Boston Fleet will begin third PWHL season Sunday in Lowell

The Professional Women s Hockey League is poised to look a lot different in - So is the Boston Fleet A league-wide expansion process triggered the original six franchises to evaluate their futures and ultimately upend their rosters to account for the two new teams the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes to establish a foundation ahead of the third season of the popular league Boston s roster certainly took a sizeable hit as the Lowell-based club relinquished franchise fixtures Hilary Knight Hannah Bilka and Sydney Bard among others in the expansion proceedings that re-shaped the league s landscape Meanwhile the Fleet attempted to retool its roster through the draft while adding a new head coach and preponderance just now selecting a new leadership group ahead of Boston s season opener on Sunday at the Tsongas Center in Lowell against the Montreal Victoire p m The Fleet skated to a - - - record last season and missed the playoffs in a season where Boston struggled to find consistent scoring up and down its depth chart In year one Boston fell in the all-important fifth battle of the Walter Cup Finals at the Tsongas an event that placed the national hockey spotlight on the Mill City The Fleet will only play eight contests of its -game campaign at the Tsongas Center The club played games in Lowell last season but has been experimenting with hosting games at Boston University s Agganis Arena The Fleet is slated to play four games in Boston this season and won t return to the Tsongas Center until Jan after Sunday s opener New leadership A new face will be perched atop the Fleet bench at the Tsongas this season In July the organization reported that Kris Sparre would become the second head coach in group history after Courtney Kessel left to coach Princeton s women s hockey association Boston Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel blocks a shot on net during the second period of a PWHL contest at the Agganis Arena last March She s one of the top goaltenders in the PWHL James Thomas photo Sparre largest part in recent weeks coached in the American Hockey League with the San Diego Gulls as an assistant for three seasons He also brings experience from the Ontario Hockey League With a fresh roster at his disposal Sparre communicated The Sun during training camp earlier this month that the Fleet will look to boast a new identity that is hard to play against It s a reset for sure Sparre announced I think that s our approach in the coaching staff in the office We re going to play a different style Leading that charge is new captain Megan Keller who fills in the void left by Knight Perhaps the the majority decorated competitor in the encounter captained the Fleet for the first two seasons before leaving for Seattle in the expansion process Keller has been a dynamic two-way defensive stalwart and has anchored Boston s backend the last two seasons Last year she recorded - - and was one of the Fleet s the majority reliable players on the ice Keller donned the A for the last two years and has never missed a encounter for Boston through regular-season games and eight playoff games Keller was a three-time first squad All-American at Boston College She hopes to emulate the impact Knight left on Fleet teammates during her two-year tenure Obviously what she brings on the ice not multiple can do Keller declared of Knight She s one of the best hockey players in the world But I think learning from her majority off the ice is her ability even being who she is as one of the best players in the world she brought everybody in the room together And that s somebody you look to and everybody needed to follow Alina M ller was tabbed an alternate captain while veteran Jamie Lee Rattray remains as an alternate for the third straight season Boston forward Jamie Lee Rattray backhands the puck at Montreal goaltender Elaine Chuli in Lowell during PWHL action on Feb James Thomas for the Lowell Sun Fresh faces The Fleet released its official roster on Thursday The -player advancing roster features forwards seven defenders and three goaltenders Of the total players including three on reserve are new to this year s association Boston will rely on cornerstones Keller M ller Susanna Tapani and star goaltender Aerin Frankel while looking to assimilate a plethora of its draft picks M ller - - Tapani - - and Keller - - were the top four scorers on the unit last season behind Knight The Fleet selected six players in the June draft and signed all of them to contracts Second overall pick Haley Winn from Clarkson headlines the group and impressed Boston s top brass throughout camp Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer commented Winn who has extensive experience representing Association USA on the international stage already looks like a pro and is a calm and composed skater on the back end You don t see her mind racing the same way that you might see particular of the new players who are just trying to get a feel for things Marmer declared It feels like she s been here before Winn posted - - for Clarkson last season en direction to a laundry list of awards including ECAC Player of the Year and Defender of the Year Winn stated she hopes to assert herself on the rush while maintaining a presence on defense I hope to produce and be able to be that offensive defenseman but also obviously my primary job is to play defense So being that lockdown role that they need me to Winn noted Winn skated with Keller as Boston s top defensive pairing in the unit s new preseason competition against Montreal Boston s remaining draft crop includes Ella Huber Oliva Mobley Riley Brengman Abby Newhook and Amanda Thiele Loose pucks Marmer spoke highly of Tapani during Thursday s media availability tabbing the power forward as a top competitor in the league Goaltender Abbey Levy who played for the New York Sirens the last two seasons is -foot- and will give Boston a different look between the pipes compared to the -foot- Frankel They attended high school together at Shattuck St Mary s Prep The city of Lowell named Boston s home opener on Sunday Fleet Hockey Day