23-24 PWHL Preview: The Goalies Pt. 2

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Continued from Part One, where Boston, Minnesota, and Montreal’s goalies are previewed.

Do you remember that scene in Space Jam when the Looney Tunes face off against the aliens from Moron Mountain as giants? That’s essentially what it’s going to look like whenever an opposing player is around either of 5’ 11” Corinne Schroeder, 6’ Lindsey Post, and 6’ 1” Abby Levy. New York is taking the ideas of finding similar goalies so defensively the team won’t have to change much no matter who is in net and the idea that players haven’t consistently adjusted yet to bigger goalies. It’s also an intriguing collection of goalies where the New York front office focused on finding goalies who are at different stages of their careers and can each offer something different both now along with in the future. If you want an interesting group of goalies to follow, this is the one.

Corinne Schroeder (Signed Three-Years)

There’s no better time like the present to get on the Corinne Schroeder hype train. After a historic year with the Boston Pride of the PHF her stock is way up. Before the PHF was folded Schroeder had signed a high-value contract with the Montréal Force. Now she’s the only goalie on her team with a three-year guaranteed contract and is about to shoulder some high expectations. To add to all of this she’s clearly on Hockey Canada’s watch list as she participated in a pre-Rivalry Series camp and was the no. 3 goalie for the first two games of the Rivalry Series behind Kristen Campbell and Emerance Maschmeyer. This is a huge opportunity for Schroeder to push her way into a top three Canadian National Team spot and expect her to be fighting for the Rhéaume Trophy (PWHL Goalie of the Year, personal name preference).

What happens when you combine the positional proficiency of Nicole Hensley and put it into one of the largest frames in women’s hockey? You get Corinne Schroeder. She’s essentially the epitome of what you want out of one of these large goaltenders. You want consistency in how they play, you want them to stick to their strengths, and you’d love if they had a very good ability to read the play. Consider that three checkmarks for Schroeder. She knows exactly who she is and how to play to see ultimate success as her PHF season showed. For a large goalie she also has some quietly good reaction speed which she doesn’t need to use a lot of but is definitely capable of making a quick save. She’s very easy to play defensively in front of which is why we’ve seen her post crazy numbers with Quinnipiac University and the Boston Pride. They can trust her to always make the save especially in high-event hockey.

Where we saw Schroeder struggle last season was when teams managed to get to the net and create chaos. Or on the rush when they had time to either complete a lateral pass or get close enough to pick their spot. While being decently mobile on her feet, Schroeder lacks the inner edge control to give her a chance when chaos happens right in front of the crease. And while she does have some good reaction speed to her it’s not helpful if the opposing player is able to cut across the crease or just make a lateral pass. Schroeder might be able to keep up if she sees it coming and gets deep in her crease but as the Minnesota Whitecaps showed it’s a vulnerability. If New York wants to play firewagon hockey and invite a lot of shots on goal in exchange for lack of passing in the defensive zone, they’ll win that fight the majority of the time with Schroeder in net.

Abbey Levy (Signed One-Year)

Every goalie in the PWHL is going to have eyes on them for a variety of reasons. In the case of Abbey Levy she might have the most eyes of any goalie on her this season. She’s the youngest goalie in the PWHL (Cami Kronish is a few months older) and ever since the 2023 WHC Levy has been the no. 3 goalie for the USA National Team. The air around Levy is it feels like everyone is watching to see what the next steps she’ll be taking. For coaches and general managers, Levy poses an interesting skillset where if she reaches her potential she’ll be highly sought after. Levy is 23 and 6’ 1”, combine that with a good NCAA career where she finished only second (0.947 SV%) behind Gwyneth Philips (0.960 SV%) in SV% last season and of course everyone wants to see where Levy’s career path goes. Not to mention Levy is on a one-year deal so if she does impress she’ll find herself in a strong negotiating position for next season. Maybe we’ll see her as the no. 2 goalie behind Aerin Frankel in Utica at the 2024 WHC.

