Minnesota Looks to Defend PWHL Title in Walter Cup Finals vs. Ottawa

By Scott Lowe – MYHockeyRankings.com

Life comes at us fast, especially in the world of professional sports.

Emotions already figured to be running high Tuesday night at TD Place in Ottawa with the opening puck drop of the 2025 Professional Women’s Hockey League Walter Cup Finals. But it’s possible that the atmosphere and intensity might even be ratcheted up a notch or two above what a normal championship series might generate.

Monday the PWHL announced the key dates, rules and procedures for the league’s expansion from six to eight teams for the 2025-26 season, and each of the original six teams will lose four players from their 2024-25 rosters, including players who can be signed during an exclusive window after the playoffs and selected in the expansion draft.

Teams initially will be permitted to protect three players from signing or selection and one additional player once two players are taken from their final 2024-25 rosters. Only players signed through the 2025-26 season are eligible to be signed or drafted.

So, while it’s common in sports to talk about a group that wins a championship never getting to play together again, it’s likely that both the Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost, the two teams that have earned the right to play for the Walter Cup, will lose several players who were instrumental to their postseason runs.

Minnesota’s top players include Taylor Heise, the league’s inaugural first overall draft pick; international superstar and PWHL top-five scorer Kendall Coyne Schofield; Sophie Jaques, who finished third in the league with 15 assists this season; goaltender Maddie Rooney, second in the league in goals-against average; 2024 PWHL Rookie of the Year Grace Zumwinkle; and United States National team regulars Britta Curl-Salemme, Kelly Pannek and Lee Stecklein. And don’t forget defender Claire Thompson, an Olympic gold-medal winner with Team Canada.

Ottawa has many-time Canadian National Team goalie Emerance Mashmeyer and rookie netminder Gwyneth Philips, who ranked among this year’s PWHL top five in wins, save percentage and goals-against average; longtime Team Canada heroes Brianne Jenner and Jocelyne Laroque; up-and-coming Team Canada star Danielle Serdachny; Tereza Vanisova, who ranked third in the league in goals; Team USA 2023 Women’s World Championship gold-medalist Gabbie Hughes; and Canadian Olympic gold-medalist Ashton Bell.

Inevitably, some of those big names are going to call other cities home and be competing against their current teammates a few months from today. And while the imminent breakup won’t be the lone factor motivating the players competing in this year’s PWHL Finals, there’s no doubt they are well aware that is their last dance and opportunity to make history together before some of their teammates head off to Seattle or Vancouver.

There has been a palpable buzz among PWHL media about the potential impact of Monday’s expansion-process announcement on this year’s Finals.

"Obviously, what we're doing is our priority and our only focus," Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod told reporters. "So, at the end of the day, I can't control those variables. All we can do is control what we've been doing."

Minnesota coach Ken Klee concurred with MacLeod’s sentiments.

"You know, it's just one of those things," said Klee. "Again, we're here to play … We’re excited to be in Ottawa and ready for the series. We don’t take this opportunity for granted and are ready for a tough test against a great team. We know we will need a full 60-minute game every night.”

Expansion and everything that comes with it likely won’t be at the forefront of the players’ thoughts once the action begins. Still, at a time of the year when all hockey teams look for anything that can give them an edge, it’s a safe bet that the Frost and Charge players understand their teams may look very different next year and will use that as fuel as they for an even higher gear than the one that has propelled them to the verge of a championship thus far.

“Obviously, it’s information … we’ve been hoping to have, and you want to know what’s going on in the future,” said Stecklein. “But it is the future at this point, and these games are right in front of us.”

Larocque was just excited for the opportunity compete in a full series to determine the league champion as opposed to the international winner-take-all gold-medal games so many PWHL players have participated in during their careers.

“Playing a series is so much more fun than one game, and I really like it,” she said. “I think the true winner comes out of a series. It's exciting. It's fun. I grew up wanting to play in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, so this is as close as it gets for me.”

 

Where, When & How to Watch

The opening faceoff for Game 1 of the best-of-five Walter Cup Finals at TD Place is set for 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 20. It can be seen live on TSN 4/5, TSN.ca, the TSN App, RDS2, RDS.ca and the RDS App in Canada.

