This week on The IX Sports Podcast Hockey Edition, host Maya Smith is joined by Toronto Sceptres beat reporter Sarah Maat to discuss the team’s prospects this season.
But before taking the dive, Smith and Maat discuss the news that Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) training camp will start Nov. 18, just two days after the 2026 Women’s World Championship wraps up in Denmark. The PWHL also released news this week that teams will play exhibition games the week of Nov. 22.
There is still no word on an official start date to the regular season — which, as Smith pointed out, is starting much later than peer hockey leagues. But, without an Olympic break, Smith reasoned, it could work out.
Sceptres situation
Then, Smith and Maat turned to the main item of discussion: the Toronto Sceptres.
Pascal Rhéaume, who has never coached women’s hockey, was named the new head coach of the Sceptres back in June.
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“I think that it will definitely be an adjustment for him, and I think that will be interesting to see how it goes, how that adjustment works,” Maat said, adding that she wants to give him the benefit of the doubt since she has not spoken with him yet.
“Knowing that all the teams in the league are undergoing so much change with expansion, I wonder if maybe this new perspective that’s a little bit, like, different than maybe some of the other coaches that we’ve seen in this league who have worked with women a lot, or who have been around this league for the first couple of years, maybe that can be a good thing,” Maat explained.
Last year, the Sceptres had a lot of trouble creating offense, and this summer, they learned they would be losing what little offense they did have: Blayre Turnbull, Sceptres captain, will miss much of the season for pregnancy, and Daryl Watts signed with PWHL Detroit during expansion.
“But even as we look at it more closely, I’d say there are players on this roster right now who can score, and they’ve proven that in, like, past seasons. It’s just for some reason their time … with the Sceptres last year, it didn’t work,” Maat said.
Tune in to the episode to hear more from Maat and Smith as they break down the Sceptres’ roster. Plus, an analysis of which players are heading to training camp.
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.