A lot of the bigger goalies we’ve talked about up to this point are all rather similar in how they play and use their size advantage. It’s a successful play style at that size so it makes sense. What makes Levy intriguing is she doesn’t play the same way a Schroeder, Kronish, McQuigge, etc. play. Where those goalies like to be very efficient in their movement and in general not move a whole lot, Levy doesn’t mind moving around the crease. She likes getting aggressive and betting on her reactions versus the puck carrier’s reactions. It’s the goalie style equivalent of challenging the puck carrier to pistols at noon. Obviously it’s been quite successful for Levy whose style really takes players by surprise as they’re not used to a goalie that big playing that aggressively. It makes puck carriers hesitate because shooting seems like such a low-chance option that you’re really only left with a pass that the opposing team is covering. You think you have room to slip one through but Levy tracks the shot well enough that she’s always able to get something in front of it.

What makes it even more difficult to score on Levy is she has a good level of mobility for her size. She’s not going to have the same issues as a lot of other goalies her size moving around the crease and getting off pushes to keep on lateral plays. She’s getting that large frame of hers around the crease frustrating shooters. The problem is though that Levy is awkward in her movement. It’s not overly smooth and it’s not overly precise. There’s going to need to be work done on her inner edges to turn them into an asset at this level and in keeping her structure together better. The shooters of the PWHL will be happy to see space opening up when Levy moves if she can’t tone down the upper body movement. She’s a raw goalie with fixable aspects to her game which is why she’s going to be garnering a lot of attention.

Lindsey Post (Signed One-Year)

The signing of Lindsey Post makes a lot of sense for New York. She’s the most pro experienced goalie on the roster with her four seasons in the SDHL and two seasons in the CWHL. Schroeder has a single PHF season while Levy just graduated from the NCAA. As mentioned above Post clearly fits the Monstars Space Jam motif New York is going for so that’s another reason they signed her. If you haven’t looked extensively at Post’s career she’s quietly assembled a nice looking résumé. Post has a USports Championship while also being named the USports Playoffs MVP.  As a rookie CWHL goalie had respectable numbers with a 0.538 QS% and 1.301 GSAA. Which was then followed up by being the no. 3 goalie on a Clarkson Cup-winning Calgary Inferno team. Her first year in the SDHL she was named Goalie of the Year, followed up with two decent seasons, and her last SDHL season (22/23) was dominant. Only goalie with a +10 GSAA, lead the league in QS% (0.750), and had the 2^nd highest SV% (0.938). Post isn’t just a veteran goalie meant to provide the team with experience, she’s bringing quality goaltending with her.

To add to all of the above, an underrated aspect of bringing Post in is it gives Abbey Levy someone to learn from who plays a similar style while having relatively the same frame. Post is a mobile goalie, especially for someone her size. She likes getting to the top of her crease and really challenging the shooter to beat not only her size but her reaction speed as well. Post spent four years playing behind a bottom-of-the-league team in SDE while in the SDHL, she’s used to being under siege and dealing with high-event hockey. If there’s chaos that’s just another game in the life of Lindsey Post which is something this New York team might be prone to letting happen. At the very least New York has two goalies who are very experienced in high event hockey, Corinne Schroeder and Lindsey Post.

Where you’ll see Post struggle is she’s not the best at keeping a tight structure. Her positioning is fine and if given time to get set she’s not offering anything easy to the shooter. When Post is moving though that’s when you see the holes start to open up more. Your best chance at scoring on Post is when she’s in transition or if you can get her to abandon her positioning by causing scrambles. It’s not easy moving those long of limbs very quickly and keeping them coordinated as well so as not to lose positioning. New York’s best chance at getting the best out of Post is forcing opponents to just put pucks on net. They’re not going to be overly concerned if a team is capable of moving the puck around in the defensive zone as long as they’re cutting down on the east-west plays in close.

