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03/27 13:57 CDT Fleet goalie Frankel enjoying her salad days with her
puck-stopping abilities and restaurant reviews
Fleet goalie Frankel enjoying her salad days with her puck-stopping abilities
and restaurant reviews
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer
Boston Fleet goalie Aerin Frankel takes a modest and efficient approach to
whatever task is before her, be it stopping pucks or rating Caesar salads.
Frankel has such a single-minded focus and even-keeled demeanor it's difficult
to judge when she's happy or excited.
"Yeah, probably when she's talking about Caesar salads," Fleet captain Megan
Keller said of Frankel's hobby of posting a picture and short review of her
latest find on the goalie's Instagram account titled painbyromaine.
"But hockey-wise, no. She's locked in every single game, and every single
practice," said Keller, who called Frankel too modest to accept compliments.
"We'll pump her tires all the time, and she hates it. She'll say, ?Ah, stop.
You guys make it easy.'"
It might well be the other way around, because the 26-year-old from Chappaqua,
New York, has established herself among women's hockey's elite netminders. Last
month, Frankel went 5-0, with an Olympic-record four shutouts, in backstopping
the United States to gold at the Milan Cortina Games, capped by a 30-save
outing in a 2-1 overtime win over Canada.
Carrying over Olympic success There's been no letdown since upon returning to the PWHL. Entering Boston's game at Toronto on Friday, Frankel is 15-3-2 in leading the league in wins, and second with a 1.23 goals-against average. She posted back-to-back shutouts this week, increasing her total to a single-season league record six. "It's been great to be back in Boston. Such an exciting time obviously with the Olympic win," Frankel said by phone Thursday. "Yeah, it's been a busy last six weeks, but so much fun." Her relatively dry response is reflective of her short to-the-point salad reviews. "We can't get enough of the Buffalo Caesar," she wrote recently following a stop in Syracuse, New York. "Loved the anchor chili dressing and sriracha bread crumbs on this Nashville Chicken Caesar Salad. 9.6/10." Acknowledging Caesar salads not being her favorite meal, Frankel began posting reviews on a lark a few years ago for a small, loyal following. The account has since gained traction with more than 63,000 followers in a surge coinciding with the Olympics. Even her coach, Kris Sparre, is asking Frankel to visit his favorite hometown restaurant in Burlington, Ontario. Croutons and anchovy paste, however, are secondary for the first-year Fleet coach regarding his talented goalie. In his initial conversation last summer, he was struck by her intelligence and ability to break down the team's strengths and weaknesses. Sparre is more impressed by Frankel's focus and competitiveness in battling to make saves despite being a slight 5-foot-5 and 140 pounds. "No, she's not big. But she's square in the net. Her style of play is she'll do anything to make the save," Sparre said. "Reading plays early, fighting through traffic to get eyes on pucks, she's elite level. You think there's net available, and all of a sudden there's a glove there or a pad."
Picking an Olympic starter Those are qualities USA coach John Wroblewski noticed in leading him to project Frankel as his eventual Olympic starter. Wroblewski was attending a PWHL game in 2024 to scout another goalie when Frankel drew his attention. "She absolutely slammed the door shut. And that right there, it was like, that's it," he recalled. "I'm a big believer in being in the right place at the right time." Frankel had already made her national team debut a year earlier in going 5-1 to help the Americans win gold at the 2023 world championships, and been the starter ever since. Her overall record in combined Olympics and world play is 14-2 with six shutouts. Frankel draws on the confidence she's gained through experience, starting with a college career at Northeastern, where she set several program records and named college hockey's MVP in 2021. "I wasn't highly recruited going into college, but getting the opportunity to go to Northeastern was incredible," she said. "And I've been able to get more experience each year, and that's a huge part of building confidence."
