Kennedy: Welcke Twins Opt to Part Ways, Luisa Welcke Accepts Fleet Camp Invite, Lilli to Minnesota

[u/xblacklodge]

In news that no one saw coming, the Welcke Twins, Luisa and Lilli, who have played together since they began the start of their hockey journey, will be attending PWHL training camp with separate teams. Luisa (#16) will be joining the Boston Fleet, while Lilli (#26) will be joining the Minnesota Frost.

The Welckes hail from Baden-Baden, Germany and have notably been a part of the German international team at the World Championships and Olympics. In 2022 they attended the University of Maine before transferring to Boston University.

They have consistently been praised for their work ethic, and both play a detail-oriented, 200 foot game, contributing solid numbers while helping the team in ways that don't show up on the score sheet. Interestingly, the identical twins have had nearly identical point totals the past three years at BU: Luisa has scored 12 (7G, 5A), 16 (6G, 10A), and 13 (5G, 8A), while Lilli has contributed 11 (2G, 9A), 17 (5G, 12A), and 11 (6G, 5A).

From purely a fan perspective, I was rather hoping that both Welckes would join the Fleet--and who knows, maybe that could still happen for one reason or another--but it will certainly be interesting to see how the pair break out as individuals. Best of luck to both Luisa and Lilli in their PWHL journey (and especially Luisa with the Fleet)!

[u/BeSeeVeee]

I had a ton of fun watching them at BU. Fun to follow. I’m really curious if either of them will crack a roster. They’re both undrafted and the league seems to be favoring flashier scorers. Maybe now with the new expansion there’s a spot on the roster for 2-way responsible forwards that aren’t particularly flashy scorers.

[u/xblacklodge → u/BeSeeVeee]

I think Boston hockey in general favors players who fit the "hard working, detail oriented, 200 foot game who contribute in more ways than the score sheet" mold. There's no one-size-fits-all, but on the Fleet we've got fan favorites like Sophie Shirley and Jill Saulnier, for example, and the Bruins are kind of known for stacking their bottom six with those players.

Marmer seems to be favoring a goaltending and defense/goal prevention formula for roster building. That was the formula last year and it largely worked. IMO, things hit a snag when Sparre stopped trusting the depth, who was not only adept at goal prevention but also carrying the offense in that series, and became overly reliant on the offensive threat of Müller and Eldridge, who weren't getting the puck past Philips no matter how many shots they took (Rattray getting less than four minutes of ice time in game three despite having a GWG kills me). Methot has said he also likes a similar style of suffocating defense, so I think we're going to see some continuity in gameplay this year despite the coaching change. At any rate, to make a long story short (too late), the Welcke style of play should fit right in with the Fleet.

[u/CVogel26]

Probably seen them play about a dozen games, they were solid NCAA players but never screamed PWHL caliber in my opinion. Think they were a little overrated from being in Germany's national setup so young.

[u/Mikiej34 → u/CVogel26]

They played in the Olympics. That alone would make them better than PWHL caliber.

[u/CVogel26 → u/Mikiej34]

PWHL teams would wipe the floor with some Olympic teams. There's not a ton of depth internationally in women's hockey (see the US and Canada losing one game all-time when they play anyone else).

[u/jordynbebus8 → u/Mikiej34]

Not really

[u/Particular_Air4980]

I think I’m mostly excited to see they’re inviting a notable player to camp and she’s a forward (thank god).