Only people inside the organization will know the truth as it’s hard not to notice the difference between 5’ 6” Emerance Maschmeyer, who was signed previously to when Pierre Groulx was brought on board as a goalie coach, and the two goalies signed after Groulx was hired in 5’ 9” Rachel McQuigge and 5’ 11” Sandra Abstreiter. Now this goalie depth set up isn’t brand new as Ottawa head coach Carla McLeod was able to turn this sort of depth situation into a Bronze Medal at the 2023 WHC. 5’ 7” Klara Peslarova was injured at the start of the season (22/23) and next up in line was 5’ 10” Blanka Škodová with her three NCAA games as the no. 3 goalie at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. It’s a bit odd to have one goalie who plays so differently than the other two goalies on the team, especially when you add in the size difference. If they’re trying to recreate the Czech success of the 2023 WHC it’s not that odd though and if there’s a coach who can handle the defensive adjustments needed to play in front of different goalies it’s Carla McLeod.

Emerance Maschmeyer (Signed Three-Years)

Ottawa wanted to make a splash with its first three free agent signings of the season and they definitely made one in net grabbing the current no. 2 goalie on Team Canada’s roster. It’s not every day you can add a goalie with eight combined WHC and Olympic medals who also boasts a Top 10 Patty Kazmaier Award Finalist finish as well as a WHC Top Goalie award. Maschmeyer also brings with her a lot of pro experience from the CWHL where she finished career-wise 14^th in games played (51), 8^th in wins (38), 3^rd in shutouts (12), 9^th in QS% (0.673), and 3^rd in GSAA (26.619). Most recently in the PWHPA, she had to come in relief of fellow Team Canada goalie Kristen Campbell in the PWHPA semi-final to shut the door for the comeback which sent Team Scotiabank to the PWHPA Championship. Maschmeyer is still looking for that elusive championship though. She lost in the PWHPA Championship along with both Clarkson Cup Finals.

If you’re going to find consistent success playing goalie at 5’ 6” you need two things going for you, a high level of overall quickness and being smart in how you position yourself. Maschmeyer has that plus more which is why she’s one step below the most elite in the game. Maschmeyer shows a very good ability to read the play to employ her smart positioning and hold her edges so as not to make her size disadvantage worse. Despite the fact she’s so capable in using her outer and inner edges to get around the crease, she doesn’t overuse them. Her movement and therefore positioning is precise as she gets to where she needs to be and set for the shot, wasting no time or sacrificing any positioning. She’s easy to play in front of because she provides a high level of consistency in her play.

When you’re 5’ 6” and a goalie the natural issue is there’s going to be net available to score on. It’s going to be important for Ottawa to prevent their opponents from having the time to pick their spots. If Maschmeyer is given the opportunity to know where the shot is going and is set for it she’s going to stop the vast majority of those shots. Where she’s going to struggle is just in being a smaller goalie and teams finding ways to take advantage of that. The battle in the defensive zone between Ottawa and the other PWHL teams is going to be about time. With Maschmeyer in net Ottawa will want the play in the defensive zone to always be moving as there’s less of a chance a player can take the time to pick their spot. McLeod will want her players being puck hounds in the defensive zone which is easier said than done.

Sandra Abstreiter (Signed One-Year)

Fewer things make a goalie’s stock go up more than having a great game against either the USA or Canada at an international tournament. In the case of the 2023 WHC two goalies thrust themselves into the spotlight, Emma Söderberg and Sandra Abstreiter. While Söderberg and the Swedes took Canada into overtime, Abstreiter gave the USA quite the scare saving 49/52 shots in a 3-0 loss. If she had some goal support who knows how the rest of the 2023 WHC would have played out. Abstreiter isn’t just a one-game wonder as she comes with a respectable NCAA career where in the 21/22 season she posted the fourth highest SV% in the NCAA (0.945). She’s really in the same situation as Abbey Levy. Everyone wants to see who the real Abstreiter is. Is she the goalie that almost upsets the USA in the quarterfinals or is she just a decent goalie who’s better in no. 2 role.