Nicknamed ?The Green Monster' In 2024, she helped the Fleet upset Montreal in a PWHL semifinals before losing the Walter Cup Finals in a fifth and decisive game to Minnesota. After missing the playoffs last year, the Fleet are back in contention and entered Friday in first place with a franchise-record 45 points. "It's no secret she's bailed us out a few times, and she's stolen games for us," Keller said, joking the Fleet might rely on her too much. "We want to make her job as easy as possible. But, you know, she's got to stop being so good." Keller wouldn't have been in position to score the gold medal-clinching goal against Canada if not for Frankel's performance in keeping the score close with several key saves. "We won in Milan because of Aerin Frankel. We've been winning hockey games this season because of her, too," Keller said. "We're lucky to have her." Frankel's success in Boston led to her earning the nickname "The Green Monster." "Being part of a Boston sports organization, it's a privilege," Frankel said of her nickname. "And I hope to continue to live up to it." ___ AP women's hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Carrying over Olympic success There's been no letdown since upon returning to the PWHL. Entering Boston's game at Toronto on Friday, Frankel is 15-3-2 in leading the league in wins, and second with a 1.23 goals-against average. She posted back-to-back shutouts this week, increasing her total to a single-season league record six. "It's been great to be back in Boston. Such an exciting time obviously with the Olympic win," Frankel said by phone Thursday. "Yeah, it's been a busy last six weeks, but so much fun." Her relatively dry response is reflective of her short to-the-point salad reviews. "We can't get enough of the Buffalo Caesar," she wrote recently following a stop in Syracuse, New York. "Loved the anchor chili dressing and sriracha bread crumbs on this Nashville Chicken Caesar Salad. 9.6/10." Acknowledging Caesar salads not being her favorite meal, Frankel began posting reviews on a lark a few years ago for a small, loyal following. The account has since gained traction with more than 63,000 followers in a surge coinciding with the Olympics. Even her coach, Kris Sparre, is asking Frankel to visit his favorite hometown restaurant in Burlington, Ontario. Croutons and anchovy paste, however, are secondary for the first-year Fleet coach regarding his talented goalie. In his initial conversation last summer, he was struck by her intelligence and ability to break down the team's strengths and weaknesses. Sparre is more impressed by Frankel's focus and competitiveness in battling to make saves despite being a slight 5-foot-5 and 140 pounds. "No, she's not big. But she's square in the net. Her style of play is she'll do anything to make the save," Sparre said. "Reading plays early, fighting through traffic to get eyes on pucks, she's elite level. You think there's net available, and all of a sudden there's a glove there or a pad."
Picking an Olympic starter Those are qualities USA coach John Wroblewski noticed in leading him to project Frankel as his eventual Olympic starter. Wroblewski was attending a PWHL game in 2024 to scout another goalie when Frankel drew his attention. "She absolutely slammed the door shut. And that right there, it was like, that's it," he recalled. "I'm a big believer in being in the right place at the right time." Frankel had already made her national team debut a year earlier in going 5-1 to help the Americans win gold at the 2023 world championships, and been the starter ever since. Her overall record in combined Olympics and world play is 14-2 with six shutouts. Frankel draws on the confidence she's gained through experience, starting with a college career at Northeastern, where she set several program records and named college hockey's MVP in 2021. "I wasn't highly recruited going into college, but getting the opportunity to go to Northeastern was incredible," she said. "And I've been able to get more experience each year, and that's a huge part of building confidence."
Nicknamed ?The Green Monster' In 2024, she helped the Fleet upset Montreal in a PWHL semifinals before losing the Walter Cup Finals in a fifth and decisive game to Minnesota. After missing the playoffs last year, the Fleet are back in contention and entered Friday in first place with a franchise-record 45 points. "It's no secret she's bailed us out a few times, and she's stolen games for us," Keller said, joking the Fleet might rely on her too much. "We want to make her job as easy as possible. But, you know, she's got to stop being so good." Keller wouldn't have been in position to score the gold medal-clinching goal against Canada if not for Frankel's performance in keeping the score close with several key saves. "We won in Milan because of Aerin Frankel. We've been winning hockey games this season because of her, too," Keller said. "We're lucky to have her." Frankel's success in Boston led to her earning the nickname "The Green Monster." "Being part of a Boston sports organization, it's a privilege," Frankel said of her nickname. "And I hope to continue to live up to it." ___ AP women's hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
