If there was one advantage that the Toronto Sceptres enjoyed over every team they faced in Year 1 in the PWHL, it came in the physicality department.
Teams did not enjoy playing against Toronto. It was a team that prided itself on playing hard and by extension were hard to play against.
There were no easy rides. Yes, teams did defeat Toronto last year including Minnesota’s best-of-five semifinal win in the playoffs, but nothing came easy against Toronto, certainly nothing without paying a price.
Don’t expect anything different in Year 2.
Returnees like Renata Fast, captain Blayre Turnbull, Jocelyne Larocque and Emma Maltais enjoy playing a physical style of game.
Allie Munroe isn’t suddenly going to go soft on her teammates and pass up an opportunity to lay out an opponent as she did countless times last season.
And head coach Troy Ryan would have it no other way. It’s a style of play that has served him well in his career and he doesn’t see it changing either.
Better yet, the Sceptres established this reputation and did so staying within the rules for the most part. When they were penalized, a league best penalty kill that operated at a 91.8% success rate bailed them out.
Combined last season, Toronto players dished out a league best 365 hits over its 24 regular season games. The only team even close to using the body that much were the Boston Fleet who finished the year with 316 hits. After that it was Ottawa (227 hits), Montreal (212 hits), New York (208 hits) and Minnesota (168 hits).
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It should be noted that in the playoffs Minnesota, who would go on to win the first Walter Cup, became a much more physical team and led the playoffs with a total of 195 hits.
The bad news for Toronto opponents heading into Year 2 is Ryan believes it’s only going to get more physical and harder to play against Toronto than it was a year ago.
“I think it will go to another level even from the people that are returning,” Ryan said. “We do have some people who are just naturally that way (physical players that are hard to play against). Renata Fast wants to play the game hard. (Jocelyne) Larocque does, (Blayre) Turnbull does, (Emma) Maltais does. All these players want to. You look at a free agent we brought in like Rylind MacKinnon. She wants to play the game hard and she’s coming from U-Sport (UBC) where a lot of people can underestimate that. I think she plays the game the right way. I always have.
“I think our game will improve physically, a lot actually, but probably just more controlled,” Ryan said. “A year under their belt with the physicality in this league, you learn. Better angles but it doesn’t mean we’ll be any softer. We’ll play the game hard but within the rules for sure.”
Ryan isn’t the only member of the Sceptres on whom MacKinnon has already made an impression.
Larocque experienced it first-hand Friday.
“I don’t know why I was down low, but at one point Rylind hit me into the boards and then I got the puck and then Allie (Munroe) smoked me into the boards and then I had to get back,” Larocque said. “I just told those two after practice they are like the Bash sisters so if they’re out together, watch out man. That would be a wicked pair I would think the other team would not want to go against.”
And the hits don’t end there. First-round pick Julia Gosling has been known to enjoy the physical play as well when she’s not filling the net. Another new Sceptres forward who caught Ryan’s eye in this regard is Czech forward Noemi (Nemo) Neubauerova.
“I really like her,” Ryan said of his 24-year-old native of Kolin, Czechia with Toronto after being drafted in the fifth round but still trying to earn a contract. “The part that I really like is there is this competitive, aggressive attitude that she has but then (off ice) she seems to be a really kind and bubbly. But there’s a little streak to her on the ice that I think is really cool to see. It fits in with the group and she can play.”
NURSEY’S TAKE
It’s early days for sure, but veteran forward Sarah Nurse says she’s enjoying some good on-ice chemistry with a couple of newcomers to the team.
Daryl Watts and Izzy Daniel are two offensively gifted forwards. Watts is coming off a 10 goal season with PWHL Ottawa a year ago while Daniel is getting her first taste of professional women’s hockey after being taken in the third round (18th overall) in the PWHL draft last June.
Both were winners of the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top player in NCAA Division I hockey during their respective college careers.
And now both are getting rave reviews for their games from none other than Nurse.
Nurse was asked about playing with Watts at the national team training camp which was held in September.
“It’s been awesome getting to play with her,” Nurse said of Watts. “I started to play with her a few months ago at (Team Canada) camp and I just noticed right away that we think very similarly. I put the puck into a space that I would be and she’s there. I think it’s cool to be able to connect like that. We both think the game very similarly. I’m excited to get some more reps with her.”
Daniel, a native of Minneapolis, is newer to Nurse but has caught her eye early.
“I think with her, it’s her vision,” Nurse said. “She also is a very cerebral player so it’s been cool to just kind of pick her brain. She’s like a hockey nerd. She’s really funny, but on the ice her vision, she again is one of those players that thinks the game one or two steps ahead so I think she’s going to have a great impact.”