If you’ve ever watched Jenny Harss play for Germany it’s unsurprising to see that Abstreiter plays a similar style considering she trained with Harss on the national team. Abstreiter is a very positionally focused goalie. She doesn’t like being aggressive and prefers to stay a bit deeper in her crease than the average goalie. Abstreiter knows she has a large frame and positions herself to take maximum advantage of it. Her goal is to present a solid wall of equipment and never waver which she accomplishes rather well. She knows her strengths and weaknesses which means Abstreiter knows how to play within her limits.

The downside to Abstreiter’s game is it limited. She plays deep and trusts her positioning/size so much because there’s just not a lot of quickness to her game. If you ever see Abstreiter being forced to use her inner edges to move a whole lot something has gone wrong in front of her. Teams will be focused on trying to pull Abstreiter out of position by getting her to move a lot either laterally and getting her to rotate via high to low or vice versa type passes. What teams will be also focused on taking advantage of is that Abstreiter is more of a reactive goalie than someone who reads the play. When she’s in the net Ottawa will be focused on slowing down teams in the defensive zone to give Abstreiter a chance to react to plays. Due to Abstreiter playing deep, she doesn’t need a lot of time to react but she needs more time than Maschemyer will.

Rachel McQuigge (Signed One-Year)

This season will be a well-deserved fresh start for the former Metro Riveter and Princeton University goalie. COVID stole a whole season away from her but she came back strong in the 2021/22 NCAA season posting a 0.934 SV% (11^th in the NCAA) despite her team only managing to have two players with +10 goals. McQuigge then turned her attention towards the PHF and signed with the Metro Riveters who were in the midst of putting a nearly brand-new team on the ice. She started off her PHF career with a bang against the Boston Pride making 45/47 saves in her PHF debut. After that, it went almost all downhill. McQuigge would suffer an injury four games (late November) into her PHF career and wouldn’t come back until February. Now after having a long off-season to recover and get back into game shape McQuigge is looking to have the pro season she was anticipated to have after a good NCAA career.

It’s interesting that when picking the two goalies to share the crease with Maschmeyer, Ottawa went with two goalies that are very similar in Abstreiter and McQuigge. Take off two inches of height and McQuigge could easily pass for Abstreiter on the ice. Where they differ is that McQuigge is very focused on protecting the bottom two-thirds of the net. She’s very tight in her structure and you rarely see any upper body movement when McQuigge is moving about the crease. It also helps that McQuigge rarely moves to the top of her crease. She plays her angles well and forces her opponents to get creative in how they beat her. If your shot isn’t aimed or labeled for the top third of the net it’s not finding a hole through McQuigge unless you’re very lucky. If McQuigge squared up to the shot there’s just nothing down for the puck to find room to go in.

Just like with Abstreiter, Ottawa is going to need to turn the defensive zone into a quagmire reminiscent of the First World War. McQuigge just doesn’t have the quickness necessary to handle a fast pace of play in the defensive zone. What Ottawa will most likely be attempting to do is funnel opposing shots to come from the mid-range part of the defensive zone as there’s less chance of a multi-layer screen and McQuigge’s size advantage comes into play more the closer teams get closer to her crease. Ottawa will generally want to limit the amount of chaos in front of the crease but with how deep McQuigge plays and her ability to seal the bottom of the ice she can handle some chaos. Opposing teams looking to find success will want to move the puck a lot either via passes or just skating it around the defensive zone. They’ll want to try to draw McQuigge out of position or catch her out of position while she’s moving.

This is a goalie trio that has a little something for everyone. You have NCAA standout and Team Canada regular Kristen Campbell as the no. 1 goalie. Then there’s the veteran Erica Howe with a trophy case of her own from the NCAA and the CWHL. Last but certainly not least is Carly Jackson who stole the hearts of PHF fans through her entertaining but also talented play for the Buffalo Beauts and the Toronto Six. There’s no secret as what Gina Kingsbury and company have been looking to fill their roster with, character. They want players who will play a team game and create a team culture where everyone works for the person next to them. They applied this same philosophy to their goalie trio who all have experience being on all rungs of the goalie depth chart. These are all talented goalies who were also chosen on their ceilings but if you look at their playing careers it’s clear they know how to handle being in any role.

