’s remaining 16.

Highlight of the week

The Tragically Hip are teaming up with the PWHL. The band, who have been championing women’s sports — particularly women’s hockey — for decades have released a collaboration logo with the league. Fans can find the hoodie, t-shirt and tuque for sale on the PWHL’s website.

The Hip famously sponsored Team Canada at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup last year. They have supported grassroots women’s sport since the 1990s, sponsoring girls’ minor hockey in Kingston.

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