In September, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) announced new names and logos for their inaugural six franchises. The franchise known as PWHL New York was rebranded as the New York Sirens and given a new home arena– the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
As things stand, the Sirens have begun training camp at Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, New Jersey. The Sirens will play two preseason scrimmages in Toronto on Nov. 21 and 22 and in less than two weeks, will begin their second season in the PWHL against the defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m.
We’re so back (on ice) pic.twitter.com/QQN91AM9NR
— New York Sirens (@PWHL_NewYork) November 14, 2024
Sirens general manager Pascal Daoust had a busy offseason, hiring a new coaching staff which will be led by former Colgate University women’s hockey Head Coach Greg Fargo.
Joining Fargo on the Sirens coaching staff as assistants will be Josh Sciba and Lauren Williams. Before coming to the Sirens, Sciba held the head coaching position at Union College’s women’s ice hockey program for eight years. Prior to coming to New York, Williams was the first full-time women’s hockey assistant coach at Mount Royal University in 2023-24. In addition, Williams was a mental performance consultant with Hockey Canada’s National Women’s Program and during college, played with current Sirens forward Abby Roque at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Daoust also drafted eight players, including number one overall pick Sarah Fillier, who spent the last six years starring at Princeton University.
Recently, at Sirens Media Day, Daoust spoke about his new coaching staff and why they might be a good fit for this Sirens team.
“We started last year with a group of people, players and staff that we’re massively involved on a sprint, on a rush putting in place the best we could have at that time. Now, coach Fargo, Josh Sciba, and Lauren Williams will be joining us and we still have Mike Sommer and Gordon Woodhall that are back, so we have a great group of people because people to me is important. Having good people around good players and then the expertise is there, the experience is there…we feel that we have a good core of players coming back, players fighting for the spots available and a staff who are ready to go so, I’m just excited to start this second year.” – Sirens General Manager, Pascal Daoust
Sirens Unveil New Uniforms
On Nov. 7, the Sirens and the PWHL unveiled their official uniforms. The Sirens’ home jerseys will have a main color of teal with secondary colors of orange and navy while their away jerseys will use white primarily with secondary colors of orange and navy.
I don't think you understand…we're obsessed pic.twitter.com/9NT8fSE18b
— New York Sirens (@PWHL_NewYork) November 8, 2024
Veteran Sirens forward, Kayla Vespa discussed what she thought of the new jerseys for all PWHL clubs and why she’s excited for the Sirens’ fan base.
“It was very exciting to see all the jerseys in the PWHL, they all look phenomenal and it’s super important that fans can now identify with it and have a chance with it and even wearing the jersey itself. Our jersey specifically, obviously I love it, but just the orange is very bold which brings out our team. We’re super bold and strong and also representing the goal siren, it really represents our team identity so I’m super excited for the fans to rock those jerseys.” – Sirens forward, Kayla Vespa
How Physical is the PWHL Game?
Whether or not there should be body contact in the PWHL has been a controversial topic since the PWHL’s inaugural season. According to a quote from Madison Packer in Sportsnaut, “‘the rule book clearly states you can make body contact when you make a play on the puck along the wall.’” Packer goes on to describe that the issues she sees in the PWHL game are “open ice hits”, “how the referees are enforcing the rulebook” and “dirty hits” like sticking out one’s knee when delivering a hip check. Clearly, there is room for improvement in how body contact is handled by the PWHL’s referees but the bottom-line is that body contact will be allowed in year two of the PWHL.
Sirens forward Abby Roque is now entering her fourth season in professional women’s ice hockey, and at media day she described why she is in favor of body contact.
“I think every female hockey player wanted the game to be more physical and we’ve been fighting for it. Thankfully, we had people who were willing to listen to us and give us what we wanted which was more physical play. I think the IIHF [International Ice Hockey Federation] is going to have to switch with that. The IIHF has always been the no physicality league which leads to a lot of inconsistent calls in games and it can ruin a game. The physicality makes it better for the fans too. Even the girls I talk to who are playing college, they wish that they would add more physicality. I know a couple of leagues have told their refs they wanted to go a little more, like let them play it a little harder because the jump is tough and we’ve heard it from girls, when you’re going from no physicality then you come in here and people are rocking you it’s a tough adjustment so I think everybody’s kind of got to adjust to us now.” – Sirens forward, Abby Roque
One of a few Sirens who will be making that jump from college to the pros this year is Allyson Simpson. Simpson was drafted 16th overall in the third round of the 2024 PWHL draft and she discussed receiving advice on what it’s like to play in the PWHL.
I’ve known some players who played in the league last year and getting advice from them on the physicality is the one main keystone that everybody keeps talking about and so, just making sure that I incorporate that into my game and for me that’s already a big part of my game so I’m excited to be able to bring that into the PWHL more but just taking it one day at a time and soaking it all in and learning every time I get on the ice. – Sirens defenseman, Allyson Simpson
Growing the Sport in New Jersey
For all of the players currently on PWHL rosters, being able to play professional hockey as a woman is a dream come true—and one that has been fought for all along the way. In 2023, the Premier Hockey Federation folded, and it wasn’t certain where professional women’s ice hockey was headed. Then in stepped the Mark Walter Group (led by Mark Walter, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers) and Billie Jean King (former professional tennis player) and the rest is history. The PWHL set attendance records five times last season, culminating with a game attended by 21,105 fans in Montreal, Quebec.
