2026 Walter Cup Playoffs: Victoire vs. Frost series preview
Minnesota Frost: 3rd place, 13-3-5-9 (50 points)
Montreal Victoire: 1st place, 16-6-2-6 (62 points)
Editor’s Note: Tyler Kuehl also contributed to this piece
Schedule (ET)
| Date | Game | Time (ET) |
| May 2 | 1. Minnesota at Montreal | 2 p.m. |
| May 5 | 2. Minnesota at Montreal | 7 p.m. |
| TBD | 3. Montreal at Minnesota | TBD |
| TBD* | 4. Montreal at Minnesota | TBD |
| TBD* | 5. Minnesota at Montreal | TBD |
*if necessary
The Skinny
Hunter: The Victoire achieved the best regular-season record in PWHL history — I know, I know, it’s been three seasons — but winning 22 of a possible 30 games is an impressive feat, regardless of the league’s age. It’s the second straight season Montreal clinched the No. 1 spot in the standings, although last year’s squad didn’t have the depth this year’s lineup has, with Abby Roque and Nicole Gosling providing a spark for a franchise that’s yet to win a playoff series.
But despite the increased production beyond the Victoire’s best players, how far the team will go in the playoffs will depend on Marie-Philip Poulin and what the game’s greatest player will be able to provide, as injuries have kept her out of the lineup for a third of the season. If Montreal can hit the same notes they strummed in the regular season, we could see a new Walter Cup champion.
Tyler: The Frost have all the clout heading into the series. The two-time defending Walter Cup champions are coming off the best regular season in the team’s young history, putting them well within reach of another deep playoff run. Minnesota took a different path to the postseason. The team squeaked into the fourth and final playoff seed in each of the past two years on the final day. This time, the Frost finished third in the league, thanks to the best offense in the PWHL, seemingly scoring their way out of trouble.
The big question for Minnesota will be the energy level of the roster. Not only has this team played more hockey than the rest of the league, but many of their big stars – including Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle – were overseas competing in the Olympics. While that might not seem out of the ordinary, given the league paused for the IIHF Women’s World Championship in its first two seasons, the Frost has seen more wear and tear than other teams in the league.
Head to Head
Montreal: 2-2-0-0
Minnesota: 0-0-2-2
The Victoire won all four matchups with the Frost in 2025-26, two in regulation and two in overtime. In March, Montreal shutout Minnesota 4-0 and 3-0, respectively, with Victoire netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens stopping 38 shots between the two games.
While regular-season success doesn’t necessarily mean it will translate to the postseason, Montreal outshot Minnesota in all four games and were able to confidently suppress shot attempts and scoring chances from the league’s top offensive lineup.
Top Five Scorers
Montreal
Abby Roque, 22 pts
Laura Stacey, 22 pts
Nicole Gosling, 19 pts
Marie-Philip Poulin, 18 pts
Hayley Scamurra, 16 pts
Minnesota
Kelly Pannek, 33 pts
Taylor Heise, 30 pts
Britta Curl-Salemme, 29 pts
Grace Zumwinkle, 23 pts
Kendall Coyne Schofield, 23 pts
Offense
Hunter: With Poulin’s absence, the likes of Roque, Gosling, Laura Stacey and Hayley Scamurra stepped up, resulting in the second-most goals in the league with 78. Apart from Stacey, each of Victoire’s top point producers played elsewhere last season, highlighting how Montreal knew they had to shake things up if they wanted to finally make some noise in the postseason.
What really stood out was the play of Gosling, taken No. 4 overall in the 2025 PWHL Draft, who led the team with 16 assists while providing strong two-way play on the blue line. She finished the season tied for second among defenders in points, and if the field weren’t so crowded, she would get some love for Rookie of the Year.
However, what’s clear going into their first-round series is that Montreal lacks a pure scorer, as the player with the most goals was … Poulin, who despite missing 11 games, led the way with nine. Minnesota has five skaters who reached double digits in goals this season. If the Victoire thinks they will advance past the Frost, someone is going to need to stand out.