Kristen Campbell (Signed Three-Years)

I don’t think there’s been a goalie waiting longer than Campbell to spread her wings and show just how good of a goalie she is post-NCAA career. She’s made it on Team Canada but is in the no. 3 role so her playing time has been severely limited only seeing Rivalry Series games, no international tournament play yet. In her three years as the no. 1 goalie with the University of Wisconsin Campbell was named WCHA Goalie of the Year twice along with an NCAA National Championship. Cherry on top of her NCAA career is being named a Top 10 Patty Kazmaier Finalist. Unfortunately for Campbell COVID hit and it wasn’t until last season (22/23) Campbell saw regular play in the PWHPA. Campbell made 11 starts with a -0.483 GSAA and 0.455 QS% in the PWHPA which aren’t great numbers though Team Scotiabank was a mess defensively.

If Toronto plays the way Troy Ryan wants them to play, which is to apply all the puck pressure possible, Kristen Campbell is going to get that chance to show what she’s capable of. Take Nicole Hensley, add a few inches of height, and you have yourself Kristen Campbell. She has a high level of positional proficiency where she’s not only in ideal position for the initial shot but is in position to react to any changes in the situation. She’s also quite mobile for her size which she makes looks even quicker with her efficient movement mechanics. What helps even more is that Campbell does well in picking her crease depth. She’s not afraid to get to the top of her crease if she knows she’s not going to be burned via pass or sharp cut across the crease.

What’s going to be tough for opposing teams is finding a way to score on Campbell. Her ability to read and react to situations allows her to still have a good chance on making saves when there’s pre-shot puck movement. It’s not as if Campbell has a high level of agility so opposing teams are left with some choices such as getting in close and creating chaos. There’s also the option of trying to catch Campbell in transition with plays off the rush though you can count on Toronto trying to limit, probably not going to see a lot of firewagon hockey games featuring Toronto. That’s what teams need to do though, either force a high pace of play off the rush or get into the zone and create some chaos so opportunities arise. Not easy to do though which is why Toronto went with Campbell.

Erica Howe (Signed One-Year)

The oldest goalie in the league and the only goalie over 30, Erica Howe is getting another chance at a pro career and it’s hard to argue she hasn’t earned it. In the NCAA Howe and Clarkson University became the first non-WCHA team to win the NCAA National Championship (13/14). Howe never was able to secure a full-time roster spot on Team Canada but stayed on their radar for years for good reason, she had a great CWHL career. Stole a Clarkson Cup in 2018 after making a miraculous comeback to even make the playoffs then knocked off the Montréal Canadiennes. If you look up Howe’s career CWHL regular season numbers she finished with 80 games played (4^th), 37 wins (9^th), 8 shutouts (6^th), 28.269 GSAA (2^nd), and 0.354 GSAA/30 (9^th). Since the folding of the CWHL it’s been hard for Howe to find game time especially since she’s not on the National Team roster. If there’s ever an example of perseverance, it’s Erica Howe waiting for the PWHL to be formed to get one more chance at a pro career.

What’s brought Howe success to this point and kept her in the game for so long is that she’s an intelligent goalie. She knows how to consistently read the play to a consistently successful level and knows how to approach each situation as well. It’s not surprising when you see how intelligent Campbell and Howe are as goalies that Toronto picked up both. Howe’s intelligence is enhanced with her mobility which makes applying her positional decisions even easier. She gets to the ideal position and gets set giving her time to react to the shot or pass. Overall Howe’s game is just plain, old good. There’s nothing she does that’s elite but her main strength is her intelligence and it amplifies every other part of her game.

