Why the top-seeded Montreal Victoire picked Minnesota as its first-round playoff opponent

In a league where control and certainty are in short supply, the Montreal Victoire and Vancouver Goldeneyes both emerged from the regular season with a valuable sliver of it.

By virtue of finishing first atop the PWHL standings, the Victoire had the power to select its first-round opponent. Montreal opted to play the back-to-back Walter Cup champions, the Minnesota Frost, in a series that will begin on Saturday.

At the other end of the standings, the Vancouver Goldeneyes won the right to draft first overall in the upcoming entry draft. Vancouver earned the pick by winning games after being eliminated from playoff contention, earning Gold Plan points for every victory.

Both are rules unique to the PWHL, where looming expansion and free agency has left plenty of questions about what next season could look like.

Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie described her team's power to pick its opponent as an "honour" and a "privilege."

It's a decision that came together as the Victoire returned from a west coast road trip that culminated in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Seattle Torrent on Saturday — a win that sealed the Victoire's spot at the top of the standings.

"As a collective here in Montreal, we decided to continue with our internal process of where we were at and different things that we looked at," Cheverie said. "We landed on Minnesota and we’re looking forward to that opportunity."

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Montreal won all four of its games against Minnesota this season, though two of those wins came in overtime.

While Cheverie didn't offer much in the way of detail about some of the factors her team looked at, she said it wasn't just about those four games.

"Every