The Detroit PWHL team is being built with a clear edge, and that edge sounds a lot like the kind of identity Red Wings fans have been asking Steve Yzerman to deliver.
Manon Rheaume’s inaugural Detroit roster is drawing the same kind of language over and over from hockey people: tough, unyielding, gritty, hard to play against. That’s not accidental. It’s the blueprint.
“We want a team that plays fast and relentless,” Rheaume said.
That approach shows up all over the lineup. On the back end, Sydney Bard brings physicality, Cayla Barnes is described as a defender who never backs away from contact, and Mia Biotti stands 5-foot-11 and looms over most opponents. Casey Borgiel blocked 38 shots in 36 games in her final season at Colgate, while Mellissa Channell-Watkins finished last season with the Vancouver Goldeneyes with 44 hits in 30 games.
Stephanie Markowski blocked 35 shots over the past two seasons, and draftee Nina Jobst-Smith was one of the NCAA’s leaders in blocked shots with 61 for Minnesota-Duluth. The German national also won 63.2% of her puck battles, a figure that ranked second among PWHL Draft-eligible NCAA players.
The forward group carries the same kind of bite. Hannah Bilka is known for her high-end compete level.
Britta Curl-Salemme brings an edge and a disruptive checking style that can cross the line; she’s picked up her share of suspensions. Jesse Compher is described as aggressive and intense.
Taylor Girard, at 5-foot-10, is an imposing one-on-one player, while Olivia Wallin brings a hard-hitting, gritty style of her own. One of Wallin’s hockey role models is Corey Perry.
That kind of identity is exactly what Red Wings fans have been wanting from their NHL club, too. And while the words gritty team and Red Wings rarely get used together, the organization’s offseason additions suggest a push in that direction.
Veteran forward Viktor Arvidsson is not the type to blend into the background.
“I’m going to bring a competitive aspect to my game and just try to play hard,” Arvidsson said.
Keegan Kolesar fits the same mold. He’s a tough forward who averages more than 260 hits per season as an NHL regular, and he sees a need for more of that kind of presence.
“Just talking to guys now, it felt like there was a missing piece, maybe an identity of just having that,” Kolsar said of team toughness. “Not the fighting aspect, but more the toughness of being hard to play against.”
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