PWHL Boston Has Unique Similarity To Bruins Goaltending Tandem
Nationalities are not the only thing they seem to have in common
The Bruins have one of the best goalie tandems in the National Hockey League with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman manning the pipes for Boston.
The PWHL Boston franchise has a striking similarity in their inaugural season with Aerin Frankel and Emma Söderberg in net.
Both Ullmark and Söderberg hail from Sweden while Swayman and Frankel are both American-born. The similarities don’t necessarily stop there.
“Firstly, don’t sleep on Cami Kronish,” Boston general manager Marmer told reporters on a league Zoom call. “We’ve got three incredible goaltenders. Cami was very impressive in Utica. We’re excited about all three of them.”
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The PWHL’s six franchises — Boston, Minnesota, New York, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa — competed in a series of scrimmages earlier this month in Utica, N.Y. to help the teams get into game shape and see how their rosters would shake out before the season begins on Jan. 1.
Marmer said with only six teams in the league, goaltending across the board is going to be outstanding.
“We don’t have a ton of nets to fill in the league,” Marmer said. “Goaltending is going to be great in every market. There’s not that much margins between them. There’s not that much that differentiates them.”
When listening to Marmer describe the way Frankel defends the net, you could almost see the similarities to the way Swayman plays.
“We know with Aerin, she’s a competitor. She’s been incredibly impressive. She knows where she is in the crease, she knows what she has to do to make a save. She has just incredible awareness and she plays aggressive, and it’s fun to watch.”
Much like Swayman and Ullmark, Marmer said Frankel and Söderberg lean on each other when they are struggling with something on the ice and help each other out, along with Kronish.
“Cami has an athleticism and instincts that have really impressed me,” Marmer said. “All three of them together, they’re going to learn from each other. They’re going to grow and you know we trust any one of them on any given night.”
Those words seem eerily similar to Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery when he talks about his goaltending tandem.
Boston will skate in its first game on Jan. 3 when they host the Minnesota franchise at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
