Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images It’s been a rather predictable start to tournament season but still plenty of time to shake things up. This was probably one of the least climactic opening weekends to the conference tournament as only one lower-seeded team advanced, Merrimack in first-round HEA play who was then promptly booted from the competition. This week brings the semifinals and the title games which could be more chalk or some craziness. 1. Ohio State (30-4-2), 90 (9) — Last poll: 1 Last week: W 4-1 v Bemidji State (2/24), W 2-1 v Bemidji State (2/25) Coming ..read more

Kayla Shiao/ @shiaopics Time to start up with the permutations as the regular season is over and the conference tournaments are here for a brief stay before we reach the NCAAs. The regular season has ended. We are now only two weeks from having our tournament field and two more weeks after that from crowning a champion. 1. Ohio State (28-4-2), 89 (8) — Last poll: 1 Last week: L 5-6 OT @ Wisconsin (2/18), W 3-1 @ Wisconsin (2/19) Coming Week: v Bemidji State (2/24, 2/25, 2/26) The Buckeyes came in with a magic number of four and got a little help from St. Thomas but were able to get exactly t ..read more

@mdphotoandink/PHF “I really like it here and I really love the Riveters. Absolutely (I would want to come back).” - Ebba Berglund Despite being a rookie in the PHF this season with the Metropolitan Riveters, 24-year-old defender Ebba Berglund has been playing professional hockey for nine seasons now. After eight seasons in her home nation of Sweden, she was looking for a new challenge and found it in North America/with the Rivs. “I’ve lived away from my hometown for a lot of years, 8-9 hours away in Sweden. So those things don’t affect me too much,” Berglund told The Ice Garden following a Fe ..read more

Photo by Chris Tanouye/Getty Images “I got a message that they wanted my stick to take to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I couldn’t say no. - Fanni Garát-Gasparics The Metropolitan Riveters season hasn’t gone as planned, no doubt, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been bright spots and great stories within the team. One of the team’s final off-season signings was that of Hungarian National Team star Fanni Garát-Gasparics and she turned out to be one of the Rivs’ top (and most consistent) players with ten points (4g-6a) in 18 games. Her strong start to the season earned a trip to the PHF All-Star G ..read more

Photo by Justin Berl/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images We finally have no turnover week to week, and even had minimal movement in our poll. This clearly means a tumultuous weekend is imminent. We are approaching the end of the regular season and the big picture is coming into focus. That assumes that these next few weeks won't bring us some crazy upsets en route to the final PWR rankings. 1. Yale (23-1-1), 85 (5) — Last poll: T-1 Last week: W 10-1 @ Union (2/3), W 4-2 @ Rensselaer (2/4) Coming Week: @ Colgate (2/10), @ Cornell (2/11) A pair of easy wins sets the table for Yale to win ..read more

Kayla Franz/Minnesota Whitecaps We’ve shown a lot of grit and competitiveness lately here and we’re ready to keep going. - Natalie Snodgrass With ten games left in the regular season, these new-look Minnesota Whitecaps have positioned themselves quite well in the PHF standings at the All-Star break with the playoffs on the horizon and quickly approaching. Following a less-than-stellar start to the season (0-2-2) the Whitecaps won eight of their last ten games and are now holding down third place and enter the stretch run with a four-game win streak. “I think part of the reason we struggled ear ..read more

We never expected this On Jan. 20, 2023, I learned via email that The Ice Garden would no longer be managed and monetized by Vox Media and SB Nation. After February, our paid contributors — who make an inadequate modest monthly stipend — will no longer be paid by Vox. I have been at TIG since its inception back in October 2016 and have been running the site for four months. I wasn’t ready for that news. None of us were. We also weren’t ready for what happened next. After taking some time for self-care, on Jan. 23 at 9:08 p.m. I tweeted out a link to a GoFundMe with a stated goal of $1,500. A ..read more

Photo by Justin Berl/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images The bottom of our poll is in shambles but at the top teams are really starting to heat up. Our clear top eight have firmly settled their place atop everyone else. The teams filling out the rest of the poll do not seem to want to stay consistent as we have swapped out the bottom two this week instead of just tenth place. T-1. Yale (21-1-1), 74 (3) — Last poll: 2 Last week: W 6-1 v St. Lawrence (1/27), W 3-0 v Clarkson (1/28) Coming Week: @ Union (2/3), @ Rensselaer (2/4) The Bulldogs are a few points clear atop the ECAC table and h ..read more

Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images The first player to sign a contract in this league, Janine Weber has seen some stuff over the past eight years. Not only is Janine Weber one of the remaining handful of active players in the PHF who played in Season 1 of the NWHL, but she was the first player that signed in the league back in the summer of 2015 when she joined the New York Riveters. Now, in the winter of 2023, the Austrian superstar is in her seventh season in the league (fourth with the Connecticut Whale) that is still around and kicking eight years later. Not only is ..read more

@mdphotoandink/PHF “So I was born in 97 and my brother wore no. 98 growing up. Haha, I like having that big number on my back.” Now in her second pro season, Catherine Crawley already has 36 games of experience under her belt and while this season hasn’t been like last season for her and her team, the 26-year-old still loves growing and playing the game she loves so much. This season with the Metropolitan Riveters, she’s able to also do something else she loves - being a night nurse. While some players are starting to make a living wage playing hockey not all are, and Crawley, like many others ..read more