The PWHL handed out its biggest individual honour on Tuesday night, and history was made in the process. For the first time since the Professional Women's Hockey League launched, the Most Valuable Player award went to someone who guards the net rather than fills it.
A first for the crease
Boston Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel took home the league's top prize at an awards ceremony in Detroit — one of the cities set to join the rapidly expanding league next season. In a sport where MVP trophies almost always land with the goal-scorers and playmakers, Frankel flipped the script, proving that a goaltender can carry a team just as decisively from the back end.
She didn't stop at MVP, either. Frankel was also voted the PWHL's goaltender of the year, a double honour that cements her standing as one of the most dominant players in the women's game right now. Anyone who watched her steal games for Boston this season won't be surprised — when Frankel is locked in, she can make a good team look great and a great team look unbeatable.
Why it matters for the league
The PWHL is still young, and moments like this help define what the league stands for. Honouring a goaltender with its marquee award sends a clear message: every position counts, and dominance comes in more than one form. It's the kind of milestone that gets remembered as the league writes its early history.
The timing is fitting, too. The PWHL is in full expansion mode, with Detroit among the new markets joining for next season. Hosting the awards in one of those incoming cities was a deliberate nod to where the league is headed — bigger arenas, more fans, and a deeper talent pool fighting for hardware like the one Frankel just claimed.
The Ottawa connection
For hockey fans in the capital, the PWHL isn't some distant story — it's homegrown. Ottawa's own PWHL club has given the city a front-row seat to the league's rise, and local fans have packed games to cheer on their team. That means Frankel's Boston Fleet are a familiar rival, and her award is a reminder of just how high the bar has climbed across the league Ottawa is now part of.
For young goaltenders watching in Ottawa minor hockey programs, Frankel's win is proof that the path to the top of the women's game runs through the crease as much as the slot. The next generation of netminders just got a powerful role model.
A season to remember
As the PWHL grows into new cities and bigger crowds, individual seasons like Frankel's are what keep the spotlight bright. A goaltender winning MVP is the kind of headline that travels — and it's exactly the sort of moment a young league needs as it builds toward an even bigger next chapter.
Source: CBC Sports.
