Chasing the Walter Cup: Trio of Canadian teams hunt for glory in PWHL playoffs

The reigning Walter Cup champions. A first-time playoff team. Two teams who had playoff hopes dashed successful the archetypal circular past year.

Those are the 4 teams vying for the Walter Cup aft a chaotic last time of the regular season.

The Ottawa Charge defeated the Toronto Sceptres successful overtime to unafraid its first playoff berth. Soon after, the Minnesota Frost routed the Boston Fleet 8-1 to fastener down its post-season position, leaving the Fleet connected the extracurricular looking in.

Teams 3 done 5 each finished with 44 points. It each came down to regularisation wins arsenic a tiebreaker. 

"The parity and competitiveness successful our league is 2nd to none," Frost caput manager Ken Klee said a time aft his squad won its mode in.

By virtuousness of finishing first, the Montreal Victoire had the powerfulness to take the team's playoff opponent, and picked Ottawa over Minnesota.

Proximity was a factor, according to caput manager Montreal Kori Cheverie. No uncertainty the information that Montreal has won 4 of six against Ottawa this play played a role, too.

WATCH | The champion of the PWHL Mic'd Up bid successful 2024-25:

That leaves the second-place Toronto Sceptres to play the Minnesota Frost, successful what volition beryllium a rematch of past year's first-round series. Toronto built a 2-0 bid pb earlier Minnesota stormed backmost to triumph the adjacent three, and went connected to triumph the inaugural Walter Cup final.

The Toronto-Minnesota bid opens connected Wednesday astatine 7 p.m. ET, portion the Charge volition question to Montreal for the bid opener connected Thursday astatine 7 p.m. A Canadian squad is guaranteed to beryllium successful the finals.

Here's a preview of the best-of-five archetypal circular of the Walter Cup playoffs.

Toronto Sceptres (2) vs. Minnesota Frost (4)

Don't fto the seeding fool you. Minnesota is acold from the underdog.

Just inquire Toronto, the squad that chose to play a fourth-place Minnesota squad successful the archetypal circular past year, lone to suffer successful 5 games.

Now, the Sceptres person a accidental to rewrite the script.

Minnesota returns the aforesaid halfway of players who won the Walter Cup, starting with skipper Kendall Coyne Schofield and playoff MVP Taylor Heise. They marque up the Frost's apical enactment alongside Michela Cava, a proven victor who tin bring it successful the post-season.

On the backmost end, the squad is led by 1 of the champion shutdown defenders successful the satellite successful Lee Stecklein, and 2 smart, offensive-minded blueliners successful Sophie Jaques and 2024 first-round draught pick, Claire Thompson.

"She's conscionable a subordinate who's a gamer," Klee said astir Jaques. "She wants the puck connected her instrumentality astatine captious times and she wants to spell marque an violative interaction each the time."

The Frost relied connected some Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley successful nett successful past year's playoffs. Klee suggested the squad plans to bash that again, giving him immoderate security should 1 falter.

But the biggest vantage for Minnesota is that galore players connected the squad cognize what it takes to win, having outlasted some Toronto and Boston past year.

Minnesota goes into the bid with the league's worst regular-season punishment kill. Meanwhile, Toronto has capitalized connected much than 25 per cent of its power-play opportunities.

The Sceptres enter the post-season successful a antithetic presumption than past year. Toronto dominated the inaugural regular season, led by league MVP, Natalie Spooner.

This clip around, the Sceptres dealt with important injuries. Spooner didn't instrumentality from off-season genu country until February. Around the aforesaid time, Sarah Nurse went down. Most recently, Hannah Miller has been getting backmost up to velocity aft getting hurt.

"The anticipation is that they're capable to execute astatine the level erstwhile they left, and it's conscionable not reality," Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said.

A promising sign: Spooner had 2 shootout goals successful a caller triumph implicit the New York Sirens, portion Nurse recorded her archetypal extremity since March successful the regular-season finale against Ottawa.

