Chasing the Walter Cup: Trio of Canadian teams hunt for glory in PWHL playoffs

The reigning Walter Cup champions. A first-time playoff team. Two teams who had playoff hopes dashed in the first round last year.

Those are the four teams vying for the Walter Cup after a chaotic final day of the regular season.

The Ottawa Charge defeated the Toronto Sceptres in overtime to secure its first playoff berth. Soon after, the Minnesota Frost routed the Boston Fleet 8-1 to lock down its post-season position, leaving the Fleet on the outside looking in.

Teams three through five all finished with 44 points. It all came down to regulation wins as a tiebreaker. 

"The parity and competitiveness in our league is second to none," Frost head coach Ken Klee said a day after his team won its way in.

By virtue of finishing first, the Montreal Victoire had the power to choose the team's playoff opponent, and picked Ottawa over Minnesota.

Proximity was a factor, according to head coach Montreal Kori Cheverie. No doubt the fact that Montreal has won four of six against Ottawa this season played a role, too.

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That leaves the second-place Toronto Sceptres to play the Minnesota Frost, in what will be a rematch of last year's first-round series. Toronto built a 2-0 series lead before Minnesota stormed back to win the next three, and went on to win the inaugural Walter Cup final.

The Toronto-Minnesota series opens on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, while the Charge will travel to Montreal for the series opener on Thursday at 7 p.m. A Canadian team is guaranteed to be in the finals.

Here's a preview of the best-of-five first round of the Walter Cup playoffs.

Don't let the seeding fool you. Minnesota is far from the underdog.

Just ask