Walter Cup Finals contests will be available in the United States on the following FanDuel Sports Network affiliates: FanDuel Sports Network North, FanDuel Sports Network SoCal, FanDuel Sports Network Southwest and FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin Extra. U.S viewers also can watch on MSG Networks, various stations distributed in partnership with Gray Media (The Wax Sports), Scripps Sports (Boise, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Twin Falls and West Palm Beach), the Sinclair Broadcast Group (Baltimore and Portland), and on YouTube.

Internationally, the Finals will be distributed by NOVA Prime in Czechia and Slovakia.

 

Frosting on the Cake

Minnesota returns to the Walter Cup Finals a year after a remarkable run to the inaugural league championship in 2024. Last year, the Frost rebounded from a 2-0 semifinal deficit against Toronto and a called-back goal that would have won Boston the championship in Game 4 of the Finals. Minnesota ultimately won Game 4 in overtime at home and captured the title on the road with a 3-0 Game 5 victory.

The Frost hope to draw from the experience of that Cup run after eliminating Toronto again, three games to one, in the semifinals this year. Heise, who was named playoff MVP a year ago, continues to shine in the biggest moments.

She scored the overtime game-winning goal in Game 4 against the Sceptres to send the Frost back to the Finals a year after burying the series-deciding goal vs. the same team. Her seven points in four postseason contests leads all players after she earned MVP honors with eight points a year ago. Three of her five playoff goals and six of her eight points last year came in the Finals.

“She’s a big-time player and she wants to shine when the lights are bright,” Klee told The Athletic. “For her, standing up in (the playoffs) is just a way of reaffirming that she’s one of the best players in the world.”

Heise is joined on Minnesota’s top line, possibly the best unit in the league, by Coyne Schofield and Michela Cava, who was named Isobel Cup Playoff MVP in 2023 while leading the Toronto Six to the Premier Hockey Federation title. That trio accounted for six goals and 10 assists in the semifinals.

Offensive depth is provided by Pannek, a center who was a top offensive threat for Team USA at the Women’s World Championship, along with Curl-Salemme and Brooke McQuigge, the PWHL’s No. 3 and No. 4 rookie scorers this season. Minnesota led the PWHL with 85 goals during the regular season.

The Frost are equally deep on the blue line, with two-way threats Stecklein, Jaques and Thompson. That trio is capable of shutting down an opposing team’s top forwards while also providing timely goals and offensive playmaking.

Stecklein scored big goals in must-win late regular-season games to help Minnesota clinch a spot in the playoffs and has potted three markers in postseason play. Jaques ranks second at Ohio State in all-time defender scoring and received the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player in women’s college hockey.

Backstopping the Frost are a pair of netminders with plenty of big-game professional and international experience in Americans Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney., Hensley posted a 7-3-1 record to go along with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage during the regular season. Rooney was second in the league with a 2.07 GAA and ranked seventh in save percentage at .907 while going 8-7-1.

 

Charging Toward the Cup

While Ottawa scored 14 fewer goals than the Frost during the regular season and allowed four more then their Finals opponent, the Charge’s strong defensive play in in the playoffs, combined with the outstanding goaltending of rookie Gwyneth Philips, has proven to be a winning postseason formula. Ottawa eliminated regular-season champion Montreal in four games to advance to the Walter Cup Finals. 

Ottawa allowed just six goals in four semifinal games against Montreal, compared to 14 surrendered by Minnesota vs. Toronto. Keep in mind that one of the Charge’s opening-round contests needed four overtimes to decide a winner, so Ottawa really has given up just six goals in 15-plus periods of action, which computes to a microscopic 1.14 goals-against average for Philips.

For the advanced-stat folks, the Charge allowed an average of just three high-danger opportunities per period to the Victorie in the semifinals.

Philips took over goaltending duties because of an injury to Maschmeyer and has posted a sparkling .956 postseason save percentage to lead all PWHL netminders. That’s after placing fifth in the league with eight regular-season wins, fourth with a .919 save percentage and third with a 2.11 goals-against average.