Miller has been a do-it-all guardant for Toronto this season. Even if her violative numbers dip, Ryan is simply a instrumentality of her "honest and liable game."

On the violative broadside of things, Toronto's apical powerfulness play has been led by off-season acquisition Daryl Watts, whose accomplishment earned her a spot connected the Canadian nationalist team, and defender Renata Fast.

She is, successful Ryan's estimation, the champion defender successful the satellite close now. She's besides hard to play against, which makes her adjacent much of a limb during the playoffs.

"When we person her connected our team, she gives america a accidental to win," Ryan said.

Rounding retired Toronto's backmost extremity is Kristen Campbell, the reigning goaltender of the year. Campbell had a hard start, but has recovered her crippled arsenic the play has gone on.

Montreal Victoire (1) vs. Ottawa Charge (3)

Cheverie felt her squad played their champion 3 games of the play successful past year's playoffs, but fell successful 3 consecutive overtime games to Boston.

It was a hard lesson, but 1 some Cheverie and skipper Marie-Philip Poulin weren't anxious to dwell on. 

"That was hard past year," Poulin said. "It'll beryllium harder this year."

Winning volition necessitate the Victoire to beryllium relentless, gritty and consistent, the skipper said.

That starts with the champion subordinate successful the satellite and Montreal's bosom and soul, Poulin. She led the league successful goals wide (19) and game-winning goals (six). No subordinate is much clutch erstwhile it matters most. But Poulin is besides a gritty subordinate who won't deliberation doubly astir making a deed oregon blocking a shot.

She's made up what mightiness beryllium the PWHL's champion enactment this play with Laura Stacey and rookie Jennifer Gardiner. Stacey's crippled translates good to the post-season, earning breaks with her velocity and utilizing her size to make space. The cardinal for her volition beryllium finishing, thing that was a situation past play against Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel.

Beyond the apical line, Montreal struggled to find accordant extent scoring arsenic the play went on. Depth was an contented for Montreal against Boston past year, truthful Montreal is hoping a deeper wide lineup this clip astir volition beryllium capable to nutrient erstwhile it counts.

Drafting Cayla Barnes means little of a load connected Montreal defender Erin Ambrose this season. Add successful 2 of the league's apical changeable blockers successful Mariah Keopple and Anna Wilgren, and Montreal is simply a hard squad to get by.

When pucks bash marque their mode to the net, starter Ann-Renée Desbiens has been determination to halt them. Between the satellite title and the agelong tally of the PWHL season, Desbiens has been capable to enactment her mode backmost from an injury, and finished with the apical goals-against mean and prevention percentage.

"She's a partition backmost there," Poulin said.

WATCH | Charge unafraid a playoff spot with an overtime triumph implicit the Sceptres:

The Charge participate the playoffs for the archetypal clip missing starting goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer, who was injured successful March. It remains unclear if she'll beryllium backmost this season.

In the meantime, rookie Gwyneth Philips has tally with the opportunity. 

"She's evidently a precise talented goalie arsenic well, but she's conscionable been capable to truly conscionable instrumentality the reins and settee in," Ottawa caput manager Carla MacLeod said. "She's specified a likable gal and it's beauteous casual to rally astir her."

The Charge got contributions from up and down the lineup during the team's playoff push, from skipper Brianne Jenner, to tough-to-play Tereza Vanišová, to Shiann Darkangelo, who was acquired astatine the commercialized deadline past year.

But it was Kateřina Mrázová, backmost aft a stint on semipermanent wounded reserve, who scored the extremity that sent Ottawa to the playoffs for the archetypal time.

Without a prima quite like Poulin, the Charge will continue to require support from their afloat roster.

When they're playing their best, they tin beryllium relentless. That's the squad that volition request to amusement up against the Victoire.

"There's a velocity component," MacLeod said. "There's a physicality. There's conscionable a puck question portion that erstwhile we cognize we're on, we tin consciousness it. We consciousness it connected the seat and there's conscionable a camaraderie connected the bench."