Frost clinch spot in 2026 Walter Cup Playoffs
The defending champions will once again defend their title.
With a 6-5 win over the Vancouver Goldeneyes on Saturday afternoon in St. Paul, the Minnesota Frost clinched a spot in the 2026 Walter Cup Playoffs.
CLINCHED.
The back-to-back PWHL champions become the third team to punch their ticket to the postseason, joining the Montreal Victoire and Boston Fleet, who are tied for the earliest playoff berths in league history. The Frost also joined the Victoire as the only other team to qualify for hockey beyond the regular season in each of the first three seasons. The Toronto Sceptres are still in the running for a third-straight postseason berth as well.
It certainly wasn’t an easy victory for the Frost. At the halfway mark of the contest, the team was trailing the Goldeneyes 4-2. Yet, Minnesota scored four unanswered goals, including consecutive power-play markers from Kelly Pannek, giving her four points on the day, snapping the squad’s three-game losing skid.
For the Frost, clinching a playoff spot with five games to go in the regular season is a welcome change. In each of the team’s first two years of existence, Minnesota only earned a spot on the final day of the season, having to beat Boston to defend the Walter Cup last year. Even though they finished fourth in the standings in 2024 and 2024-25, the Frost found a way to pick up their game when it mattered most, winning two Walter Cups, going 12-6 in the playoffs.
This year’s team has been carried by the league’s top offense. The Frost have scored 83 goals in 25 games, with no other team having reached 70. The PWHL’s top five scorers come from Minnesota. Pannek leads the field with 14 goals and 28 points, with Taylor Heise right behind her with 26 points. Britta Curl-Salemme (24), Kendall Coyne Schofield (20) and Grace Zumwinkle (18) have been key to the team’s success.
The goaltending, while shaky at times, has done enough to get the job done, as Ken Klee’s team will rely on the tandem of Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney to carry it to a potential third straight championship.
Despite knowing ahead of time that they will know they be playing in the playoffs, the Frost have a new goal in mind: clinching home-ice advantage for the first time in team history. With the win, Minnesota (12-3-4-6) remains third in the PWHL, five points back of the Fleet for second and six behind the first-place Victoire.