PWHL Minnesota fans cheer on the team in Boston and at home as they win inaugural Walter Cup
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Minnesota’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team made history last night, winning the first-ever PWHL championship. They beat Boston 3-0 to win the league’s championship trophy, the Walter Cup.
By the start of the game at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Minneapolis women’s sports bar A Bar of Their Own was packed to capacity. Fans were being turned away at the door, as patrons inside, wearing purple hockey jerseys and sweatshirts, waited for the puck to drop in Game 5 of the five-game championship series between Minnesota and Boston.
Emily Pauly from Eagan cheered on Minnesota, wearing a PWHL jacket. Pauly grew up a hockey fan.
“My dad brought me up going to Wild games and like, loved watching games. And then like, this started and I was like, oh my god, this is amazing. And yeah, it was just been so great to see so many girls finally get the opportunity to like, see their dreams come true,” Pauly said.
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Pauly, who never played the sport, says this team changed their life.
“I went to their pride game and Twin Cities Queer Hockey Association was sponsoring it. And I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I could play hockey, like, all my friends had.’ I never thought about playing and I'm gonna be starting with their league in June because of this team,” Pauly said.
Minnesota’s season was up and down. While they started off strong, they barely made it into the playoffs after losing their last five regular season games. They lost their first two playoff games, before storming back to beat first-place Toronto in their first round series.
In this championship series with Boston, it’s been a slug fest, with the teams trading games back and forth through the first four games. Game four was a thriller in which Minnesota scored what they thought was the championship-winning goal in double overtime. The crowd in St. Paul erupted, Minnesota celebrated throwing their gloves, helmets and sticks onto the ice, thinking they’d won it all. Then the referees disallowed the goal, and a few minutes later, Boston scored.
Jackie Douda and her girlfriend were at Sunday night’s game.
“After the elation of thinking we’d score the Cup-winning goal and then the crushing feeling of having that one reversed, and watching Boston score shortly thereafter, we knew we didn’t want that to be our last experience of this team,” Douda said.
They bought plane tickets to Boston and flew out Wednesday before the highly anticipated game five showdown.
Douda says they also wanted to just see the first-ever Walter Cup winning game.
“I’m really excited because no matter what happens tonight someone wins the first ever PWHL cup,” she said before the game. “I mean it’s history-making and we hope that they see some purple in the stands and know that a lot of us have come to support them in their final game.”
They got to witness history.
Minnesota dominated the game, seeming to get stronger through the game. They allowed Boston just 17 shots in the game, three in the third period.
While Minnesota peppered Boston with shots, it wasn’t until the second period that they struck.
Michela Cava scored a second goal eight minutes into the third period, and Kendal Coyne Scholfield iced the game with an empty net goal with two minutes to go.
Howard Green and his twin 21-year-old daughters cheered loudly throughout the game. He said they’ve been following the team closely all season.
“It just matters to us. But as a girl dad and to raise women empowering women. It’s the WNBA, it’s women’s professional hockey, it’s all of that. You feel that momentum, and my kids don’t have to be in the corner. They’re out front now. And that’s what this team means. And that’s what this league means,” he said.
No matter what, the championship proved to be a win for the league and for women’s professional sports.
Tickets for last night’s game at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell were going for, at the lowest, $190 each on StubHub a few hours before game time. Minnesota Coach Ken Klee says it’s clear there is an appetite for this league.
“It’s a great sport. It’s super competitive. And that’s why that’s why we love sports. That’s why people love sports. That’s why they want to come, that’s why they’re not worried about you know, ticket prices. They want to they want to be there for a chance to see it which is super exciting,” Klee said.
PWHL Minnesota Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said the year, which has included the birth of her son, and this inaugural season, has been a whirlwind.
“It’s hard to put into words what this year has been, what it’s meant to the sport most importantly I think this is the greatest year of hockey we’ve ever seen in the existence of sport for so many reasons, and it’s been very special for me personally for many reasons, but we’d be here for 10 days if I tried to list all those reasons,” she said.
After Wednesday’s game, she talked about the historic nature of this championship.
“There’s something very special about being the first to do something in life. And for us to be the first Walter Cup champions is something that is extremely special, that will be a part of this league’s legacy forever,” she said.
Minnesota and the other five teams in the league played this season with similar jersey designs and no team names. The league says team names and logos will be announced sometime this summer.