Tyler: As previously stated, the Frost finished the regular season with the league’s best scoring attack. Not only did the team finish with the most goals scored in a single season (91), but the top three point-getters come from Minnesota’s roster, with five players inside the top 10 in goal scoring. Kelly Pannek leads the attack after a monster season. The Plymouth, Minn. native scored 27 points in her first two years in the league, but exploded for career highs in goals (16), assists (17) and a PWHL-record 33 points, earning the league’s Top Goal Scorer and Points Leader awards.
On top of that, Heise, who usually was left to showcase her playmaking ability, proved she can put the puck in the net, doing so 13 times this season, as did second-year forward Britta Curl-Salemme. The duo finished second and third behind Pannek in scoring in the PWHL. After a bumpy second year in the league, 2024 Rookie of the Year Grace Zumwinkle played with renewed confidence this season, potting 13 goals and 23 points. Despite missing seven games this year due to an injury suffered in Milan, Coyne Schofield still posted 12 goals and 23 points in 23 games.
With so many offensive weapons, it made sense that Minnesota heads into the series with the best power play in the PWHL. The team led the pack with 20 goals on the power play, operating at a 23 percent clip.
Defense
Hunter: Montreal showcased a balanced defensive corps for most of the season, with Gosling filling the youth gap left by Cayla Barnes, who left for the Seattle Torrent in the offseason. Maggie Flaherty, who won back-to-back Walter Cup titles with the Frost, provided the Victoire with some much-needed grit on the backend, leading the league in blocked shots (63), the team in penalty minutes (35) and all Montreal defenders in hits (30). The strides Kati Tabin has taken since entering the league have been noticed, as she’s one of Montreal’s most reliable blueliners.
Erin Ambrose was another major piece who missed a third of the season due to injury, recording career lows in points (6) and average ice time (19:23). But having an experienced blueliner like her in a second- and third-pair role is a luxury, especially when going up against a Minnesota lineup with impressive depth.
Montreal did such a good job of suffocating the scoring chances of their opponents that they set the league record for the least amount of goals given up with 41, an average of 1.37 goals against per game. And yes, that includes the 24-game inaugural season.
Tyler: Defense has been a little bit of a concern for the Frost this year. Without Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson being picked up by the Vancouver Goldeneyes in the expansion process last summer, Ken Klee’s team has tried to fill holes on the back end. Sure, Natalie Buchbinder is one of the best stay-at-home defenders in the league, and Lee Stecklein has had a much better season compared to 2024-25, but the team lacks depth on the blue line. That’s why Minnesota traded away franchise original Denisa Krizova to the New York Sirens in exchange for Jincy Roese, though early returns on the deal haven’t been great.
The only saving grace for the Frost, historically speaking, is how the team has managed to lock things down when it matters most. In each of the first two playoffs, Minnesota has shut down a vaunted Toronto Sceptres attack in the semifinals (though Toronto losing Natalie Spooner to injury in 2024 might’ve had something to do with that series). With how physical the Frost is, they can impose their will on other teams by beating them into submission, which could cover some of their defensive woes.
Goaltending
Hunter: I mean, need we say more? To put into context how good Desbiens’ season was: She won Goaltender of the Year last season after leading the league in all major categories, then improved greatly in those same categories, posting a .955 save percentage (SV%), a 1.11 goals against average (GAA) with a 19-4-2 record in 25 games in 2025-26. The only player who was in the same universe as her was Boston Fleet netminder Aerin Frankel, then it’s a major gap in between.
Desbiens will be in tough against a Minnesota lineup that’s broken league records for offense. That said, she’s stood tall in all four games against the Frost this season, giving up just three goals and recording two shutouts in that span.
