When the PWHL started with its first draft, the great players went early, and it never really stopped. With only six teams, and virtually every post college player available, the league’s six teams were going to be stacked.
So, in a hockey league built on parity, what separates the champion from the rest?
“It comes down to details, habits, playing the right way, playing hard, being hard to play against,” said Minnesota captain Kendal Coyne Schofield. She and her teammates are the only ones who know what that’s like after winning the PWHL’s inaugural Walter Cup title last season.
The Frost are back and ready to defend that championship starting Tuesday in Ottawa against a Charge team making its first playoff appearance. They just finished a four-game series against regular-season leader Montreal, so Coyne Scholfield and the Frost aren’t resting on their bone fides.
The experience of winning it all before — the Frost rallied from two games down to beat Boston last spring — helps, Coyne Schofield said, “but it’s not everything.”
“They just played an incredible four-game series the last week and a half, so that’s experience that they’ve just gained,” she added.
Game 1 is set for 6 p.m. CDT at Ottawa’s TD Place Arena.
“The little things … ultimately help win championships, and being good at those night in and night out,” Coyne Schofield said. “A series is hard to be in, and it’s learning quickly, whether it’s something good or something bad, and recognizing that the most important shift is the next one in front of you.”
Both teams rallied to make the playoffs. Minnesota had to win its last two regular-season games to get in as the last of the four seeds. Ottawa overcame a 1-4-0 start and finished the regular season with a 6-3-0 run, then was chosen by Montreal as its first-round opponent.
The Frost and Charge were each 3-3-0 against one another in the regular season.
“I think it says a lot about the parity that has been cultivated in this league,” Charge coach Carla MacLeod said. “It’s incredibly close, it’s incredibly competitive. On any given day, you just have to put your best foot forward, and for our group, that’s been really our focus the whole season, really to just get better and grow.
“If you look at the back half of our season, that’s when we really were able to create some momentum and belief.”
Goaltenders
Charge goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer has been on long term injured reserve since being injured early in a 3-2 victory over Minnesota on March 11. Gwen Phillips has been terrific in relief, going 3-0-1 with a 1.11 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in her first playoff series.
MacLeod said Maschmeyer is day to day with a lower-body injury but acknowledged that Phillips “has been phenomenal.”
“We knew that practicing against her, how lucky we are to have the goalies that we have on our hockey club,” the coach added, “but it’s great to see her come in and play the way she’s been playing. When you try to go on a run like this, it takes guts, it takes players stepping up, and Gwen has done that for us. … We’re pretty confident in front of her.”
The Frost have relied on two goaltenders, really, over their first two seasons, with Maddie Rooney earning a 2.07 GAA and .907 save percentage in 19 regular-season games, and Nicole Hensley, 7-3-1 in 11 regular-season games. Frost coach Ken Klee wasn’t tipping his hand on who would start Game 1.
“It’s no secret we’ve been relying on both of them to play well,” he said. “We did it last year and did it this year, as well, and kind of had the same mindset.”
Briefly
Coyne Schofield was the Frost’s leading scorer in the regular season with 12 goals and 24 points in the regular season — “She’s been our MVP this season,” Klee said — but former Gophers center Taylor Heise is the top scorer in the playoffs so far with a goal and six assists, just ahead of five teammates.
“She’s a big-time player, a big-time personality, and she wants to shine when the lights are bright,” Klee said. “So, I think for her, standing out in these series is just a way for her of re-affirming that she’s one of the best players in the world.”
Related Articles
Taylor Heise plays hero as Frost head back to the Final
Shootout in St. Paul has Frost, Sceptres thinking goalies
Frost seize control of PWHL semifinal series
Source: PWHL has chosen Vancouver for its first expansion franchise
Leave a Reply