PHF: Power Rankings for '22-'23

There has been insane movement in the PHF this offseason, and I thought it was appropriate to power rank them. Will the teams be in different places than they were at the end of the past season? Will the teams at the top be at the top? Who will be able to tell?

Since I am doing the power ranking, I will be doing it in a slightly different manner. For my ranking, I will assign each team a score on a scale of 1 to 7, with one being the best based on several categories, most of them based on the roster so far. The categories not based on the actual roster will make this a little more fun.

The boring categories are forward core, defense core, and goaltending. Now, these will still be based on my judgment of how I think the additions to the team will have. These rankings on team skills at any position will admittedly not be perfect since I am the one ranking, and I am not a hockey scout.

The fun rankings, on the other hand, are purely subjective. For this, I will also have four categories: Star power, general vibes, and quality of social media communications. What do these categories even mean, you may be asking?

Well, dear reader, I have the answer for you.

Star power is: Does your team have a face of the team, a player who represents the team, or the person you think of when you need to name a player from the said team?

General vibes: What do I think of the team through their uniforms, social media, interactions with fans, and front office moves? This section focuses on the team’s front offices. This is the most subjective, but it is important.
Quality of social media communications. This category is all about how the team shows itself on social media. Are the captions fun? Do the graphics look nice? Are the graphics creative? All of this will be answered in the power ranking.
Jersey design. As a person, there are few things I care about more than jersey design, so why not add that to my ranking?

Now for a disclaimer. I am by no means a scout, and I can’t tell you every detail about every team. There has also been a ton of turnover this offseason. There are only three players on the rivs who were there last season. There are also some disparities when it comes to roster size. At the time of writing, the Boston Pride only has 16 players signed, while the Buffalo Beauts have 21. These ranks are completely subjective, so on that note, let’s head to the rankings.

Metropolitan Riveters – 36 points

Forward – 2^nd

Defense – 6^th

Goaltending -7^th

Star power – 2^nd

Vibes – 7^th

Social media – 6^th

Jerseys – 6^th

The Rivs have had the most change in this offseason, and overall I am not entirely impressed. They made some huge additions all over the team, but my main questions lie in goaltending. Neither of the Rivs goalies have played at the PHF level before. While this isn’t necessarily a huge issue, I’m worried about how well they will hold up. Looking at Eveliina Mäkinen, she’s a good goalie, I will say that, but in the past few seasons, her stats have tanked. At the women’s worlds in Denmark this summer, she had a .784 save percentage. That is worrying for me. She only got in goal once and let in 8 goals.

What I will say for the Rivs is they do have star power. When trying to name a PHF player, one of the first names that comes to mind is Madison Packer. A few days ago, I was asked who comes to mind when you think of an LGBTQ+ hockey figure. My answer was Madison Packer.

Minnesota Whitecaps – 35 points

Forward – 7^th

Defense – 7^th

Goaltending -4^th

Star power – 5^th

Vibes – 5^th

Social media – 3^rd

Jerseys – 4^th

Currently, the Whitecaps have no real standout player. The Whitecaps were hit hard this summer by the loss of Allie Thunstrom. Thunstrom was their captain and their all-star player. My main question for this Whitecap team is the goaltending. Amanda Leveille is amazing. She is a standout player. When she got injured at the end of the season last season, the Whitecaps just tanked. They had a backup but no one who could match Leveille.

On the bright side, they have excellent jerseys. I personally love the new jerseys. The striping pattern is classy, and the colors are unique and tasteful. Their social media presence is nice with clean graphic design and nothing to make me at least go; why?

The Whitecaps get bonus points for probably the most passionate fanbase in the PHF.

Connecticut Whale – 28 points

Forward – 6^th

Defense – 4^th

Goaltending -5^th

Star power – 4^th

Vibes – 1st

Social media – 1st

Jerseys – 7^th

The Connecticut Whale is a team built off the backend. While their forward core is quite good, most of the forward cores in the PHF are quite good. For me, what stands out is their defense and goaltending. With Allie Munroe and Mallory Souliotis being their standout defense, I am excited to see if this very good team from last season can repeat the performance.

The Whale wins in social media and vibes because they seem like a genuinely fun team with good graphic design. The one flaw for this team is the jerseys. The season 8 jerseys are a letdown from a series of exceptionally good jerseys.

Boston Pride – 27 points

Forward – 3rd

Defense – 3^rd

Goaltending -2^nd

Star power – 3^rd

Vibes – 4^th

Social media – 7^th

Jerseys – 5^th

The Boston Pride are good, but with so little information on who is on the roster, it is hard to judge. The Pride has a very good team full of winning experience. The majority of the team has won the Isobel cup before. Even though they have won a lot, There are new pieces to the team, and I’m not sure how they will fit into the Pride’s systems and if they will add more scoring power than they had last season in the regular season. Last year the Boston Pride were bad in the regular season and good in the playoffs. Hopefully, they have added more offense. I have a lot of questions about the Prides Goaltending. Is Katie Burt going to be back? If so, that answers all my questions.

Now onto the fun stats. Their social media is an atrocity. It is boring, and it doesn’t connect to the fanbase. I want more and something better from the team. The graphic design is also subpar. Twitter is really what draws this ranking down. They don’t do anything. There is no banter, no fun.

Force Montréal – 25 points

Forward – 5^th

Defense – 2^nd

Goaltending -6^th

Star power – 7^th

Vibes – 2^nd

Social media – 2^nd

Jerseys – 1^st

The Force is the new team on the scene. As someone who hasn’t been paying attention to the Quebecois women’s hockey scene, I am aware that I don’t know the most about the Force and their players but what I can say is that I recognize the names of most of their defense. I can’t wait to see what this team does on the ice.

Their jerseys are probably my favorite thing about this team so far. I love a good maroon hockey jersey, which this team brings to the table.

Buffalo Beauts – 25 points

Forward – 1^st

Defense – 5^th

Goaltending -3^rd

Star power – 6^th

Vibes – 3^rd

Social media – 5th

Jerseys – 2^nd

Arguably the biggest addition to the Beauts this offseason was adding Tera Hoffman as a practice goalie. Still, I am probably more than a little bit biased in my opinion about Tera. The real biggest addition for the Beauts is actually Mikyla Grant-Mentis. Grant-Mentis is a huge, huge addition to this team. She was the first move of this offseason that gave us the inkling that this will be an interesting Beauts team. I think the Beauts can make it from the bottom of the league to the top this season. I am very high on the Beauts.

Toronto Six – 20 Points

Forward – 4^th

Defense – 1^st

Goaltending -1st

Star power – 1^st

Vibes – 6^th

Social media – 4^th

Jerseys – 3^rd

The Toronto Six is the team that my so-called model and I are the highest on. I can not wait to see the Six this season. They have some fantastic goaltending. They have PHF goaltender of the year Elaine Chuli and fan favorite Carly Jackson. The goalies for the Six are easily the best in the league, and with the defense they have, this is going to be a team that makes goalies look statistically sound. They also have scoring, but I personally care about goaltending.

Where the Six really brings in the points is for star power. They have arguably the face of women’s hockey Saroya Tinker. Tinker is the new era of hockey players. She is not afraid to talk about issues in hockey and the world at large. Tinker is a huge player on the social side of hockey and also on the Blue line.

I hope you enjoyed this power ranking! There is always the comment section if you have any issues with it.