Two months into first season, league already working on Year 2

The PWHL is barely two months into its inaugural season, but it’s already looking ahead.

The league’s longterm success will hinge on its ability to transition out of the current experimental phase and into a more stable organization that returns in a predictable pattern year after year.

One of the first steps is ensuring that an annual draft will bring in enough new talent to create competition without overwhelming rosters. The concern, however, is that the PWHL fields only six teams, which means that many qualified players could be left without a place to play.

The PWHL landed on a draft format that it thinks walks that line. Between NCAA players finishing their college careers and European players looking to enter the North American market, the league estimates that a seven-round draft (42 picks) will capture the talent it is looking for. This year’s draft does not yet have a date, though senior vice president/hockey operations Jayna Hefford said the PWHL is shooting for midJune. Down the road, Hefford said, she hopes to create a farm-style system or a developmental league from which the PWHL can bring players into its ranks, but that is not likely to come in Year 2.

The league also has begun compiling next year’s schedule.

“We’re giving ourselves lots of time to get it right,” PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten said.

As part of that process, the league has seen a need to reevaluate some venues. The total attendance through 42 games was 219,856, for an average of 5,235, but numbers across the league vary widely, which may be due in part to a difference in quality and location of venues. PWHL Boston, for example, has some of the lowest attendance rates in the league at the 6,500-seat Tsongas Center in Lowell, which is 30 miles north of Boston and difficult to access via public transportation. PWHL Toronto, however, regularly sells out both Mattamy Athletic Centre (approximate capacity 2,600) and Scotiabank Arena (19,000-plus), both located in the city and accessible via public transport.

“We’re blown away by our average attendance,” Kasten said. “It far exceeds the [projection], and we were projecting conservatively, as we should have.”

Because the league has exceeded attendance projections, it has added more neutral-site games at larger venues throughout the season. Kasten said that will continue into Year 2.

“Expect next year to be a lot more neutral-site games and a lot more games in NHL markets that we’re not already in,” Kasten said.

Expansion — at least in the short term — is out of the question.

“We’re at a point in time where the demand for women’s sport and women’s hockey is something unlike we’ve seen before,” Hefford said. “We’re going to continue to work hard every day to keep that momentum going.”

Name of the game

Players will sport a new look Friday when Toronto hosts Montreal again.

Their last names, normally found on the back of the jersey just above the numbers, will be moved to the bottom of the jersey as part of an initiative to increase player recognition. Nameplates are often obscured by hair.

The initiative is part of a partnership with Canadian beer company Molson, which will sponsor the space above the numbers where nameplates are traditionally located. The special-edition sweaters are making a one-time appearance for International Women’s Day.

Good points

Five points separate the league’s top five scorers. New York’s Alex Carpenter leads with 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists in 14 games). Her six-game point streak came to an end Sunday.

Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin (7 goals, 8 assists) delivered a second straight 3-point performance Saturday to bring her total to 15, followed by Toronto’s Natalie Spooner, who has 13 points — including a league-high 11 goals. Minnesota’s

Grace Zumwinkle (7 goals, 4 assists) and Boston’s Alina Müller (2 goals, 9 assists) are tied for fourth with 11 points.

Müller’s nine assists lead the PWHL.