With PWHL expansion looming, the defending champion Frost go out on top

For the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row, it was Minnesota Frost skipper Kendall Coyne Schofield hoisting the Walter Cup after her squad won the championship.

It was the subordinate who played specified a cardinal relation successful the instauration of the Professional Women's Hockey League who again led her squad to the apical of the mountain, done bumps and bruises and overtime galore.

Just similar past year, the squad that squeaked into the playoffs arsenic the last effect astatine the extremity of the play ended up connected top.

"It's hard to triumph backmost to back," Coyne Schofield told reporters connected Monday aft her team's win. "I'm conscionable truthful arrogant of this group. When you look astatine the mode we won, it takes everybody."

A fewer things were antithetic this year.

For one, the Frost won this title successful beforehand of a location crowd. More than 11,000 fans showed up to the Xcel Energy Center to ticker the Frost decision the Ottawa Charge 2-1 successful overtime of Game 4.

But the biggest favoritism is that this felt similar the last dance for a heavy Minnesota team.

WATCH | Frost skipper Coyne Schofield lifts the Walter Cup:

The 2nd portion is simply a world each squad crossed the league is facing: alteration is coming.

As the celebrations proceed successful Minnesota, Frost wide manager Melissa Caruso and her unit volition request to commencement to determine who to protect successful the upcoming enlargement draft, which volition assistance physique caller teams debuting successful Seattle and Vancouver adjacent season. 

Teams tin lone support 3 players to start, and those extortion lists are owed adjacent Tuesday astatine 12 p.m. ET. Once a squad loses 2 players to expansion, a 4th subordinate tin beryllium protected.

It's a world that wasn't mislaid connected the Frost's players connected Monday night.

"This group's truthful peculiar and it's bittersweet to deliberation that we'll ne'er play unneurotic again," said goaltender Maddie Rooney, who is simply a escaped cause aft this season. 

How the Frost won

Like each different crippled successful the Minnesota-Ottawa series, Game 4 required overtime.

After Minnesota guardant Kelly Pannek opened the scoring, the Charge's Tereza Vanišová scored her archetypal playoff extremity successful the 3rd play to necktie the game.

Her enactment with rookies Katy Knoll and Klára Hymlárová was persistent passim the series, and besides earned the crippled victor successful Game 3.

Coyne Schofield described that enactment arsenic Minnesota's champion successful the bid "by far."

"It conscionable speaks to determination was nary relation that was excessively large oregon excessively small," she said.

It was Minnesota's depth, from the 4th enactment to the defenders, that yet helped them borderline retired Ottawa.

But it was besides the content successful the room, the benignant of assurance that comes from having done this before, and having played and travel retired connected apical of large games. Even erstwhile it looked similar the Frost mightiness miss the playoffs oregon erstwhile the squad dropped the archetypal crippled of the last bid to Ottawa, panic ne'er acceptable in.

"The content successful ourselves and each different astir the locker country was determination each play contempt immoderate bumps successful the road," said Rooney, who won each 5 games she started successful the 2025 playoffs. "We ne'er had a doubt."

'Unreal' goaltending performance

Like Minnesota, Ottawa entered the agelong tally of the regular play successful a combat to marque the playoffs. Things looked bleak successful March erstwhile starting goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer was placed connected semipermanent injured reserve.

Enter Gwyneth Philips, the rookie goaltender who stepped into the starting relation with ease.

"She was unreal," Minnesota caput manager Ken Klee said. "I thought successful 3 retired of the 4 games, if she doesn't play the mode she played, past I don't deliberation we spell to overtime successful immoderate of them, to beryllium honorable with you."

Philips finished her archetypal playoff tally with a 1.23 goals against mean implicit much than 635 minutes of play.

The show earned her the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award, adjacent though her squad didn't triumph the championship. The assemblage successful Minnesota chanted and cheered for Philips arsenic she skated implicit to person the award.

WATCH | Charge goaltender Philips claims Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award:

Philips told reporters aft the crippled that she didn't perceive the chants. The trophy she truly wanted was the Walter Cup.

"Right now, the idiosyncratic grant is superseded by the squad loss," the goaltender said. "We were truthful adjacent and we truly wanted that. My accomplishments are attributed to the players successful beforehand of me. Maybe time it'll beryllium nicer. But I truly wanted that win."

Ultimately, the squad couldn't people much than Minnesota, falling 1 extremity abbreviated 3 games successful a row. If there's 1 country of missed opportunity, it's apt connected the powerfulness play. Ottawa scored conscionable erstwhile connected 19 advantages passim the postseason.

Sitting betwixt 2 devastated players aft the game, Ottawa caput manager Carla MacLeod said she was arrogant of her players for giving it each they had.

"The abstraction was truthful constricted successful this bid for some teams that everybody was doing their darnedest to effort to people a extremity and negate a goal," she said. "This isn't connected 1 player's shoulders oregon 1 moment's shoulders. This was really conscionable the reflection of 2 large teams playing incredibly bully hockey."

WATCH | How the PWHL's enlargement draught volition work:

Like Minnesota, pugnacious decisions are coming successful Ottawa. It's improbable the squad volition beryllium capable to support some Philips and Maschmeyer.

Protecting 1 goaltender besides means conscionable 2 spots near for the likes of skipper Brianne Jenner, Clark, Larocque, Bell and past year's second-overall pick, Danielle Serdachny.

The past fewer minutes successful the dressing country with this team, knowing they won't beryllium backmost successful afloat unneurotic again, was the hardest part, Jenner said.

"This was a peculiar group. We went done a batch this season. Showed a batch of resiliency."

Change connected the horizon

While each squad has pugnacious decisions to make, immoderate of the hardest ones mightiness beryllium coming successful Minnesota.

Protecting prima guardant Taylor Heise, who was past year's playoff MVP, would mean exposing 1 of the team's 3 foundational signings: Coyne Schofield, Pannek oregon Lee Stecklein.

On the bluish line, apt lone 1 of Stecklein, Sophie Jaques Claire Thompson tin marque the archetypal extortion list. Stecklein is simply a large portion of the team's individuality and leadership, and is 1 of the champion antiaircraft defenders successful the world. Jaques and Thompson, meanwhile, boast violative quality and hockey IQ, and some earned nominations for defender of the year.

Klee has been capable to rhythm betwixt Rooney and Nicole Hensley passim the past 2 seasons, opting to spell with whoever has the blistery hand. That whitethorn beryllium a happening of the past. Rooney is simply a escaped agent, portion Hensley could beryllium a people for an enlargement team, should she not beryllium protected.

With a roster reset connected the way, and the league increasing to 8 teams from six, winning the Walter Cup is lone going to go harder to do.

Minnesota is the lone squad that gets to decently observe the extremity of the archetypal six era, with 1 past title together.

"This is the highest enactment that we could person gone retired on," Rooney said. "To stock this representation each together, we'll retrieve this for the remainder of our lives."