The Minnesota Frost have won the Walter Cup in each of the PWHL’s first two seasons, but the path to another playoff berth may be their toughest yet. With captain and leading scorer Kendall Coyne Schofield on LTIR, Minnesota is navigating a tight race for one of four spots.
Only the top four teams in the PWHL make the playoffs, and four will be on the outside looking in. The Minnesota Frost have helped themselves recently, winning back-to-back games to solidify their hold on third place. But with the Olympic break now behind them and the stretch run underway, the margin for error remains thin.
Forward Grace Zumwinkle said the return from the break has brought a renewed focus across the roster.
“Coming back from the Olympic break, there’s been so much more awareness around the PWHL and our league as a whole,” Zumwinkle said. “A lot of us that were over there playing in Milan are excited to come back and put the league on the map and show the awesome product that we put on the ice.”
Minnesota’s experience navigating late-season pressure will prove valuable. Despite winning the Walter Cup in each of the league’s first two campaigns, the Frost have rarely had an easy path to the playoffs.
“I think you look at the last two seasons and we’ve been right on the doorstep of being in and out of the playoff conversation,” Zumwinkle said. “We understand the importance of gaining points every single night and putting ourselves in the best position possible for the playoffs.”
That urgency is even greater this season. The league expanded to eight teams while maintaining four playoff spots, making the race tighter than the first two years.
“You go from six teams in the league with four making the playoffs to now eight teams with only four making it,” Zumwinkle said. “If you look at the standings right now, it’s very competitive and very tight.”
Minnesota is also navigating the stretch without Coyne Schofield, whose absence has removed both a top offensive contributor and the team’s captain from the lineup.
“Kendall’s irreplaceable on our team,” Zumwinkle said. “She’s the backbone and the leader of our group, so definitely having her out of the lineup has been a huge loss for us.”
In the meantime, the Frost are relying on a collective effort to fill that void.
“She’s our leader, so it’s definitely a big loss for our team,” defender Mae Batherson said. “But it’s an opportunity for everyone else to step up and play a bigger role.”
They've managed to sneak into the playoffs the first two seasons, and then go on a dominating run to win both their semi-final series, and the finals, becoming back-to-back Walter Cup champions.
With only 12 games remaining for the Frost, the focus remains simple.
“You don’t want it coming down right to the wire,” Zumwinkle said. “Our destiny is in our own hands.”