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LAVAL, Que. — For the first time ever, two Canadian teams will play for the PWHL’s Walter Cup.The stage was officially set for an all-Canadian final after the Montreal Victoire defeated the back-to-back champion Minnesota Frost in a decisive Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Ottawa Charge, meanwhile, punched their ticket to a second straight finals appearance by eliminating the Boston Fleet.
“It’s going to be something the fans haven’t seen yet,” said Montreal coach Kori Cheverie. “The Walter Cup will have a new home this year.”
The best-of-five series kicks off on Thursday at the Victoire’s deafening Place Bell. Here are five key storylines to watch.
Expect a tight series
The Charge enter this series as significant underdogs. That’s to be expected for a team few thought would make the playoffs at the start of the year, facing off against the league’s top regular-season team. The Victoire have an elite core — led by Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Ann-Renée Desbiens and top-four defenders Erin Ambrose and Nicole Gosling — who just did something no other team has in the history of the PWHL:
Defeat the Minnesota Frost in a playoff series.
But Ottawa has high-end talent, too, and has already defied the odds twice this year. First in making the playoffs, despite big losses in the offseason, and then in defeating the No. 2 Boston Fleet in four games. According to The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn’s model, there was only a 17 percent chance of Ottawa pulling off the series win in such few games.
“We definitely don’t see ourselves as the underdogs,” Ottawa forward Michela Cava said on Wednesday. “We have a really strong team, really good leadership and the group is ready to take on anything. We know it’s going to be a battle and that Montreal is a really good team. We’re just excited to be in this position and we’re going to give everything we have to try and come out with a win.”
Ottawa matched up just fine against Montreal in last year’s playoffs, defeating the Victoire in four tight contests. Every single game was decided by one goal and Game 2, a quadruple-overtime marathon, became the longest PWHL game ever played.
Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips, the eventual playoff MVP, posted a .955 save percentage in that series and only allowed six goals against. Poulin and Stacey each only managed to beat Philips once.
The Minnesota Frost ultimately beat Ottawa to win last year’s Walter Cup, their second championship in a row, but all four games of the series required overtime.
“(Ottawa is) relentless,” said Cheverie. “They’re physical. They are fast off the rush. They play a very aggressive style of game. We have enough evidence on them (to know) it’s gonna be a tight series. We’re gonna have to dig down deep to play against an opponent like Ottawa.”
The ultimate X-factor
To the surprise of no one, Poulin was clutch in Montreal’s first-round victory against Minnesota, scoring two game-winning goals in the best-of-five series.
It’s been clear since she was first injured at the women’s Olympic hockey tournament that Poulin is not 100 percent. She missed 10 games with a lower-body injury down the stretch of the regular season and was only activated off long-term injured reserve for the Victoire’s season finale on April 25. After she scored the triple-overtime winner in Game 3, Stacey gave Poulin the team’s player of the game hat, saying in a speech to the team posted on X that Poulin “has battled really (expletive) hard to be able to even be on that ice with us.”
Whatever is going on with Poulin, though, hasn’t stopped her from making big plays in the biggest moments of her PWHL career to date.
Despite only playing 14 minutes on Tuesday night, Poulin had the primary assist on Catherine Dubois’ opening goal and scored the winner on the power play in the third. In Minnesota’s desperate final minutes of the game, Poulin was on the ice, defending Montreal’s lead and blocking shots to help secure the win.
“She wants to be at her best and at the top of her game at all times, and that’s just not always possible given the circumstances year by year,” said Cheverie. “But she is certainly coming through for us right now and she’s finding a way to find the back of the net in crucial moments.”
There’s not much Poulin hasn’t accomplished in her career; an NCAA championship and a Walter Cup are the only major trophies not on the shelf. And with her first real shot at a PWHL title, it’s fair to expect more of the same from Poulin — and a little extra boost from her teammates, who want nothing more than to see No. 29 lift the cup.
“I would be so lucky as a teammate to have this opportunity to share this moment with her,” said Desbiens. “She is a legend. She is ‘Captain Clutch,’ the one and only one. And she deserves all the praise she gets.
“She’s the person you want next to you in the hard moments,” she added. “She’s a person you want a battle for and that’s what this team is going to do.”
Desbiens vs. Philips
By now, you’ve probably heard that Gwyneth Philips is a big-game performer.
After winning playoff MVP — with an absurd .952 save percentage — last season, Philips has picked up right where she left off. In four games against Boston, Philips was steady under a heavy workload, only allowing seven goals on 143 shots for a playoff-leading .951 save percentage. Frankel, meanwhile, allowed nine goals on just 93 shots by Ottawa.
