The No. 3 Minnesota Frost are looking to skate up the PWHL table, as the reigning back-to-back champs hope to make up ground before the third-year league breaks for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Eight games into the 2025/26 season, the Boston Fleet top the PWHL standings with 19 points, trailed by the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres with 14, while the No. 4 Montréal Victoire sit one point behind the Frost with 11.
"Our league is good. Every game is going to be close," Minnesota head coach Ken Klee said last week. "It's just about getting better and keep accumulating points."
With the league's original six teams largely off to a hot start, there's only a few weeks left before players hang up their PWHL jerseys for February's Winter Games.
Teams outside the current playoff chase are also making a statement, as New York Sirens forward Casey O'Brien scored her first pro goals to power the sixth-place squad past the No. 5 Seattle Torrent 4-3 on Sunday — becoming the first rookie to record a hat trick in PWHL history in the process.
"We've been putting in a lot of work in practice and video, focusing on the little things," O'Brien said postgame. "Tonight felt like the payoff."
How to watch this week's PWHL action
The puck drops on the final 2025 PWHL matches on Tuesday, when the No. 3 Minnesota Frost visit the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres at 7 PM ET, airing live on Prime.
Closing out the year on Wednesday, the No. 6 New York Sirens will host the No. 7 Vancouver Goldeneyes at 1 PM ET, with live coverage airing on MSG Network.
The puck dropped on the 2025/26 PWHL Takeover Tour on Wednesday, when the No. 2 Montréal Victoire took down the No. 5 Toronto Sceptres 2-1 in an overtime shootout in front of a sold-out crowd in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Packed into Scotiabank Centre, 10,438 fans watched Team Canada and Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin score the shootout's lone goal, handing Montréal their third straight win.
"It was amazing to see the young girls and boys in the crowd wearing our jerseys, saying our names, and wanting our autographs," said Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie. "It's just extremely special."
The PWHL's 16-stop Takeover Tour is just beginning, with nine games planned for Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Washington DC, Denver, and more before the league pauses for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
"We hope that the impact is a positive one. Everywhere we go, that's the impression we want to leave — for little girls to know that they have a dream and that their dream can become a reality," said Sceptres captain and Nova Scotia product Blayre Turnbull following Wednesday's Tour stop.
Halifax marks the third-year league's fourth sold-out stop, joining fellow Canadian cities Edmonton, Québec City, and Vancouver.
How to attend the 2025/26 PWHL Takeover Tour
The PWHL will next pull into Chicago's Allstate Arena for a Takeover Tour stop on Sunday, when the No. 8 Ottawa Charge will take on the No. 6 Minnesota Frost on at 2 PM ET.
Tickets are currently available for purchase via Ticketmaster.
Reigning PWHL champions Minnesota will be back on the ice on Friday, when the Frost opens the league's 2025/26 season — and their own three-peat title quest — against the Toronto Sceptres in St. Paul.
"Right now, we're not worried about championships," Frost head coach Ken Klee said prior to this week's puck drop. "We're worried about the process, how we're going to prepare every day, how we work, how we're going to get better. To me, that's how you win."
The back-to-back Walter Cup winners have continuity on their side after the Frost protected captain Kendall Coyne Schofield and alternate Lee Stecklein from the offseason expansion draft benefitting the league's two newest teams.
Early points will also be key this season, as the PWHL preps for an extended pause starting in late January to allow international talent to compete in February's 2026 Winter Olympics.
As for Toronto, the Sceptres are seeking revenge in Friday's opener, starting their season against the team that knocked them out of the 2024/25 PWHL Playoffs.
"We're wanting to win the Walter Cup," said Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury. "I think every year that has to be the goal. We're going to play hard for our fans and to represent the city of Toronto."
How to watch the first game of the 2025/26 PWHL season
The puck drops on the 2025/26 PWHL season when the Toronto Sceptres visit the Minnesota Frost at 7 PM ET on Friday, airing live on FDSN and YouTube.
With the puck dropping on the expanded third PWHL season on Friday, the league announced its 2025/26 broadcast schedule on Tuesday — with games now set to reach more than 96 million homes.