Tyler: For the third season in a row, the Frost will be banking on the play of its all-American tandem of Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley. Both have performed significantly better compared to last season, when Minnesota a team save percentage of .900. Rooney, last year’s 1a in the playoffs, once against outplayed her partner, going 9-5-2 with a 2.04 GAA and .921 SV%, good for sixth in the league. Hensley has been a solid 1B once again, but she still hasn’t been able to match the efforts of Rooney.
That said, I don’t expect Klee to veer away from what he has done in playoffs past, and that’s rotate the two goaltenders in the first round before potentially leaning one away in the final, should Minnesota manage to make it there.
Injuries
Hunter: The Victoire go into the Walter Cup Playoffs with a healthy lineup as Poulin and forward Maureen Murphy were activated off long-term injured reserve last week. All three of Poulin, Murphy, and Ambrose missed at least nine games this season, and their returns are welcome additions to the league’s top roster.
Tyler: The Frost received great news a couple of weeks ago when Buchbinder was activated off LTIR, restoring some stability on the back end. The only injury Frost has carried into the postseason is that of forward Dominique Petrie. The second-year power forward suffered a lower-body injury back in January, but has been since shut down for the rest of the year.
Intangibles
Hunter: The Victoire have fallen short in each of their first two postseason appearances, being swept by the Fleet in 2024 then losing in four to the Ottawa Charge last spring. One criticism against Montreal in the past was their inability to match the intensity of their opponent and not step up physically when required. That should change with the additions of Roque and Flaherty, who have brought a shot of adrenaline in the arm of a franchise that desperately needed.
Internationally, the likes of Poulin, Stacey, Ambrose and Desbiens bring a gold medal-winning pedigree that’s carried Canada through the years, despite the silver-medal finish last February in Italy. The Victoire’s veterans know how to play in the most tense moments, and if anyone is going to take down the defending champions, it’s them.
Tyler: That Walter Cup patch on the Frost’s sweaters should be all that you need to know about the winning pedigree this team possesses. 16 players from last year’s roster are back seeking another championship, with nine still remaining from the team that won the league’s inaugural championship two years ago. They have shown that being labeled as an underdog only drives them to play at an even higher level come playoff time.
On top of that, you have the championship experience on the international stage. Six players were on the United States team that won gold in Milan, with several of the players having been part of gold-medal-winning rosters at the Women’s Worlds in the past. Top that off with a coach of Klee’s caliber, and Minnesota has the certified mental edge heading into its third straight PWHL playoff appearance.
Intangibles
Hunter: In previous years, Poulin would be the easy choice for the X-factor, but this year I’m going with Desbiens. The 32-year-old netminder was the Victoire’s most valuable player this season and in the rare instances the team was outplayed, she stood on her head. We often cite how a league with so few teams has the world’s best goaltenders facing off every night, and Montreal may have the best one. The Victoire will have their hands full every night with Minnesota’s forwards, and Desbiens will need to be the first one to slam the door shut.
Tyler: As much as I know, fans are going to hate to hear me say it, Curl-Salemme is the player to watch out for on the Frost. Unquestionably the most hated player in the league by fans, No. 77 has proven time and time again that she can come through in the clutch, despite being showered with jeers by opposing supporters. Just look at what she was able to do in last year’s final against the Ottawa Charge. The former Wisconsin captain has a clutch gene in her, and the physical presence that makes her miserable to play against, which is only going to get worse in the playoffs
Prediction
Call it a hunch, but this is the year Minnesota finally goes down. When you combine back-to-back Walter Cup Final runs with the Olympics, the World Championships, and NCAA runs their younger players have skated in, it’s impressive that the Frost were so dominant for chunks of this season. But time catches up to all of us, and Minnesota’s offense will be parched when they go up against Montreal’s Desbiens and their revamped defensive corps.
Expect the Victoire crowd and early goals for Montreal to overwhelm the Frost in Game 1, which will set the tone for a series result that guarantees a Walter Cup champion that doesn’t hail from Minnesota.
Victoire wins, 3-1