Rattray happy to go home, boos and all
If the crowd in Ottawa can boo Poulin, the fans can boo
Rattray.
“I think it would be kind of cool,” she said.
It would flatter her.
While the locals have shown that they don’t carry a torch for Team Canada heroes wearing enemy Professional Women’s Hockey League colors, they might spare her.
Rattray, who will visit TD Place with PWHL Boston for Wednesday’s game (7 p.m., NESN), is from Kanata, Ontario. She grew up a Senators fan during the NHL team’s glory years, falling asleep while listening to Dean Brown’s radio play-by-play calls on TSN 1200.
“That was my thing as a kid,” Rattray said. “His voice is still in my head.”
She was 14, carving up the numerous outdoor rinks near her home, when the Senators of Daniel Alfredsson, Martin Havlat, Marian Hossa, and Chris Neil — her “all-time fave, Ottawa to the core” — reached the Stanley Cup Final.
Though Rattray thought she might be drafted in September by her new hometown club, she fell to Boston at No. 15 overall (third round).
“I was thrilled when she was available,” said Boston coach Courtney Kessel, who played with Rattray on the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s Brampton Thunder. “A lot of teams missed out on her.”
Rattray, 31, has settled in as Boston’s doit-all second-line center (0-3–3 in four games). She leads the PWHL in faceoff percentage among regulars (74.1 percent) and has kept Boston (1-1-0-2) gunning on the power play by snapping back draws. The 5foot-6-inch, 168-pounder plays a rugged game and has yet to take a penalty.
“They’re letting us play a little,” said Rattray, who echoed several teammates in noting that the officiating has been consistent thus far. “It’s showing how strong we are as athletes, how fast we are, how much we can battle out there.”
Rattray has battled to become a prominent player in the women’s game. After winning the Patty Kazmaier Award in 201314 to cap a stellar college career at Clarkson, she was not selected for the 2014 or 2018 Olympics. In 2022, she became the oldest player (age 29) to debut for Team Canada at the Olympics since the inaugural 1998 team.
Playing fourth-line minutes, she put up a 5-4–9 line in seven games to help Canada win gold. That came after she scored four goals at the Women’s Worlds the previous April, helping Canada win its first gold at the tournament in nine years.
Reached Tuesday while the Boston team was waiting for a flight to Ottawa, Rattray and Co. went mostly .unrecognized at Logan Airport.
“We had a couple of people in Toronto last trip who came over and said how much they appreciated what we’re doing,” she said. “When you have Hilary Knight, there are a few more eyes around.”
The players are focusing on hockey, but when they arrive at and exit rinks on a game day, they notice the appreciative fans. They notice the little girls holding signs during warm-ups.
“The effect this whole league has had on this next generation is really cool,” Rattray said. “Even adults who have watched women’s hockey are excited about seeing the rivalries that are developing. It’s great to be a part of it.”
Even if you’re getting booed at home.
Still sorting things out
Boston, which has drawn crowds of 4,012 (against Minnesota) and 4,007 (New York) to Tsongas Center thus far, returns home Saturday to host Minnesota at 4 p.m.. By then, they hope to have found their mix.
The team sits fifth in the league, with a .417 points percentage. The PWHL gives three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one for an extratime loss, and zero for a regulation loss. Last Saturday’s 4-1 loss to New York dropped Boston underwater in goal differential (minus-2). Only last-place Toronto (minus-9) is also in the red.
Kessel sounded more concerned with the defense than the offensive output.
“If we weren’t getting any chances, I think I’d be a little worried,” said Kessel, whose team outshot New York, 33-19, and got its goal from red-hot Loren Gabel. “The puck will drop for us at some point.” Attention to detail is the mantra.
“We’re probably one of the teams that is least familiar with each other,” Rattray said, noting that Minnesota and Toronto have more past-and-present teammates on their rosters. “We’re trying to figure out which kind of puzzle works best for us. We’re willing to try new things and we’re going to stick together through it all. You look at our lineup and we have some of the best goal scorers in the world. We’re going to be fine.”
Off to a good start
We don’t yet know what the PWHL will do regarding postseason awards, another facet of the fledgling operation that has yet to take shape.
Entering Wednesday, half of the league (Montreal, New York and Toronto) had played a quarter of the season (six games of a 24-game run). We still haven’t seen enough from Ottawa (three games) and Boston (four), but they’ll catch up soon. Here are leaders for would-be awards: MVP: Poulin. A league-high goals in six games for the Montreal captain. Minnesota’s Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle, Boston’s Alina Müller and New York’s Alex Carpenter (PWHL-best 3-5–8) should be in the running.
Top goaltender: New York’s Corinne Schroeder, the ex-Boston Pride stopper won three of her first four starts and looked tremendous doing so. Ann-Renée Desbiens has been standing on her head for Montreal. Other teams are splitting goalies.
Top defender: Tough to go against New York’s Ella Shelton (2-5–7 in six games), who was tied with Poulin for second in league scoring. Savannah Harmon (Ottawa) and Megan Keller (Boston) have been massive for their teams. Toronto’s Jocelyne Laroque and Renata Fast might split votes.
Rookie of the year: Of course, everyone’s a rookie in a league that was created last summer. So we’ll change the criteria to players who had not played a professional game before January, and say Heise, the slick-passing Müller, Shelton, and Zumwinkle are the lead pack.
Best defensive forward: Lots of good candidates, but Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull is as good as any.
Coach of the year: Long way to go, but Ottawa’s Carla MacLeod gets props from her colleagues for connecting with her players and getting them to play connected, five-skater hockey.
Expansive thoughts
Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin told the Athletic that Pittsburgh is preparing to be part of the PWHL’s first expansion class, whenever that happens. The PWHL, though it is publicly optimistic about its expansion possibilities, has not revealed any such plans . . . The PWHL is already impacting the European leagues. Stefan Enbom, the president of Luleå of the top Swedish league, told a news outlet there that he expects to lose the league’s leading scorer, Noora Tulus, and top defender Ronja Savolainen to the PWHL next season.