For Sarah Fillier, the six years she spent as a student-athlete at Princeton were a challenge and key to building her into the player she is today. She took a gap year in 2021-22 to represent Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics and came back with a gold medal.
Fillier described what it feels like to have made her dream of becoming a professional hockey player a reality.
It’s exciting that [young girls] can even dream about that now. When I was growing up, I always told people that I want to play in the NHL and people kind of laughed at me so now that girls growing up in the sport can say they want to play in the PWHL and for it to be a reality and for people to take that seriously is amazing.” – Sirens forward, Sarah Fillier
She finished her career near the top of Princeton’s all-time rankings in goals (sixth all-time), assists (second all-time) and points (fourth all-time). Now that her college career is behind her, Fillier is looking forward to being a pro and playing in front of hockey fans in New Jersey just like she did at Princeton.
“I mean, finally being a pro and not having that academic schedule to balance and maintain especially at Princeton—it’s a challenge—so I’m excited just to be a pro for once. I run a lot of youth camps in Georgetown, Ontario back home in the summer so hopefully getting involved in the community. I played in front of the New Jersey community for a long time at Princeton so hopefully staying engaged with them.” – Sirens forward, Sarah Fillier
Abigail Levy, one of the three goaltenders on the Sirens’ roster, used to play for the New Jersey Colonials travel hockey program in Morristown but originally hails from Congers, New York. She described what playing for a team that represents New York and what growing the women’s game means to her.
As a New Yorker, we wear that on our shirt, that’s our big pride. For me, being a New York team that’s something I really take into a big part of my personality and something I want the younger generation to see because when I was younger I never had that. I never had a New York girls team to look up to. So it’s really special for me to give that back to the youth and get excited about playing hockey. – Sirens goalie, Abigail Levy
Meet the Leadership
New Sirens head coach Greg Fargo may be new to the PWHL, but he is a familiar face to Elle Hartje, Ally Simpson, Jessie Eldridge and Olivia Zafuto. That’s because Hartje played against Fargo’s Colgate squads while she was at Yale, while Eldridge (class of 2019), Zafuto (class of 2019) and Simpson (class of 2024) all played for Fargo at Colgate.
Veteran Sirens forward, Madison Packer has seen many different coaches throughout the nine years she’s been a professional hockey player, and she described what her first impressions have been of Coach Fargo.
He’s awesome, he’s direct, he’s a hockey guy. I think he’s what this group needs from a leadership standpoint. He’s been really dialed in from day one, gotten the group together on some video meetings going through systems and things, this group is really going to thrive under his structure and just his emphasis on offense and creativity. We’ve had a lot of really good meetings, we have a lot of talent in that room so it’s just a fresh slate, fresh start and I think he’s the right guy for the job so I’m excited to get to work with him. – Sirens forward, Madison Packer
For Elle Hartje, who was selected 25th overall in the fifth round of the draft by New York, playing for Coach Fargo this season will be a unique opportunity.
“He’s great. He was an ECAC coach so I had a lot of contact playing against him throughout the years. He was at Colgate and I was at Yale. Got to play against him and I’m really excited to play for him now. We’ve been having a few concept videos, film sessions, even before we got to camp just so we could hit the ground running and he obviously is really great at what he does—Colgate thrived under him, so I’m excited to play for him and not against him.” – Sirens forward, Elle Hartje
Fargo certainly has made a positive impression with many Sirens players and he described why he wanted to become the first head coach in Sirens’ history.
“When the position opened up and I had the opportunity to talk to Pascal [Daoust] and learn about his vision here with the Sirens, it became apparent to me that we were really aligned with how we see things and the first filter to me is I want to be around good people that are passionate about what they do and I felt like Pascal and I were really aligned right from our first conversation. The other exciting part about being a part of not just this team but the PWHL is the growth path that it’s on and being a fan last year, watching what was done, was an incredible starting point and I’m thrilled to jump on board that rocket ship and be along for the ride because I think we’re just scratching the surface in terms of what women’s professional hockey can be and I’d like to have an impact on that.” – Sirens Head Coach, Greg Fargo
The Sirens have to build that rocket ship over the next two weeks so that it’s ready for the first game of the season. After last season where they finished at the bottom of the standings, the only direction the Sirens can go is up and last year’s team co-captain Micah Zandee-Hart described the team’s aspirations as of the start of training camp.
“As a team you go into every season you want to be lifting the trophy at the end of the year. So that’s our end goal. We also know it’s a process; it’s a long season there’s a lot that goes into building the team up to get there so we’re just trying to take it one day at a time here at the start and build some chemistry and get going.” – Sirens Co-Captain, Micah Zandee-Hart
