The Ottawa Charge have already made history, and they’re now just three wins away from making a heck of a lot more.
On Tuesday night at TD Place in Ottawa, the Charge will become the first Canadian franchise to play in a PWHL Final as they host the defending league champions from Minnesota for the first in a best-of-five game series.
When it’s all over, the Walter Cup will either be thrown overhead by Charge captain Brianne Jenner for the first time, or Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield will hoist it for the second time in as many years.
But that’s still three wins and as many as five games away.
Before this final series starts between the league’s third- and fourth- seeded teams — that’s nothing new for the PWHL, and we’ll get to that — let’s take a look at five storylines to keep an eye on.
Minnesota’s Taylor Heise is clutch as can be, a narrative she keeps extending: Last week, the 25-year-old potted the overtime game-winner that sent the Frost to the Finals for the second straight season. Fourth-ranked Minnesota knocked off second-ranked Toronto in just four games, and Heise made sure the series didn’t go the full five with her first goal of the playoffs.
Heise scored the winner that sunk Toronto a year ago in Game 5 of their semi-final series, too. She was then named Playoff MVP after Minnesota won the historic first-ever Walter Cup.
The PWHL’s No. 1 overall pick in 2024 heads into this series against Ottawa leading all players in post-season scoring with seven points, having recorded two or more in each of her last three outings.
Her line with Michela Cava of Thunder Bay, Ont. and captain Coyne Schofield combined for three goals in their last game. It’s Cava who co-leads the Frost in playoff scoring, with three goals, tied with defender Lee Stecklein, who’s contributing offensively while also eating up massive minutes defensively.
As for Heise, she’s averaging a little more than a point per game (1.07) in the playoffs in her career so far. Nobody in the PWHL tops that.
Ottawa netminder Gwenyth Philips couldn’t have anticipated the year she’s been having: She started it as a backup, then won world championship gold for Team USA and led the Charge to a first-ever playoff appearance.
Last week, the 24-year-old from Ohio became the first PWHL rookie to earn a shutout in the playoffs — and against Montreal’s potent offense, led by captain Marie-Philip Poulin. This week, Philips earned a well-deserved nomination for the PWHL’s goaltender of the year award.
To start this season, Philips opened her rookie campaign in the PWHL backing up Emerance Maschmeyer until the Charge’s starter was injured back in March, and Philips took over. A month later, she was Team USA’s backup at the world championships, until Aerin Frankel was injured in the third period of the gold medal game against Canada. Philips backstopped Team USA to overtime gold after entering that pressure cooker of a game absolutely cold, then returned to Ottawa to lead the Charge to a first-ever playoff berth.
Philips’s post-season stats entering these Finals are dazzling: 1.14 GAA and a .956 save percentage, leading all goalies.
It has been an incredible two month-long stretch for Phillips, and what an incredible cherry on top that championship would be for the Charge netminder.
We learned this in the inaugural year when top-ranked Toronto was dropped in the semi-final by third-ranked Minnesota, the opponent they selected to play (that’s among the PWHL’s rules: If you win the regular season, you pick your opponent).
This season, Montreal won the regular season and chose Ottawa, and the Charge beat the Victoire in four games. In the PWHL, you clearly have to be careful what you wish for.
This sets up for the third- and fourth-ranked teams to battle in the final for the second straight season.
Ottawa and Minnesota are very evenly matched: Both teams finished the regular season with 44 points, and they split their regular season head-to-head series three games apiece.
There were no underdogs heading into the playoffs, and there isn’t a favourite or underdog in the final, even if Minnesota has been here before and Ottawa is making its first appearance in the playoffs.
As Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque puts it: “Anyone can beat anyone.”
Yes, every team does, but Ottawa is tied for the league’s worst in goals for during the regular season, and they’re up against a Frost team that scores a ton from everywhere — Minnesota boasts a high-powered blueline that includes Stecklein and Sophie Jaques, who strike often from the point.
The Charge headed into the playoffs paced in scoring by Tereza Vanisova, whose 15 goals ranked second overall in the league, behind only Poulin. Vanisova hasn’t scored yet in the post-season, but this is a team that scores by committee, and a good sign for Ottawa is that captain Brianne Jenner — who had seven goals in the regular season — scored a pair in the semi-final series against Montreal.
If Jenner can heat up, the Team Canada veteran has shown she’s capable of scoring in bunches, and in the biggest games: Her nine goals at the 2022 Winter Games tied the Olympic record, and she scored the game-winner at the world championships that same year.
Ottawa will look to Vanisova, Emily Clark, Jenner and Shiann Darkangelo to get the scoring going against Minnesota. Vanisova had a hat-trick against Minnesota earlier this season. The only other player in PWHL history to score a hat-trick against Minnesota is none other than captain Jenner.
TD Place is playoffs perfect, and ready to host
Ever since Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe temporarily renamed a stretch of a major downtown artery “Charge Street” after the PWHL club, Ottawa has been perfect at home.
The Charge haven’t lost a playoff game at TD Place in their (yes, very short) history. They head into this Finals with a sparkling 2-0 home record.
And with pre-game plans, too: Among the offerings for fans in Ottawa ahead of Game 1 is a party that includes live music from Juno-nominated artist Jamie Fine, facepainting, sign-making, and a complimentary playoff mullet haircut from an on-site barber. The full experience is recommended.
Schedule (all times local)
Game 1: Tuesday, May 20 at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Thursday, May 22 at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Saturday, May 24 at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
Game 4: Monday, May 26 at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
Game 5: Wednesday, May 28 at Ottawa, 7 p.m.