It has been a whirlwind few months for the Boston Fleet.
After failing to make the Professional Women’s Hockey League playoffs last season, the team was in need of a reset.
It got that and more: both former team captain Hilary Knight and head coach Courtney Kessel are no longer with the team as the new PWHL season looms. And first-time pro head coach Kris Sparre will be looking to lead the Fleet into a new era with an old school mentality.
“You know, we want to embody the city that we’re in, Boston, which is a tough, gritty, style of play, really through all professional sports,” Sparre said after the team’s first practice on Monday. “And not only that, I think the players feel like they want to be a very difficult team to play against as well. So when we’re aligned like that, it’s a good thing.”
Two key pieces gone
This season the PWHL will have two new teams: the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
As part of the expansion process, the six existing PWHL teams were able to designate three players on their rosters as exempt from possibly being signed by the two newbies.
In a bit of a shock, Boston chose not to protect Knight, who is on the short list of the greatest women’s players ever and was a finalist for league MVP last season. She signed with Seattle in June.
Later that month, head coach Courtney Kessel left Boston to coach at Princeton. And just like that, two of the biggest pieces of the Fleet’s identity were gone.
New coach, big shoes to fill
Kris Sparre may have never been a head coach at the pro level or in the women’s game, but he has plenty of experience.
Sparre, who played nine seasons professionally mostly in Europe, was most recently on the coaching staff of the San Diego Gulls, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.
Still, running his first full team practice on Monday was a new challenge for him. And his vocal chords.
“Well, I feel like I have no voice already ‘cause I was out there after like the fourth drill and I’m pretty animated on the ice and pretty excited,” he said.
He has a big task ahead of him of as the team preps for their first preseason game on Saturday. And some of his biggest priorities right now are emphasizing a fast pace and improving the connectivity of the team on the ice. But maybe even more important is figuring out who will be on the final roster.
“You know, there’s 32 players at camp, 26 get a job, and so we have to figure out who fits where and how to put this thing together,” he said.
Even though it was just one practice, Sparre’s methods appeared to get a positive reception from goalie Aerin Frankel on Monday.
“Even just the first day of practice today, there was a lot of intensity and he’s very upbeat and motivating. And I think he knows how to get a team to play hard for him,” she said.
Moving forward
The Fleet enter the season without the only head coach the team has ever known and the former face of the franchise, which creates new opportunities for players to make a big impact.
Although the team has yet to name a captain, one player who is expected to step up is defender Megan Keller.
She’s previously served as an alternate captain for the Fleet and has played in the Olympics twice, and she says the goals remain high.
“I mean, I think from day one, everybody that sets foot in our locker room, the ultimate goal is to win a Walter Cup,” Keller said. “And that starts today. And you know you can’t look too far ahead. Each game is gonna matter. And we’re gonna have to put our building blocks together. But at the end of the day, I think anybody playing in this league, that’s the ultimate goal is to bring that back to Boston.”
