The Boston Pride sit atop the Premier Hockey Federation standings, and now you can watch them dominate the league on NESN.
And if you don’t know who they are, you’re about to find out.
The Pride sit at 11-2 heading into their game Sunday afternoon against the Montreal Force — the PHF’s newest expansion team. Boston has won its last five games and has scored 16 goals during that stretch.
What’s more impressive, the Pride placed nine players on the All-Star roster — more than any other team in the league.
There is a lot of history with the Pride. They were one of four founding teams when the league was introduced for the 2015-16 season and featured players like Hilary Knight, Brianna Decker and Jillian Dempsey. They dominated the league en route to its first Isobel Cup championship.
There have been more eyes on the PHF of late, and more eyes inevitably will be on them as the Pride gets set for their game against the Force on Sunday when the game airs on NESN.
“It’s really exciting to be on NESN and to have the opportunity to play those games on live TV,” two-time Defender of the Year Kaleigh Fratkin told NESN.com. “Being in the city of Boston and just knowing how big NESN is for the local folks in New England to be able to turn on the TV and watch a game is something we’ve always wanted for this group.”
The Pride went on to win two more championships including back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. Dempsey, who’s been with the team since Year 1, has seen the league grow in numerous ways from expanding the league to games being broadcast on Twitch and ESPN+. Last year’s Isobel Cup Final was broadcast on ESPN2, which was the network’s first linear broadcast of a professional women’s hockey game. In 2021. NBCSN broadcast the championship game.
But for the next five games, all you have to do is flip on NESN to watch the Pride.
“I think it’s incredible that we’ll get to be on NESN,” Dempsey, who’s been with the PHF since Year 1, told NESN.com. “I was watching, probably several months back, the Bruins game and there was a little clip about our games on the weekend and a recap and it was just really cool to see. And whenever we got on a platform like NESN, I hear from so many people I know reach out and say, ‘Hey I saw you guys on TV.’ and I just think that visibility it gets us out there and it helps us feel more part of that Boston sports culture and get to be on an actual television channel is definitely more accessible too, so it’s an incredible opportunity for us.”
The PHF has grown in terms of teams (the Toronto Six was added to the league in 2020) and ratings. Now that people will be able to just turn on their televisions and flip to NESN only will make it easier to get eyes on competitive hockey.
“To be able to have a handful of games on NESN is a testament to the growth,” Fratkin said, “and how much this has really taken off in the last couple of years. … It’s just great visibility for us and a great opportunity to be able to push our game and push our team brand, so it’s exciting.”
Having women’s hockey on TV wasn’t always the case for the Pride players, though.
Sammy Davis, who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Pride in 2020 after a solid collegiate career at Boston University that included scoring the game-winning goal in the 2019 Women’s Beanpot, sees this as an opportunity to not only get more eyes on the games, but act as inspiration for young girls at home who either play or want to play hockey.
“The future generations are so lucky to have this growth happen,” Davis told NESN.com. “I really don’t have a lot of words because I’m just so grateful to be part of it, to be part of this league and to be able to see little kids come to the rink and be able to be with mentors, be with role models because I never had that. Every single home game we do signings and I just am in awe because I never had that when I was younger, I never really had women to look up to. So now that that’s a possibility it’s really amazing.”
“… We want to inspire the younger generations, we’re doing this now for them and reap the benefits. I know how hard the older girls on our team have worked, they’ve built the momentum, they’re the pioneers.”
Puck drop for Pride-Force is set for 1 p.m. ET on NESN.