The toughest part for teams playing against Howe is there’s not a lot of game tape out there of her recent play. She’s never been a high-end agile goalie so teams will be looking to take advantage of that aspect. Howe is also only 5’ 9” and while she generally does a good job staying on her outer edges to cover the top part of the net, there’s still room up top if you can work the puck into mid-range areas via passes that force Howe to slide. The biggest question for Toronto is has there been any degradation of her physical skills? If she can move like her CWHL days, then the defensive job Toronto needs to do doesn’t change much from Campbell to Howe. It’ll also give Toronto an underrated asset as goalie depth in Howe who was one of the best goalies in the CWHL among Olympians and is looking to repeat that here.

Carly Jackson (Unconfirmed Signing Length)

Sometimes we can forget that behind the awesome personality and how fun Carly Jackson is off the ice, she’s a talented goalie. The PHF fan favourite hasn’t gotten to where they are through a flashy résumé but rather just always being solid and fighting through adversity. With the University of Maine, she was very good and in her last season on the team, she finished 9^th in the NCAA in SV% ahead of future Metro Riveter Rachel McQuigge. In the PHF with the Buffalo Beauts, she posted slightly below-average numbers (0.500 QS%) on a team that only managed to win seven of 32 games that Jackson was there for. The only wins the Beauts saw in Jackson’s time there were with her in net. If there was any doubt about Jackson’s talent level to play in the PHF that vanished when she joined the Toronto Six. Jackson thrived there going 5-0-0, having a 0.800 QS%, and a 1.859 GSAA. Some might also say that the Six won the Isobel Cup because you can’t lose in Mullet Arena when your goalie has a mullet.

When Jackson first joined the PHF with the Buffalo Beauts the demands of their were to fully utilize her agility to keep up with the chaos happening in the defensive zone. This led to entertaining saves but also Jackson ending up out of position on goals. After joining the Toronto Six for the 22/23 PHF season Jackson showed she’s capable of more than being just a goalie who moves quickly around the crease. She showed she’s capable of being calm on her edges and using her positioning as an asset. There was no need to primarily rely on their inner edges to get her around the crease, her inner edge control turned into just a good back-up plan. What Jackson provides Toronto is a different look in net the same way Maddie Rooney provides a different look for Minnesota. If Toronto can’t manage to play the defensive game it wants, they have someone who can manage the chaos in Jackson.

If Toronto wants to see the Toronto Six version of Carly Jackson and not require the Buffalo Beauts version to show up, they’ll need to keep the game calm in front of Jackson. The benefit of Jackson’s overall quickness is if chaos does occur she can handle it to a bigger degree than Campbell or Howe. If it’s just flat-out chaotic we’ll see Buffalo Jackson which means entertaining saves followed by frustrating goals where she’s not in position. With Campbell and Howe, Toronto can afford to give the opposing team some time in exchange for cutting off passes. With Jackson the focus will need to be on heavy puck pressure and forcing the opposing team to continually move the puck at a pace she can handle which is moderately high. Toronto does not want teams getting time to pick their spots on Jackson or getting time to complete passes that will entice Jackson to want to use that agility the way they did in Buffalo.

Final Comments

It’s an absolute treat that we’re going to get to watch all these goalies put their skills on display. It’s also very unfortunate that so many other goalies were unable to find a spot in the league. Hopefully, this is the last time we need to see a lot of talented goalies forced into retirement early or their careers put on hold early. The obvious storyline to keep an eye on is who is going to win the Rhéaume Trophy (PWHL Goalie of the Year). The one that’s always fun is which goalie is going to blow away everyone’s expectations. The less fun one but equally as interesting is which goalie is going to go from struggling on one team, getting moved to another, and thriving.

Once the season starts these goalie trios are going to be thrown into chaos via injuries and poor fits. Some teams may end up with a trio that sees two new goalies on it by the end of the season. The season is starting, time to get excited and nervous all at the same time.