“She’s been phenomenal,” Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner said after the Charge beat Boston on Sunday. “We have a lot of confidence in her.”
Next on the card for Philips is Desbiens, who set league records for wins (19), save percentage (.955) and goals-against average this season (1.11).
After an uncharacteristic start to Montreal’s series against Minnesota — allowing five goals against for the first time in her PWHL career — Desbiens returned to form, only allowing four goals against on 122 shots (a .967 save percentage) in the final four games of the series.
“We can talk about that first game all day long, but how you finish is what matters,” said Poulin. “She’s resilient, she has the grit, she is competitive, I can go on and on and on … She’s the backbone of our team.”
The Cava effect
Cava’s overtime goal on Sunday night didn’t just clinch Ottawa’s spot in the Walter Cup Finals. It also ensured Cava’s remarkable streak of finals appearances — now six straight across four different leagues — remains intact.
As a member of the Minnesota Frost, Cava captured back-to-back Walter Cup championships and finished second in playoff scoring in 2024. Before that, she earned playoff MVP honors en route to an Isobel Cup with the Toronto Six in the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation. Cava also won championships overseas in Sweden and Russia.
“I’m still a little surprised,” Cava said about the streak. “It’s a great experience to be able to be here again. I’m just trying to do everything I can to help the team accomplish what they want to accomplish and it’s fun to be on the other side of it this year with the Charge.”
Cava joined Ottawa via trade after a tough start to the season with the Vancouver Goldeneyes; she scored just one goal and five points in her first 13 games with the expansion team. But over two years in Minnesota, Cava had been productive — particularly in the postseason, with 13 points in 18 games — and established herself as an elite forward and a proven winner.
“We got to know her game extremely well from the PWHL Walter Cup Finals last season,” said general manager Mike Hirshfeld after the trade in January. “And we’re looking forward to adding her grit and compete to our group.”
Cava went scoreless in her first 20 games as a member of the Charge, but had still played well and developed chemistry with linemates Kateřina Mrázová and Fanuza Kadirova. That line combined for 10 points in the first round against Boston, led by Kadirova’s team-leading two goals and five points.
With three points of her own — and her first goal as a member of the Charge — Cava is heating up at the right time with one goal in mind: a sixth straight title.
“It’s so fun to win, especially when you get to do it with a group that you love,” she said. “I’m excited to get going here.”
Will Jenner break through in the finals?
In the regular season, Ottawa relied heavily on its top line of Brianne Jenner, Rebecca Leslie and rookie Sarah Wozniewicz. That trio combined for nearly half (33) of Ottawa’s 71 goals; Leslie and Jenner alone combined for 16, more than any other pair of forwards in the PWHL this season.
Individually, Jenner posted career-best numbers in points (26) and goals (12). According to head coach Carla MacLeod, that kind of production was “a direct reflection” of the work Jenner has put in over three years in Ottawa, and over a decade on Canada’s national team.
“Brianne is one of the best players to have ever played our game,” she said. “(She’s) been the consummate leader for our group and obviously is a key component and key contributor as to why we are here talking about the Walter Cup again this season.”
Jenner has yet to find the back of the net in the 2026 playoffs, but like her outburst this season, it’s only a matter of time before Jenner makes an impact on the scoresheet.
“She’s just an impact player,” said MacLeod. “Every phase (of her career), and every team she’s ever been on.”
Frankly, the fact Ottawa made the finals without much production from Jenner and the top line — Leslie and Wozniewicz scored one goal each — reflects Ottawa’s improved secondary scoring in the first round, which they will need against Montreal.
The schedule
Thursday, May 14
Game 1: Ottawa at Montreal (Place Bell) at 7 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 16
Game 2: Ottawa at Montreal (Place Bell) at 2 p.m. ET
Monday, May 18
Game 3: Montreal at Ottawa (Canadian Tire Centre) at 6 p.m. ET
Wednesday, May 20
Game 4: Montreal at Ottawa (Canadian Tire Centre) at 7 p.m. ET (if necessary)
Note: Montreal will have home ice for Game 5 (if necessary). Details will be announced at a later date.
How to watch
The Walter Cup Finals will air nationally in the United States on ION and will remain available on the league’s YouTube channel.
In Canada, the series will air exclusively on TSN and RDS.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, NHL, Sports Business, Women's Hockey
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