While all US games will continue to stream on the league's YouTube channel, national coverage will now also be available across FOX, Paramount, Scripps Sports, Gray Media, and TEGNA this season, in addition to previous regional partners like NESN, MSG Networks, KONG, and FanDuel Sports Network.
"The PWHL's broadcast strategy isn't about exclusivity — it's about accessibility," said PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer in a league statement.
"We're ensuring fans everywhere can experience the speed, skill, and intensity of PWHL hockey. This approach allows us to continue expanding our audience, strengthen local connections, and showcase our world-class athletes on the biggest possible stage."
The expanded broadcast footprint of the PWHL mirrors the league's growth, with the 2025/26 season seeing both the addition of two franchises — the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes — as well as an increase of 30 games, bringing the third campaign's total to 120 contests.
How to watch the 2025/26 PWHL season openers this week
The puck drops on the 2025/26 PWHL season with two games on Friday, beginning when the Toronto Sceptres visit the two-time defending champion Minnesota Frost at 7 PM ET, airing live across FOX9+, FDSN, NESN, TSN, and YouTube.
The nightcap pits the league's incoming expansion teams against each other, with the Vancouver Goldeneyes hosting the Seattle Torrent at 10 PM ET, with live coverage across KONG, NESN, TSN, and YouTube.
The 2025/26 PWHL season schedule arrived on Wednesday, with the pro hockey league preparing to hit the ice coast-to-coast for the first time ever when its third season begins on Friday, November 21st.
In celebration of the PWHL's two new West Coast teams, the season-opening doubleheader will feature the first-ever game between incoming expansion sides Seattle and Vancouver, who will face off after the back-to-back reigning champion Minnesota Frost takes on the Toronto Sceptres.
"We can't wait for puck drop to see the impact our new and returning players will make, and to deliver a competitive season with even more games for fans to enjoy," said PWHL EVP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford in a league statement.
While each team will again play 30 games on this season's schedule, the increase of the PWHL lineup from six to eight teams means that the 2025/26 campaign will span 120 total games — a 30-game increase over the league's second season.
The 2025/26 PWHL regular season will run through April 25th, though the league will pause play from January 29th to February 25th to allow for the 2026 Winter Olympics, with more than 50 PWHL players expected to compete for international glory in Italy.
How to buy tickets for the 2025/26 PWHL season
While season passes for each of the league's eight teams are available now, single-game tickets to all 120 PWHL clashes will go on sale on October 14th.
All tickets for the 2025/26 season will be available online.
The 2025 PWHL Draft has arrived, as the newly expanded eight-team league kicks off its third entry draft on Tuesday while continuing to stock rosters with new signings and front office reshuffling.
Incoming expansion teams Vancouver and Seattle named their head coaches in recent weeks, with the Canadian squad bringing on former St. Cloud State University coach Brian Idalski while Seattle tapped Steve O'Rourke, ex-leader of Ontario men's junior league side Oshawa Generals.
Players are also on the move, with the June 16th opening of the league-wide trade and signing window sending postseason standouts like Ottawa's Danielle Serdachny and Montréal's Mikyla Grant-Mentis to join US hockey legend Hilary Knight in Seattle.
Meanwhile, Toronto star Sarah Nurse and Montréal's Jennifer Gardiner will head to Vancouver.
Other notable signings include Boston snagging back-to-back PWHL title-winning goalscorer Liz Schepers from Minnesota, and deals sending Ottawa forward Shiann Darkangelo to Montréal and Boston defender Sidney Morin to Minnesota.
Teams have also been busy locking in veterans, with the likes of Montréal's Catherine Dubois and Toronto's Natalie Spooner — the league's 2024 Billie Jean King MVP winner — inking contract extensions with their squads.
The next step in finalizing 2025/26 PWHL rosters is Tuesday's Draft, in which 48 incoming players will earn selection by one of the eight teams across six rounds of picks.
For the second straight year, the New York Sirens hold the first pick, with reigning champion Minnesota and the expansion teams bringing up the rear of the selection order.
