2026 Walter Cup playoffs

2026 Walter Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 30 – TBD
Teams	4
Defending champions	Minnesota Frost

The 2026 Walter Cup playoffs is the playoff tournament of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) for the 2025–26 season. The playoffs began on April 30, 2026.

The Boston Fleet were the first team to make the playoffs, when they did so on March 29 in a 4–2 win over the Minnesota Frost. In doing so, they became the fastest team in league history to clinch a playoff spot, having accomplished the feat in their 24th game of the season. Three days later, the Montreal Victoire were the second team to qualify for the playoffs, after a 3–0 win over the Vancouver Goldeneyes. On April 4, the Minnesota Frost clinched a spot after defeating the Goldeneyes, 6–5.

The Ottawa Charge qualified for the fourth and final playoff spot in their last regular season game, defeating the Toronto Sceptres, 3–0 on April 25. The Sceptres would have earned the playoff spot instead had they won the game in regulation. It was the first time in league history that Toronto had missed the playoffs. Montreal secured first place in their final game of the season, also on April 25, a 2–1 shootout victory against the Seattle Torrent. They finished the season tied with the Boston Fleet at 62 points, but held the tiebreaker over Boston.

Playoff bracket

On April 26, 2026, by virtue of finishing first overall, the Montreal Victoire chose the Minnesota Frost as their first-round opponent.

Semi-finals

Finals

April 30–, Tsongas Center and Canadian Tire Centre

Boston Fleet

2

1

1

–

–

TBD

Ottawa Charge

1

3

2

–

–

TBD

May 2–, Place Bell and Grand Casino Arena

TBD

Montreal Victoire

4

1***

2

1

–

Minnesota Frost

5*

0

1

3

–

* - Denotes overtime period(s)

Semi-finals

Montreal (1) vs. Minnesota (3)

Montreal finished first overall in the league, earning 62 points. Minnesota finished third overall with 50 points. Montreal won all four games against Minnesota in the regular season, two of which were in overtime.

In Game 1, Minnesota's Jincy Roese scored 4:30 into overtime to win the game for the Frost, 5–4. It was the third straight year that Montreal lost game one of their first round series on home ice. Katy Knoll, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Grace Zumwinkle, and Sidney Morin scored the other goals for Minnesota, while Laura Stacey scored the first playoff hat trick in league history for Montreal, with Shiann Darkangelo getting the Victoire's first goal. Minnesota's Britta Curl-Salemme was suspended for one game due to an illegal check to the head against Kaitlin Willoughby and fined $250 due to pulling Abby Roque's facial protector, which caused Roque to fall to the ice.

In Game 2, Montreal's Marie-Philip Poulin scored the only goal, at the 4:02 mark in triple overtime to win the game 1–0. Ann-Renée Desbiens recorded her first career playoff shutout, stopping all 38 Minnesota shots. Maddie Rooney made 51 saves in the loss for Minnesota. It was Minnesota's seventh straight playoff game to go to overtime, and it was the third playoff game in league history with only one goal scored.

In Game 3, Montreal took a 2–1 series after a 2–1 win, thanks to goals scored by Maggie Flaherty and Hayley Scamurra 24 second apart in the second period. Minnesota took the early lead thanks to a goal by Sidney Morin 3:22 into the first period, her second goal of the playoffs and in the entire season.

Minnesota's Sidney Morin continued her playoff goal scoring ways in Game 4, netting two goals in the third period in a 3–1 win to tie the series 2 games apiece. Kelly Pannek scored the third Minnesota goal, an empty netter to secure the win. Montreal took a 1–0 lead thanks to a goal by Maureen Murphy at 1:13 of the third period. With the win, the Frost are 5–0 as a franchise in playoff elimination games.

May 2	Minnesota Frost		5–4	OT	Montreal Victoire	Place Bell	Recap
Katy Knoll (1) – 8:36 Kendall Coyne Schofield (1) – pp – 16:16		First period			No scoring
Grace Zumwinkle (1) – 18:35		Second period			2:46 – Shiann Darkangelo (1) 17:49 – Laura Stacey (1)
Sidney Morin (1) – sh – 3:46		Third period			2:58 – pp – Laura Stacey (2) 4:46 – pp – Laura Stacey (3)
Jincy Roese (1) – 4:30		First overtime period			No scoring
Maddie Rooney 21 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Ann-Renée Desbiens 24 saves / 29 shots

May 5	Minnesota Frost		0–1	3OT	Montreal Victoire	Place Bell	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		Third overtime period			4:02 – Marie-Philip Poulin (1)
Maddie Rooney 51 saves / 52 shots		Goalie stats			Ann-Renée Desbiens 38 saves / 38 shots

May 7	Montreal Victoire		2–1		Minnesota Frost	Grand Casino Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			3:22 – Sidney Morin (2)
Maggie Flaherty (1) – 4:36 Hayley Scamurra (1) – 5:00		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Ann-Renée Desbiens 27 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Maddie Rooney 17 saves / 19 shots

May 8	Montreal Victoire		1–3		Minnesota Frost	Grand Casino Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Maureen Murphy (1) – 1:13		Third period			8:05 – Sidney Morin (3) 12:01 – pp – Sidney Morin (4) 18:43 – en – Kelly Pannek (1)
Ann-Renée Desbiens 28 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Maddie Rooney 29 saves / 30 shots

May 11

Minnesota Frost

7:00 p.m.

Montreal Victoire

Place Bell

Recap

Series tied 2–2

Boston (2) vs. Ottawa (4)

Boston finished in second place in the league, earning 62 points in the standings. Ottawa finished fourth with 44 points. Ottawa beat Boston three times in the regular season, twice in a shootout, and once in overtime. Boston beat Ottawa once, in a shootout.

In Game 1, Boston took the early series lead with a 2–1 win. The game was characterized by the amount of penalties taken – with a total of 25 minutes for both teams, including 3 penalties in the first ten minutes. Jocelyne Larocque opened the scoring for Ottawa, tipping a shot from Rory Guilday at the 18 minute mark. Boston's Alina Müller scored the equalizer at 17:56 of the second, with Jamie Lee Rattray scoring the go ahead for the Fleet soon after. Her goal proved to be the decider.

In Game 2, Ottawa evened up the series at one game apiece, beating Boston 3–1. Ronja Savolainen opened up the scoring for the Charge with a wrist shot from inside the blue line with 6:44 to go in the first. Fanuza Kadirova doubled the goals for Ottawa 1:52 into the second period with a one-timer from the right circle, beating Aerin Frankel on her glove side. Megan Keller scored for Boston with just 10 seconds to go in the second. With Frankel pulled for an extra attacker, Gabbie Hughes scored on the open net to give Ottawa the insurance marker. Gwyneth Philips made 30 saves in the winning effort.

In Game 3, Ottawa took the series lead thanks to a goal scored by Ronja Savolainen with 29 seconds left in the third period, breaking a 1–1 tie. The goal was scored when Savolainen shot the puck off the back boards, which bounced back onto Boston's goaltender Aerin Frankel's skate and into the net. The game was played in front of 13,112 fans, setting a PWHL playoff record. Fanuza Kadirova scored the other goal for Ottawa. Gwyneth Philips made 36 saves for the Charge, leading all playoff goaltenders with a 1.34 goals against average and a .958 save percentage.

April 30	Ottawa Charge		1–2		Boston Fleet	Tsongas Center	Recap
Jocelyne Larocque (1) – pp – 18:06		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			17:56 – Alina Müller (1) 19:27 – Jamie Lee Rattray (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Gwyneth Philips 26 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Aerin Frankel 17 saves / 18 shots

May 2	Ottawa Charge		3–1		Boston Fleet	Tsongas Center	Recap
Ronja Savolainen (1) – 13:16		First period			No scoring
Fanuza Kadirova (1) – 1:54		Second period			19:50 – Megan Keller (1)
Gabbie Hughes (1) – en – 18:30		Third period			No scoring
Gwyneth Philips 30 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Aerin Frankel 18 saves / 20 shots

May 8	Boston Fleet		1–2		Ottawa Charge	Canadian Tire Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			13:33 – Fanuza Kadirova (2)
Liz Schepers (1) – 5:11		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			19:31 – Ronja Savolainen (2)
Aerin Frankel 20 saves / 22 shots		Goalie stats			Gwyneth Philips 36 saves / 37 shots

May 10

Boston Fleet

3:00 p.m.

Ottawa Charge

Canadian Tire Centre

Recap

May 12

Ottawa Charge

7:00 p.m.

Boston Fleet

Tsongas Center

Recap

Ottawa leads series 2–1

Finals

Main article: 2026 Walter Cup finals

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

As of May 8

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Sidney Morin	Minnesota Frost	4	4	0	4	+3	2
Laura Stacey	Montreal Victoire	4	3	1	4	-2	4
Kelly Pannek	Minnesota Frost	4	1	3	4	0	0
Fanuza Kadirova	Ottawa Charge	3	2	1	3	+2	2
Ronja Savolainen	Ottawa Charge	3	2	1	3	0	2
Jocelyne Larocque	Ottawa Charge	3	1	2	3	+2	2
Alina Müller	Boston Fleet	3	1	2	3	+1	2
Hayley Scamurra	Montreal Victoire	4	1	2	3	+2	0
Marie-Philip Poulin	Montreal Victoire	4	1	2	3	-3	0
Abby Roque	Montreal Victoire	4	0	3	3	-3	4

Leading goaltenders

As of May 8

Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	OTL	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Gwyneth Philips	Ottawa Charge	3	178:34	2	1	0	4	0	.958	1.34
Ann-Renée Desbiens	Montreal Victoire	4	286:56	2	1	1	8	1	.936	1.67
Maddie Rooney	Minnesota Frost	4	286:23	2	1	1	8	0	.937	1.68
Aerin Frankel	Boston Fleet	3	178:08	1	2	0	5	0	.917	1.68

Attendance

Playoff attendance

Home team	Home games	Average attendance	Total attendance
Ottawa	1	13,112	13,112
Montreal	2	8,447	16,894
Minnesota	2	5,914	11,828
Boston	2	5,151	10,302
League	7	7,448	52,136

Media

The Boston–Ottawa semifinal series will be aired on TSN in Canada, and NESN in the United States, while the Minnesota–Montreal semifinal series will be aired on Prime Video in Canada and FOX 9+ in the United States. The finals will be aired on TSN in English and RDS in French, and on Ion Television in the United States.