ST PAUL, Minn. — After a red-hot start, then a so-so middle of the season, Minnesota's PWHL franchise finished its inaugural season on a serious losing jag, dropping its last five games with scoring drying up and a serious defensive collapse.
Still, Minnesota gained the fourth and final playoff spot on the season's final day thanks to a loss by Ottawa, and will embark on an underdog mission to capture the 2024 PWHL Championship. To do so, they first must get past Toronto in a best of five series that begins Wednesday, May 8 on the road inside Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drop is at 6 p.m.
The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Montreal taking on third-seed Boston.
Due to a unique twist in the PWHL's playoff format, the league's highest finishing club (Toronto) got to choose between the third and fourth-seeded teams as who it wanted to play in the opening round. Toronto selected Minnesota, probably due to the club's 3-1 record against Minnesota in the regular season, while going 3-2 against Boston.
Minnesota closed the season losing its final five games, while Boston went 3-1-1... including a 2-1 win over Toronto.
Minnesota coach Ken Klee expressed little surprise in Toronto’s decision. “To me, that’s who I expected.” He also noted that Minnesota logged the most air miles in a league whose other five teams are concentrated in the Northeast.
“If I was (Toronto), I would say who has the furthest to come and has the toughest travel to get here,” Klee said. "But in my mind, our group’s excited. We’re in the playoffs.”
Toronto General Manager Gina Kingsbury said the process in determining which opponent to select began last week after Toronto clinched first place. Kingsbury consulted with Ryan before getting feedback from the team’s leadership core and eventually the entire roster.
“In the end, it wasn’t an easy decision. Minnesota was not the necessarily the lead in that right away,” Kingsbury said. “There were a lot of pros and cons on picking Boston or Minnesota. And in the end we just went with what seemed to be a little more pros than cons.”
Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull said the most important thing to remember was to focus on their team, not the opponent.
“No matter who we picked, there’s going to be some people that might think we should have gone the other way,” Turnbull said. “But I think at the end of the day, no matter who we’re going to face in the semifinal round is going to be a really tough opponent.”
Here's how the series lays out.
Wednesday, May 8
Game 1: Minnesota at Toronto (Coca-Cola Coliseum) at 6 p.m. CST
Friday, May 10
Game 2: Minnesota at Toronto (Coca-Cola Coliseum) at 6 p.m. CST
Monday, May 13
Game 3: Toronto at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 7 p.m. CST
Wednesday, May 15*
*Game 4: Toronto at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 7 p.m. CST
Friday, May 17*
*Game 5: Minnesota at Toronto (Coca-Cola Coliseum) at 6 p.m. CST
(*If necessary to extend series)
To buy tickets for games 3 and 4 at Xcel Energy Center, click here.
Most of Minnesota's games were televised on Bally Sports North this season, but customers of Comcast/Xfinity won't be able to see them due to a blackout caused by a breakdown in contract negotiations between the two entities. The good news, is that every game will stream live on the PWHL's YouTube channel for free.
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