With a bevy of young talent available, Tuesday's No. 1 pick will likely be one of three NCAA standouts, as Wisconsin's all-time leading scorer and three-time national champion Casey O'Brien, Colgate's scoring leader Kristýna Kaltounková, and Team USA and Clarkson defender Haley Winn are all top candidates to earn the first 2025 call-up.
How to watch the 2025 PWHL Draft tonight
The 2025 PWHL Entry Draft begins at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, with live coverage streaming on YouTube.
The Minnesota Frost are back-to-back PWHL champions, taking down the Ottawa Charge 2-1 in Game 4 of the league's best-of-five Finals to lift the Walter Cup for the second time on Monday.
All bouts in the 2025 PWHL Finals were overtime affairs that finished in 2-1 results, with No. 3-seed Ottawa claiming Game 1 before the No. 4-seed Frost swept the next three games to claim the 2024/25 league title.
Monday's deciding matchup saw forward Kelly Pannek give Minnesota their first lead of the entire series by striking first in the second period before Ottawa forward Tereza Vanišová equalized in the third to force overtime.
Following 12 extra minutes of play, Frost forward Liz Schepers netted the game-winner — doing so for the second year in a row — to secure the Walter Cup in front of a Minnesota home crowd of 11,024 fans.
"I'll win anywhere. It's always fun — but to get to do it at home is extra special," said Frost defenseman Lee Stecklein following the Memorial Day victory.
Frost's Stecklein, Charge's Philips top PWHL Playoffs stat sheet
Stecklein finished the postseason as the league's scoring leader, notching four goals and four assists to finish atop the Frost-laden skaters' table with eight points — narrowly surpassing the seven points posted by teammates Sophie Jaques (two goals, five assists) and Taylor Heise (one goal, six assists).
On the other hand, Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips led all net-minders on the PWHL's postseason stat sheet while playing the most minutes between the pipes in league history.
The rookie's failure to drop a single game in regulation throughout the Charge's eight playoff matchups helped earn her the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award, despite Monday's series loss.
Notably, Minnesota's second straight PWHL championship belies the Frost's underdog status.
After needing another team's downfall to even squeak into the playoffs, doing to on the last day of the regular season, Minnesota got hot at just the right time to retain their singular hold on the second-year league's title.
"It's the belief we have in the room," Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said after the win. "It's hard to put into words. I think when you look at the way we won, it takes everybody."
For the second straight year, the 2025 PWHL Finals are down to the postseason's underdogs, with the No. 3 seed Ottawa Charge and the No. 4 seed Minnesota Frost facing off in the best-of-five championship series after ousting the league's top teams.
Minnesota booked their Finals spot with a 3-1 series victory over No. 2 seed Toronto last Wednesday, before Ottawa ousted top-seeded Montréal by the same series margin on Friday.
While the Frost gear up to defend their 2024 Walter Cup title this week, first-time playoff team Ottawa will aim to make even more history by securing Canada’s first-ever PWHL trophy.
This year's PWHL Finals pits Minnesota's red-hot offense, which netted 18 goals across four semifinal games, against Ottawa's shutdown defense.
Led by rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips — a 2025 Goaltender of the Year finalist — the Charge allowed just six pucks into the net through four playoff games.
Philips's top save percentage and low 1.14 goals-against average will be put to the test by the Frost, who claim seven of the PWHL's Top-8 postseason players, led by forward Taylor Heise and her seven playoff points.
How to watch the 2025 PWHL Finals
The puck drops on the 2025 PWHL Finals tonight at 7 PM ET, as Minnesota hits the ice against Ottawa live on YouTube.
The defending champion Minnesota Frost punched their ticket to the 2025 PWHL Finals on Wednesday, keeping their dream of a second-straight Walter Cup alive by repeating semifinals history.
For the second year in a row, the lower-seeded Frost eliminated the Toronto Sceptres from the PWHL semis, adding Wednesday's 4-3 Game 4 overtime win to take the pair's 2025 best-of-five semifinal series 3-1.
Handing the No. 2-seed Sceptres an especially hefty dose of déjà vu was No. 4-seed Frost forward Taylor Heise, who netted the series-clinching goal to oust Toronto for second straight postseason.
With Wednesday's game-winning goal plus six assists across Minnesota's four semifinal clashes, the reigning Playoff MVP's seven points currently leads the 2025 PWHL postseason stat sheet — where an astounding seven of the league's top eight points-getters hail from the Frost.
Unlike Minnesota's 2024 semifinal series with Toronto, which required a full five games, the Frost completed the job early this year, earning some extra rest as they await the winner of the other 2025 semi.
Ottawa takes charge as Montréal faces elimination
Unlike the record-setting scoring that defined Minnesota and Toronto's series, defense owns the spotlight in the second set of semifinals, where the top-seeded Montréal Victoire are facing elimination, entering Friday's Game 4 against the No. 3-seed Ottawa Charge in a 2-1 series deficit.
At the center of Ottawa's success is rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips, who stepped up in a big way after the Charge lost first-string goalie Emerance Maschmeyer to injury in March.
Since then, the third-round pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft has put together a star turn, becoming one of three 2025 Goaltender of the Year finalists and leading all postseason netminders with the top save percentage and an astoundingly low 1.18 goals-against average.
Additionally, Philips owns the only shutout of the 2025 Playoffs so far, with Tuesday's 1-0 Game 3 win over the Victoire also registering as the first postseason clean sheet by a rookie in PWHL history.
"I'm getting more comfortable and gaining confidence because I can feel that my teammates are feeling a little bit more confident with me. That's been my key to success," said Philips after Tuesday's shutout victory. "It's just knowing how much I trust my teammates and how much they give it back to me."
How to watch Ottawa vs. Montréal in the 2025 PWHL Semifinals
While the Charge aims to follow in the Frost's footsteps by booking a 2025 PWHL Finals spot in Game 4, Montréal will be hoping for a victory to send the series to a winner-take-all Game 5.
The puck drops on Friday's Game 4 at 7 PM ET, with a potential Game 5 decider set for the same time on Sunday.
Coverage of all PWHL Playoff games will stream live on YouTube.
The Minnesota Frost offense is ruling the ice, as record-setting scoring has the reigning PWHL champions on the brink of returning to the Walter Cup finals, entering Wednesday's Game 4 on a 2-1 series lead over the Toronto Sceptres in the best-of-five semifinals.
Just two days after No. 4-seed Minnesota leveled the series with a 5-3 Friday win — recording the most combined goals ever scored in a PWHL Playoff game — the Frost found yet another gear, winning the highest scoring game in the second-year league's history in Sunday’s 7-5 Game 3 defeat of No. 2-seed Toronto.
In Sunday's barnburner, 21 players earned points across the two teams, but it was Minnesota who claimed victory, never relinquishing their early lead after netting a trio of goals in the game's first eight minutes.
"Minnesota's a great team," Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said after the loss. "If you're putting yourself in a situation where you've got to chase them, it's an uphill battle."
"I think it’s a fan's dream and a coach's nightmare, a 7-5 playoff game," said Minnesota boss Ken Klee. "We found a way to win and that's the most important thing."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Minnesota skaters now own the league's 2025 Playoffs stat sheet, with four Frost players topping the points race.
More eyebrow-raising, however, is that the league's postseason offensive leader is a defender, as the Frost's Lee Stecklein has burned up the ice with three goals and three assists in the playoffs so far.
Calling her "outstanding" and "world-class," Klee sang Stecklein's praises while acknowledging that the postseason means Minnesota must "find different ways to score goals and different people have to contribute."
"[Stecklein] knows that, she exemplifies that, and that's why she's one of our leaders and one of our best players."
How to watch Minnesota vs. Toronto in the PWHL Semifinals
The defending champion Frost will hope to secure their spot in the 2025 PWHL Finals while the Sceptres aim to stave off elimination in the pair's next semifinals game on Wednesday.
The puck drops on Game 4 of the best-of-five series at 7 PM ET, with live coverage streaming on the PWHL YouTube channel.