2022–23 PHF season


The 2022–23 PHF season was the eighth and final ice hockey season of the Premier Hockey Federation – known as the National Women's Hockey League during its first six seasons.

League business

The PHF decided not to hold a draft this year.

Montreal expansion

The long-expected Montreal Force expansion franchise was announced in July and the team name, colors and logo were revealed in August. The team will not have an official home arena during the 2022–23 season but will instead play home games across the province of Quebec, with expected stops in Montreal, Gatineau, Quebec City, Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup, Saint-Jérôme, and Sept-Îles, Quebec, among others.

International players

A record twenty international players signed as roster players in the PHF for the 2022–23 season. Of the international players, six are from Finland, five are from Czechia, four are from Sweden, two are from Austria, two are from Hungary, and one is from Switzerland. Signed as a practice player rather than to the main roster, Iveta Klimášová of the Buffalo Beauts is from Slovakia.
An additional four players are North American-born but hold multiple citizenship and have represented nations outside of North America in international competition : Taylor Baker. Janka Hlinka, Leah Lum, and Lenka Serdar.
Player nationalities

Front office changes

On May 17, 2022, the Minnesota Whitecaps announced that Jack Brodt, who co-founded the team in 2004, would take a position with NLTT Hockey, the company who bought the Whitecaps in the 2021–22 season.
On August 21, 2022, Chi-Yin Tse was named as the new general manager for the Whitecaps.

Coaching changes

On May 9, 2022, Venla Hovi succeeded Ivo Mocek as head coach of the Metropolitan Riveters. Mocek remains with the team as associate head coach.
On May 17, 2022, Ronda Engelhardt took over as sole head coach of the Whitecaps.

Regular season

Standings


Schedule

The 2022–23 season schedule was published on September 19, 2022.
''All times in Eastern Standard Time ; exception of November 5–6, 2022, which are in Eastern Daylight Time.''

News and notes

  • December 10, 2022: Boston Pride goaltender Corinne Schroeder set a new PHF single season record for shutouts, recording her fourth shutout in just seven starts for the first place Pride.
  • December 11, 2022: Boston Pride team captain Jillian Dempsey tied a PHF record with six points on Sunday including her first career hat-trick to lead Boston to a 7–5 win versus Buffalo.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of the season on March 12, 2023.
PlayerTeam
Boston Pride222020404
Connecticut Whale241718356
Boston Pride241414286
Connecticut Whale2410182816
Toronto Six2016102610
Toronto Six2412132516
Toronto Six241013236
Montreal Force2410132320
Montreal Force231111228
Boston Pride18616224

The following skaters were the top point scorers of teams not represented in the scoring leader table at the conclusion of the season, noted with their overall league scoring rank:

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in regular season save percentage at the conclusion of the season on March 12, 2023, while playing at least one-third of games.

Awards and honors

PHF Foundation Award Winners
Player of the Month
Three Stars of the Week

Playoffs

The top four teams in the standings qualified for the Isobel Cup playoffs, which were held in two rounds. The first round was a best-of-three series, hosted at Bentley Arena in Waltham, Massachusetts and Mattamy Athletic Centre at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, starting Thursday, March 16, 2023. The two semi-final winners played a one-game championship final on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona.