Matchups Are Set, Walter Cup Quest Begins Wednesday

It’s a small thing, but a big thing. The Montreal Victoire took advantage of their opportunity to choose their first-round opponent in the 2025 PWHL playoffs.

Rather than follow the bracket and play the Minnesota Frost in the best-of-five series, the Victoire will open against the Ottawa Charge. As a result, the Frost will meet the Toronto Sceptres in the other matchup.

The league’s playoff seedings came down to the final day of the season. On Saturday, Katerina Mrazova scored at 2:52 of overtime to give Ottawa the win over Toronto, and the two points they needed to punch their ticket to the playoffs.

An hour later, Minnesota crushed Boston by a score of 8-1. Finally, Montreal finished out the year with a 3-2 win over the New York Sirens.

When the dust settled, Montreal finished with a five-point edge over Toronto at the top of the standings. Below them, Ottawa, Minnesota and Boston all finished with 44 points. But because the Fleet had the fewest regulation wins (nine), they lost the tiebreaker and finished outside the playoff picture, along with New York.

In 2024, Toronto finished first in the regular season and the same three teams battled down to the wire for playoff positioning. Boston and Minnesota squeaked in, then both teams upset their higher-seeded first-round opponents before an epic final that saw Minnesota capture the first Walter Cup.

Montreal general manager Daniele Sauvageau announced that her team had selected Ottawa on a live edition of the PWHL’s ‘Jocks in Jills’ podcast on Sunday.

“At the beginning of the year, what we have done is we put a process together,” she said. “If we had the privilege to be in this situation, we were going to follow a process.”

Good thing. Not only did Ottawa and Minnesota finish with the same number of points, but Montreal’s record against both teams was the same, at 4-2.

According to Savageau, the decision was made collaboratively between the players, the coaching staff and the front office. She didn’t tip her hand on the factors that made the Charge the more attractive opponent, but a few details stand out.

First, the travel will be easier. Montreal and Ottawa are just over 100 miles apart. Even NHL teams sometimes take the train between the two cities.

That offers opportunity for fans as well.

“I think you’re going to see some fans probably making the trek to the opposing arena,” said Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner of the PWHL’s first-ever all-Canadian playoff matchup. “I think it’s going to be really cool for Canadian hockey fans across the country to tune into this.”

Experience levels also may have factored into Montreal’s decision. The Charge are in the playoffs for the first time, while the Frost aren’t just returnees — they’re the defending champions.

And while it might not turn out to be much of an advantage, the Charge are also missing their No. 1 goaltender, Emerance Maschmeyer, who has been sidelined with a lower-body injury since mid-March.

But rookie Gwyneth Philips hasn’t flinched in Maschmeyer’s absence. She started the Charge’s last eight games, going 5-3 with one shutout, and finished the year with a 2.11 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.

“She’s been incredible,” said Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod. “You never want to see injury for any of the players, but to see Gwen be able to step in, she’s just been able to take the reins and settle in. Everyone’s been seeing what we see, and it’s just been her rising in these moments. This is just the next step for her.”

The series is likely to be a goalie battle. While Montreal is led by Marie-Philip Poulin, who led the league with 19 goals this season, the Victoire are backstopped by Ann-Renee Desbiens in net. Appearing in 21 games this season, she finished with a record of 15-2-1-1 and a 1.86 goals-against average.

The other series is a rematch from last season, with Toronto holding home-ice advantage over Minnesota. Last year, Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 series lead on home ice before losing the next three games — after Minnesota coach Ken Klee complained that his team wasn’t given enough runway to make its travel plans and get settled in Toronto before Game 1.

With that knowledge, the Frost took a different approach this year after finishing out the regular season in Boston.

“We were already on the road, so we had made the decision that if we got to where we wanted to be, we were just going to stay on the road and hang and wait and see,” Klee said. “There’s no sense flying all the way home to turn around and and fly back.”

This season, the Frost were led by their captain, Kendall Coyne Schofield, who finished the year with 12 goals and 24 points. They also got big boosts on the blue line from Sophie Jaques, a mid-season trade acquisition in Year 1, new arrival Claire Thompson, and the steady presence of veteran Lee Stecklein.

Toronto went through half of its season without the 2024 league leading scorer and MVP, Natalie Spooner, and also missed Sarah Nurse for nine games. This year, Spooner appeared in 14 games and finished with five points, while Nurse had 14 points. But other Toronto players had strong seasons, including defender Renata Fast and forwards Daryl Watts and Hannah Miller.

As the post-season unfolds, the league continues to evolve behind the scenes. Last Wednesday, the PWHL announced its second expansion team for the 2025-26 in Seattle, joining Vancouver. The business and hockey operations departments for those clubs will need to be staffed quickly: an expansion draft will take place to start stocking those rosters will take place sometime before the 2025 Draft, which is set for June 24 in Ottawa. Details are yet to be announced.

Toronto and Minnesota will open the 2025 PWHL Playoffs on Wednesday at Coca Cola Coliseum (7 p.m. ET). Montreal and Ottawa will kick things off on Thursday at Place Bell in Laval, Que.