PWHL Finals preview: Ottawa Charge looking to become 1st Canadian PWHL champions

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The Ottawa Charge person the accidental to go the archetypal Canadian PWHL squad to assistance the Walter Cup.

But first, they person to get past the defending champion Minnesota Frost, a squad with offence up and down the lineup and scoring threats littering the bluish line.

It each starts Tuesday evening astatine 7 p.m. ET, erstwhile the Charge and the boisterous fans wrong TD Place big the Frost for Game 1 of the Walter Cup final.

"We cognize that we're going to person to bring our best," Charge skipper Brianne Jenner told reporters implicit the weekend. "We had to bash that successful the Montreal series. I deliberation we competed, displacement successful and displacement out, for that full series. That's truly what it's going to take."

Both teams qualified for the playoffs connected the last time of the regular season, finishing with the aforesaid fig of points successful the standings.

And some knocked disconnected higher-seeded opponents to get here. The Frost took down the Toronto Sceptres for the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row, scoring 18 goals implicit 4 games.

The Charge, meanwhile, eliminated the Montreal Victoire squad that picked Ottawa arsenic its opponent. Chants of "You picked us!" came from the much than 8,000 Ottawa fans who watched their squad seal Montreal's destiny with a 2-1 triumph connected Friday.

WATCH | Charge beforehand to PWHL finals with Game 4 triumph implicit the Victoire:

Charge beforehand to PWHL Finals with Game 4 triumph that eliminates Victoire

Ottawa is headed to the PWHL Finals for the archetypal clip successful their franchise's past aft a 2-1 triumph implicit Montreal to win their semifinal bid 3-1.

While the Minnesota-Toronto bid was a high-scoring affair, each azygous Ottawa-Montreal crippled was decided by lone 1 goal.

"At this constituent successful the season, some Minnesota and ourselves are conscionable going to thin into what we cognize is our benignant of play and what's been moving for us," Charge caput manager Carla MacLeod said. "There's nary uncertainty it's going to beryllium a hard-fought battle, and whether it's a high-scoring crippled oregon a low-scoring game, the competitiveness is truthful great."

Composure successful the crease

Ottawa's MVP passim the Montreal bid was rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips.

Montreal's apical scorers, Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey, enactment a combined 55 shots connected nett passim the series, and each had lone 1 extremity to amusement for it.

Philips boasts a league-leading 1.14 goals against mean and lone six goals allowed implicit 4 games against Montreal.

"We made a truly bully propulsion until the end," Cheverie said connected Friday night. "We conscionable couldn't look to find a mode to get that small achromatic rubber happening crossed the line. Just couldn't score."

Since taking implicit for an injured Emerance Maschmeyer successful March, Philips' assurance and steadiness has propelled her team.

When she's astatine her best, she's tracking each puck and not giving up connected rebounds until there's a whistle, MacLeod said.

"She conscionable loves redeeming the puck," the manager said. "She's athletic. She enjoys the occupation that she's got, and evidently she brings a skillset to it and a mindset to it that's complimentary."

Hockey players wearing reddish Ottawa Charge jerseys observe successful a radical unneurotic connected the ice.

Helping her has been a smothering enactment of Gabbie Hughes, Emily Clark and Mannon McMahon, and a apical antiaircraft pairing of Ashton Bell and seasoned Jocelyne Larocque.

Both Clark and McMahon besides scored cardinal goals for Ottawa successful the Montreal series. McMahon had the lone extremity successful a 1-0 Game 3 victory, and Clark had the crippled victor successful the deciding Game 4.

MacLeod acknowledged that apical line's relation against Montreal, but attributed the bid triumph to her full squad having beardown antiaircraft details.

Back successful March, the Charge gave up six unanswered goals to the New York Sirens. A playoff spot wasn't guaranteed. It was a gut check. But the Charge didn't fto that topple their season. They came backmost stronger, and present they're playing their champion hockey erstwhile it matters most.

"There's a mentality successful our radical that we conscionable enactment the course," MacLeod said. "Our seat doesn't waver successful moments successful the game."

Experience starring the mode for Frost

At the extremity of the season, the Frost were successful information of missing the playoffs and the accidental to support their Walter Cup title.

But an experienced locker room, filled with players who gutted retired a five-game triumph implicit Boston successful the finals past year, ne'er doubted their quality to get backmost here.

"It's a testament to our leadership, archetypal and foremost," Minnesota caput manager Ken Klee said. "They've been successful these high-pressure situations. They've been successful NCAA finals, Olympic finals, satellite title finals. I deliberation it truly starts with them, and past it goes done our adjacent full radical of players who are buying in."

Three hockey players wearing purple Minnesota Frost jerseys observe connected the ice.

That enactment begins with skipper Kendall Coyne Schofield, who scored 2 goals en way to her team's Game 4 triumph implicit the Sceptres. Coyne Schofield led the Frost successful regular-season scoring with 24 points successful 30 games.

Klee described her arsenic the team's MVP passim this season.

"She brought her velocity and competitiveness, which fundamentally raises the full radical astir her," Klee said.

"When different players connected our squad spot however hard she works time successful and time out, the other things she does to support herself successful signifier and support herself connected it, her attraction to details, her wanting to ticker film, wanting to get better, that's the idiosyncratic you privation arsenic your skipper and that's wherefore she is our captain."

It continues with the always-steady Kelly Pannek and apical defender Stecklein, who has recovered a scoring interaction implicit the past month.

There's defender of the twelvemonth nominee Sophie Jaques, who has enactment up six points successful 4 games. There's rookie Brooke McQuigge, who's settee into a top-six role, and reliable playoff-performer Michela Cava, who has won championships successful 4 antithetic leagues now.

And of course, there's reigning playoff MVP Taylor Heise, who seems to find a caller cogwheel astatine this clip of year. She leads each skaters with 7 points successful 4 playoff games, including 1 goal: the overtime victor that enactment a dagger successful Toronto's play successful Game 4.

Minnesota besides has 2 reliable goaltenders to rhythm between, arsenic Klee did during past year's playoff run. Both Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley started games against Montreal, and Klee suggested helium would proceed to usage some of them successful the adjacent round.

Both Ottawa and Minnesota had to play hopeless conscionable to get into the playoffs. If Minnesota has an edge, it's that they cognize they tin support it up implicit 2 rounds, having done precisely that a twelvemonth ago.

"A bid is hard to beryllium in," said Coyne Schofield, who has present played and won 3 PWHL playoff series.

"It's learning quickly, whether it's thing good, thing atrocious ... and turning the adjacent leafage and recognizing that the astir important displacement is the adjacent displacement close successful beforehand of you."

PWHL final schedule: