Professional Women's Hockey League this Week
June 1, 2024 - Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) News Release
NEW YORK AND TORONTO - Here's a look at highlights from the last week in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) where Minnesota was crowned the first-ever Walter Cup champion.
WALTER CUP. EARNED. BY MINNESOTA.
The inaugural PWHL season has transitioned from 'Ice Time. Earned' to 'Walter Cup. Earned' with Minnesota successfully completing the 'Chase for the Championship' with a 3-0 victory over Boston in Game 5 of the PWHL Finals, presented by Scotiabank. Wednesday's win came 149 days after the season officially launched on Jan. 1, culminating with captain Kendall Coyne Schofield scoring into the empty-net and hoisting the coveted trophy. The Walter Cup, created in partnership with global luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co, was escorted to the ice by Hockey Hall of Fame representatives Craig Campbell and Kelly Masse, and presented by Mark and Kimbra Walter, founding Advisory Board member Billie Jean King, and Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford. Game 5 was the 85th game of the entire season and 13th of the PWHL Playoffs - of which seven were shutout results. See all playoff scores here.
HEISE VOTED ILANA KLOSS PLAYOFF MVP
Minnesota's Taylor Heise was named the first-ever recipient of the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award, presented during the post-game ceremony by founding Advisory Board members Ilana Kloss, Stan Kasten, and Royce Cohen. The 24-year-old rookie forward led the PWHL Playoffs with five goals and tied for first in playoff points with eight in 10 games. Heise was the first overall pick in the inaugural PWHL Draft. The award was voted on by the league's 18-member selection committee.
STATE OF HOCKEY CELEBRATION
PWHL Minnesota hosted a championship celebration Friday night at Xcel Energy Center. The free event offered the more than 3,000 fans in attendance the opportunity to see The Walter Cup for the first time in the State of Hockey. Mayor Melvin Carter officially proclaimed May 31, 2024, to be PWHL Minnesota Day in the City of Saint Paul. Star Tribune reporter Rachel Blount wrote about the event in a piece titled "For PWHL Minnesota, bringing Walter Cup home lets team appreciate the journey." Click here to read.
CHAMPIONSHIP MERCHANDISE
The PWHL's 2024 Walter Cup Championship Collection is available online at shop.thepwhl.com. Fans can pre-order championship gear, including t-shirts, hoodies, hats, and novelty items.
TOP PLAYOFF SCORERS
Taylor Heise (5G, 3A) tied Minnesota teammate Michela Cava (4G, 4A) for the playoff scoring lead with eight points apiece in 10 games. Cava recorded all eight of her points during the PWHL Finals, including a goal and an assist in Game 5. She won her fourth straight professional championship following a 2023 Isobel Cup title with the PHF's Toronto Six, a 2022 victory in the Russian Women's Hockey League with KRS Vanke Rays, and 2021 in the SDHL with Luleå HF. Minnesota rookie defender Sophie Jaques (2G, 3A) and forward Liz Schepers (1G, 4A) tied for third in scoring with five points each. Jaques was acquired by Minnesota from Boston in the first trade in PWHL history on Feb. 11. Schepers is credited with the winning goal in Game 5 - her first goal of the PWHL season. See all playoff top scorers here.
TOP PLAYOFF GOALTENDERS
Minnesota's Nicole Hensley backstopped her team to the title with a 17-save shutout performance in Game 5. She finished the PWHL Playoffs with a 3-2 record, two shutouts, a goals-against-average of 1.06 and a save percentage of .945. Teammate Maddie Rooney also compiled a 3-2 record with two shutouts, along with a 1.12 GAA and a .948 SV%. Boston's Aerin Frankel faced 300 shots in eight games throughout the PWHL Playoffs and made 286 saves for a .953 SV%. She won five games with one shutout and a 1.45 GAA. See all playoff goalie stats here.
PLAYOFF ATTENDANCE SURPASSES 91,000 FANS
Wednesday's Game 5 of the PWHL Finals had a sold-out attendance of 6,309 fans, which represents the largest crowd at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell this season. Attendance in 13 games of the PWHL Playoffs totaled 91,271, an average of 7,021 per game. The league's total attendance in 72 regular-season games was 392,259 with an average of 5,448 per game. Including playoffs, PWHL attendance through 85 total games was 483,530 - an average of 5,689 per game.
MOM AND CHAMPION
"In 11 short months, Kendall Coyne Schofield delivered a child and a championship to Minnesota while at the same time realizing her vision of establishing a women's professional hockey league in North America." That's an excerpt from an Associated Press story by John Wawrow that can be read in full here. The captain also reflected on the full-circle moment in a morning interview on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio with hosts Scott Laughlin and Mike Johnson. Click here for more.
DARWITZ REFLECTS ON HISTORIC SEASON
"There was never a point this season where I didn't believe in this group of players...and we played our best hockey at the right time." That's a quote from Minnesota GM Natalie Darwitz as she reflected on the inaugural PWHL season and seeing her team crowned Walter Cup champions in a Thursday interview on The Jeff Marek Show. Click here for more.
WOMEN'S HOCKEY THE BIGGEST WINNER
"The history of women's hockey certainly didn't begin Wednesday night, but with this league, with its unity among players and investment from management, with its intersection at this pivotal moment in women's sports as a whole, the history is most certainly being rewritten." An excerpt from a Boston Globe story by Tara Sullivan that recaps a special night, for both teams, in Lowell. Click here to read.
SEASON 2 ROSTER BUILDING
PWHL GMs have an exclusive window from June 1 to June 21 to offer contract extensions to players currently under contract to their specific PWHL team. The next step in the roster building process for the 2024-25 campaign is the PWHL Draft on June 10 at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in Saint Paul, MN, that will consist of seven rounds and 42 total selections. Following the PWHL Draft, free agency begins on June 21.
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Professional Women's Hockey League Stories from June 1, 2024
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