This week on The IX Sports Podcast Hockey Edition, host Maya Smith is joined by the new Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League San Jose beat reporter, Eli Fastiff, to talk about the team\u2019s off-season moves.<\/p>\n
First, the pair discuss a new development back East. The Boston Fleet will officially begin playing at Boston University\u2019s arena next season. Before this change, the team had been playing in Lowell, Mass. But four of the six games the Fleet played at BU\u2019s arena were sellouts. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo clearly there\u2019s an appetite there for the team, and it\u2019ll be good for the team overall to have them in Boston. It sucks for the fans in Lowell. I\u2019ve seen a lot of people who are sad about that, but it just makes more sense for the long term of getting more eyes on the team and having more people be able to go there,\u201d Smith said. <\/p>\n
The pair also discuss the news (confirmed after time of recording) that the Ottawa Charge will be moving to the Canadian Tire Centre next season<\/a>. <\/p>\n The state of San Jose<\/p>\n Smith and Fastiff then turn to a discussion of the current state of PWHL San Jose. <\/p>\n PWHL San Jose has a unique leadership structure \u2014\u00a0Troy Ryan is both the head coach and general manager of the team. Fastiff said he finds the way Ryan is building his team interesting. <\/p>\n \u201cHe only grabbed, I think, they only have four signed defenders right now, plus Layla Edwards, who it seems like is probably going to play defense, or at least maybe a mix of both, but leaning towards being a defender, and it\u2019s something like seven or eight forwards. There\u2019s another forward sign today, so it\u2019s a little bit unbalanced right now, and it\u2019s not exactly what you\u2019d expect from Troy Ryan,\u201d Fastiff said, noting that Ryan is known for his defensive focus.<\/p>\n San Jose drafted Olympic gold medalist Laila Edwards fourth overall in the PWHL Entry Draft this year, and Fastiff said he expects Edwards to play defense \u2014 though she is a capable forward as well. <\/p>\n Tune in to the podcast to hear a full roster breakdown \u2014 including discussions about who will create high-scoring offense for San Jose, who will be the star center and how the goalkeeper lineup will shake out. <\/p>\n Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast<\/a> for in-depth coverage of women\u2019s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women\u2019s Sports Daily<\/a>, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.<\/p>\n