“I think it’s inevitable,” she said during a PWHL video conference call this week.
Toronto, on a nine-game winning streak, and Montreal will face off in Pittsburgh at the Penguins PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. And Boston faces Ottawa in Detroit at the Red Wings’ Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, marking a homecoming for Keller and fellow Michigan-born teammates Taylor Girard and Shiann Darkangelo.
While Detroit might be dubbed “HockeyTown,” what’s not lost on all three players is how the state’s two major colleges — Michigan and Michigan State — lack women’s varsity hockey programs. “In their fight song, they say they’re the leaders and the best. I think this is an opportunity for them to be leaders,” Coyne Schofield told The Associated Press. “When you look at just the history and the success of the sport in the state, it’s mind-boggling that there isn’t a Division I women’s program right now.”
Both games have major implications in standings, with the PWHL entering the final third of its schedule.