The Boston Fleet is facing the Minnesota Frost on Sunday, coming into the game in the somewhat surprising position of leading the league in points prior to the weekend action leading up to the Rivalry Series break. It’s early in the season, but one does need to start to ask if this team is the real deal.
Boston Fleet Offseason Challenge
Heading into the third season of the PWHL, the Boston Fleet had one of the league’s most challenging tasks. Though they finished out of the playoffs last season, they were not the worst team in the league, and were competing for a playoff position up to the final game of the 2024-25 PWHL season.
In the offseason, the Fleet were tasked with creating an entirely new identity, losing both their Head Coach in Courtney Kessel, who returned to Princeton, as well as their Captain in Team USA star Hilary Knight. Kris Sparre entered the picture as the new bench boss, and GM Danielle Marmer began to build a new squad around the protected core of new captain Megan Keller, goaltender Aerin Frankel, and forward Alina Mueller. They also re-signed Center Susanna Tapani, a key part of the Fleet offense. Defender Haley Winn from Clarkson University could have easily been the first overall pick, but she fell to the Fleet in the 2nd position.
Frankel & Fleet Defense Stand Tall
In net, Frankel has taken this team on her shoulders, earning two shutouts and has only one goal against. She’s played all three games for the Fleet thus far; it remains to be seen when backup Abbey Levy, who played for the NY Sirens last season, will get her first game. Given the schedule, it seems likely it won’t be until after the Rivalry Series break. She leads the league with a .986 SV% and a .33 GAA prior to the weekend matchups.
In addition to excellent goaltending, the Fleet have shown strong performances defensively. The season is young, but so far, they have allowed the second-lowest shots against per game at 23.67. Keller has already earned a goal this season as well, scoring the insurance goal in the season opener vs the Montreal Victoire on the power play late in the game.
Newhook An Early Standout
Perhaps the biggest surprise for the Fleet, as well as potentially in the league overall, is the emergence of Abby Newhook as an early leader. The Boston College forward was drafted in the 5th round of the 2025 PWHL Draft already has two goals on the season, including the game winner on December 3rd vs the Vancouver Goldeneyes and a key game-tying goal vs the Toronto Sceptres in the second period of that contest.
The Fleet will need to display a strong showing against the Walter Cup defending champion Minnesota Frost, who are coming off two big wins vs the Ottawa Frost and a shutout of expansion Seattle Torrent. That defense will be put to the test against the Frost’s quick & potent offense. If they can pull off the win, those early questions of a turnaround for Boston could turn heads and answer skeptics’ questions. Look for them to employ that physical, gritty style they’ve displayed thus far. They’ll also have to improve their power play to find success in Minnesota. While the Fleet have been perfect on the penalty kill thus far on three times shorthanded, their power play has gone a mere one for eleven and allowed a jailbreak shorthanded goal already in the season. The Frost, on the other hand, have only allowed one goal on eight power plays against.
Sunday’s Boston Fleet matchup between the Minnesota Frost is at 3:00 PM Eastern, and will air on NESN in New England, on Fanduel Sports Network in Minnesota, and of course stream on the PWHL YouTube channel.
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