PWHL Boston Brass ‘Blown Away’ By Inaugural Season

PWHL Boston’s inaugural season ended on a disappointing note when the franchise came up short in its quest for the league’s first championship.

But even without a title to celebrate, general manager Danielle Marmer was proud of the group and how they battled down the stretch to make the playoffs.

“It’s hard to put into words what this year meant and what the season meant to us,” Marmer said on a video press conference on Tuesday. “I am blown away by our resiliency as a group and the success that we had down the stretch.”

Boston was 8-10 and out of a playoff position, sitting fifth in the standings heading into the international break at the end of March. The club won four of five games remaining in the regular season and catapulted to the No. 3 seed.

“I think we knew we drafted a talented team and we’re excited about the group that we have,” Marmer said. “It didn’t go as planned early on, and we hit some adversity along the way.”

Marmer continued: “The priority of ours was to build a culture of success and to have really good people in our locker room. I think that is the reason that we had the playoff run that we had. We came together as a group and played for one another, and to have the success we had down the stretch heading into the playoffs, in the playoffs, and to put the team in a position to compete for the Walter Cup at the very end is all you can ask for.”

PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel echoed Marmer’s comments about the players being resilient throughout the season.

“We went through a lot of ups and downs throughout the season,” Kessel said during the video press conference on Tuesday. “But, the way they stayed the course and stuck together and just a great push there at the end there to get into the playoffs and then make a run for the Cup, just to come up a little bit short … just so proud of this group.”

Outside of the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts, PWHL Boston and the other five franchises had the opportunity to play at the Bell Centre, Scotiabank Arena, Xcel Energy Center and Little Caesars Arena while breaking attendance records for women’s hockey.

“I can’t even hear myself think on the bench because the little girls in the crowd are singing Taylor Swift,” Kessel said. “I don’t think we could have ever imagined that. We dreamed it for sure, but to really do that in our first year I think was just a tremendous accomplishment to this league and to the growth of where our game is going. We’re just ecstatic for what’s to come and really looking forward to hopefully bringing home that trophy next year.”

Boston will have the chance to add to its roster at the 2024 PWHL Draft on June 10 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.