In addition to leading the league in regular-season goals, the Frost tucked home 18 in the semifinals, presenting Philips and the Ottawa defensive corps with quite a challenge. But if the Charge’s defensive efforts vs. Montreal and late in the regular season provide any indication, Ottawa appears capable of at least slowing the Minnesota attack.

The Charge allowed seven goals in their final five regular-season contests, which means that they have permitted just 13 in their last nine outings if the playoffs are included. Ottawa plays an up-tempo and physical brand of hockey, with veterans Larocque and Bell anchoring a defensive unit that works well with a responsible group of forwards that includes the top shutdown line of Hughes, Emily Clark and Mannon McMahon.

Those five players should see plenty of ice time vs. the Heise, Coyne Schofield, Cava line throughout the Finals, and while the Charge may not have the offensive star power boasted by the Frost, they attack with speed and feature players on all four lines capable of producing offensively.

Jenner and Clark each contributed three points in four semifinal contests, with Aneta Tejralova and Vanisova adding two points while Bell, Shiann Darkangelo, McMahon, Larocque, Anna Meixner, Ronja Savolainen, Serdachny and Rebecca Leslie tallied a point apiece.  Ottawa had eight players – including defenders Jincy Roese, Savolainen and Tejralova – record 10 points or more during the regular season, with five players scoring at least five goals.

"At this point in the season, both Minnesota and ourselves are just going to lean into what we know is our style of play and what's been working for us," MacLeod said. "There's no doubt it's going to be a hard-fought battle, and whether it's a high-scoring game or a low-scoring game, the competitiveness is so great."

 

Tale of the Tape

Each team finished the regular season with 44 points and clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season. Both teams also beat higher-seeded opponents to advance to the Finals.

• Minnesota: 10-5-4-11 (fourth place)
• Ottawa: 12-2-4-12 (third place)

Season series scoring leaders:

• Minnesota: Heise (1G 5A 6 PTS in 6 GP)
• Ottawa: Vanisova (4G 1A 5 PTS) & Hughes (2G 3A 5 PTS) in 6 GP

 

Playoff scoring leaders:

• Minnesota: Heise (1G 6A 7 PTS in 4GP)
• Ottawa: Jenner (2G 1A 3 PTS) & Clark (1G 2A 3 PTS) in 4 GP

 

In regular-season head-to-head matchups, each team earned nine standings points against the other.

• Ottawa won two of its three home games (11-6 goal differential)
• Minnesota won two if its three home games (10-3 goal differential)

 

PWHL WALTER CUP FINALS SCHEDULE

Ottawa Charge (3) vs. Minnesota Frost (4)

Tuesday, May 20
Game 1: Minnesota at Ottawa (TD Place) at 7 p.m. ET

Thursday, May 22
Game 2: Minnesota at Ottawa (TD Place) at 7 p.m. ET

Saturday, May 24
Game 3: Ottawa at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 5 p.m. ET

Monday, May 26
Game 4: Ottawa at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 5 p.m. ET*

Wednesday, May 28
Game 5: Minnesota at Ottawa (TD Place) at 7 p.m. ET*

*If necessary

 

Notes of interest:

• Game 1 will be the first-ever PWHL Walter Cup Finals game played in Canada.
• Minnesota has never won Game 1 of a playoff series.
• Heise has averaged more than a point per game in 14 career playoff contests.
• Seven current Frost players did not play in last year’s Walter Cup Finals, while 16 players return from that championship team.
• Ottawa has won both of its home playoff games after posting a .487 winning percentage at TD Place during the season.
• All three of the Charge’s postseason wins have been by a single goal.
• Ottawa has more one-goal victories in 20 one-goal decisions than any other PWHL team, including regular-season and postseason play. 
• The Frost are 7-9 in one-goal decisions, including the regular season and playoffs.
• Vanisova scored four goals vs. Minnesota this season, tied for the best mark in the league vs. the Frost. She recorded a hat trick vs. Minnesota Feb. 13.
• Philips has a .956 playoff save percentage, tops in the PWHL’s brief history. She has stopped 88 of the last 90 shots she’s faced.