Minnesota Frost Check-In: Three Numbers That Defined the First Third of the Frost’s Season

Through ten games, the Frost are 4-1-2-3, and they find themselves amongst the top teams in the PWHL. One-third of the way through the season, the Frost boast a .533 points percentage, which puts them on pace for their best regular-season points total in team history.

Here are three numbers that have defined the first third of the Frost’s campaign.

58.62%

Teams that excel at even strength usually find the best results, and through ten games, the Frost are once again one of the top teams in the PWHL at even strength. They have scored 19 even-strength goals, the most in the league, and have allowed only 13 even-strength goals against, good for a 58.62% goals for percentage at even strength. So far, the Frost have been better at even strength than they were last season, when they had a 53.51% goals for percentage.

Much of the Frost’s even strength dominance has been driven by offense. The Frost have three of the highest scoring forwards in the PWHL at even strength: Britta Curl-Salemme has 10 even-strength points, Kendall Coyne Schofield has 8, and Kelly Pannek has 7. The trio hasn’t been sacrificing defense for offense either; Coyne-Schofield has been on the ice for two goals against, while Pannek and Curl-Salemme have only been on the ice for one even-strength goal against. 

Kelly Pannek’s Hot Start

In her third PWHL season, Kelly Pannek is on pace for her best offensive year. Her hot start is powering the Minnesota Frost’s offense.

The Ice GardenReid Lemker

Defensively, Lee Stecklein has once again been a standout performer for the Frost. Stecklein leads the team in ice time, averaging almost 25 minutes a night for the Frost, and through ten games, she has not been on the ice for an even strength goal against. When Stecklein is on the ice at even strength, The Frost have outscored their opponents 8-0.

20

The defense core was a massive question mark heading into the season for the Frost, but ten games in, the offensive contributions from the back end have been a big part of the Frost’s offensive success; Frost defenders have combined for 20 points.

As expected, it was a slow start offensively for the blue line. In the first four games, they combined for just one point. Since then, Frost defenders have scored 19 points in six games, and, in that time, it’s been the young defenders driving the offensive surge.

Mae Batherson leads the way with two goals and seven points. She has already doubled her point total from her rookie season. Rookie Kendall Cooper has also been red hot. Cooper has contributed seven assists in her last six games. Batherson and Cooper have formed a solid pairing at even strength and are also combining on the second power play unit.

Beyond Batherson and Cooper, Lee Stecklein has chipped in three assists, and offseason addition Sidney Morin has also provided a couple of assists. Natalie Buchbinder has one point, and Brooke Becker and Madison Bizal are still looking for their first points in a Frost uniform.

Sidney Morin Back on Home Ice

Sidney Morin reflects on her career, what she’s learned, and how she passes it along to the next generation.

The Ice GardenReid Lemker

.927

Through ten games, the Frost are on pace for their best regular season goaltending performance in their three-year history. Much of the success comes from Nicole Hensley's hot start. Hensley has four wins in five starts and a .957 save percentage. She’s on pace for her best regular season of her PWHL career. Maddie Rooney hasn’t been quite as consistent. There have been some highs; she had a great 27-save performance in the win over Vancouver. But Rooney has a .901 save percentage for the season, and she's posted a save percentage below .900 in three of her five starts.

Combined, Frost goaltenders have a .927 save percentage, which is right around league average. The overall performance has been good enough, but the Frost will hope for more consistency as they move towards the Olympic break. 

It will also be worth keeping an eye on the playing time split. So far, the Frost have split the first ten games down the middle with each goalie getting five starts. I can’t imagine the Frost ever deviating too far from a relatively even split, but if Hensley continues to outplay Rooney, I wonder if the playing time split starts to look closer to 60-40 in favor of Hensley.

The Frost are back in action on Sunday, January 11th, when they host the Seattle Torrent at Grand Casino Arena.