Will the Victoire win game 5 tonight at home and advance to the finals for the first time in team history, or will the Frost earn the chance to three-peat?

This Victoire vs Frost series has been a rollercoaster.

Abby Roque got a black eye from fighting Britta Curl-Salemme in game 1, and honestly that set the tone for the entire series. The Frost won game 1 in Laval, despite the Victoire choosing them as their opponent. Curl-Salemme was suspended for game 2, which ended up being a triple OT marathon, but the Victoire finally prevailed with a goal from Captain Clutch.

The series then travelled to Minnesota for back-to-back games 3 and 4. The Victoire took the series lead with their first ever regulation win in game 3! But the Frost wouldn’t be eliminated that easily. Not only did they win game 4, but the dagger is that Britta Curl-Salemme turned the Victoire’s emotions against them and Victoire’s lack of discipline ultimately lost them the game.

✨ F it, we’re going back to Laval. ✨

But first! The Charge are going back to the Walter Cup finals and Aerin Frankel may have been cursed by AI (I’m only half joking). Plus, we officially have a new expansion team and even more expansion rumors!

Here’s everything that happened this week in the PWHL. 😜

WATCH: Everything we know so far about PWHL Detroit

I am already so excited to go to a PWHL Detroit game. I’m obsessed with the black, silver, white, and red color palette. Plus, they are going to be playing at Little Caesars arena in beautiful downtown Detroit. As somebody who’s originally from Michigan, I was really hoping for a Detroit PWHL team, and I’m so happy that it’s happening!

WATCH: Will Abby Roque go to PWHL Detroit?

WATCH: My PWHL Detroit Takeover vlog from last year feat. my fam!

READ: MY Full PWHL Expansion Process Guide

WATCH: My PWHL Expansion Process Explainer

Last week, we found out that the PWHL will not be doing an expansion draft this year but will instead be doing something much more confusing involving 5 phases. 😵‍💫 I made a short video explaining the process, but so many people commented asking for more details, so I wrote up a full guide in my newsletter. My goal is to explain the process as clearly as possible so that everybody can follow along with the expansion craziness coming up later this month.

WATCH: My full reactions to the PWHL Expansion rumors

While only Detroit has been officially confirmed, we are expecting a total of 4 expansion teams this offseason. There are rumors that San Jose, Hamilton, and Vegas will get PWHL expansion teams this offseason.

Honestly, these cities are super surprising to me considering that San Jose and Vegas did not have takeover tour stops. It sucks for fans in cities such as Denver, because despite fans showing up for the Takeover Tour, it appears that local stakeholders can’t get a deal done with the PWHL. While San Jose and Vegas haven’t had PWHL Takeover tours, the WNBA crowds in those markets are really strong which indicates high demand for women’s sports.

Thank you to everyone who attended our semifinals livestream!

I do monthly livestreams for my paid subscribers but this month I will be doing two livestreams. Thank you to Kate form Not Kate Sports for joining my semifinal livestream. She will be returning for the next livestream, which will be Game 2 of the finals (date TBD!)

Upgrade your subscription to attend monthly livestream watch parties! Support me so that I can continue making women’s hockey content. ($5 per month)

My new goal is to hit 100 paid subscribers, and we already have 62. Do you think we can make it?

Paid subscribers will also receive a 365 Hockey Girl sticker and zine in the mail! 🎉

See my game recap of game 1 from last week’s newsletter.

WATCH: My game recap! THAT’S WHY THEY CALL HER CAPTAIN CLUTCH!

WATCH: Our livestream reaction to Poulin’s game-winning goal in triple OT!

Kate from not kate sports and I livestreamed this entire game, all 4 and a half hours of it 😵 . But honestly, it was worth it for the out-of-body experience of getting to see Marie-Philip Poulin score the game-winning goal in triple OT.

Even though this was only game 2 it felt like a do-or-die situation, because if Victoire went down 2-0 at home it would have shifted the entire momentum of the series. What made this even crazier was the fact that Poulin was visibly struggling with her leg, even having to go over to the bench at one point. The game-winning goal was BEAUTIFUL. 😭

Frost goalie Maddie Rooney was absolutely outstanding in this game, making 51/52 saves, but the Victoire really dominated the overtime periods and it just felt like a matter of time before they won.

WATCH: 365 X SLAYYYTER X MPP GAME WINNING GOAL!

WATCH: The view of the game-winning goal from inside Place Bell from my friend Grace!

WATCH: My cunty game recap in a wig + there’s something different about the Victoire this year!

Despite the antics of game 2, the Victoire still had yet to win a playoff game in regulation. I was really hoping for them to win game 3 in regulation, not only because they had to play a back-to-back the next day, but also because I was supposed to go to the Dragula tour afterwards. Victoire answered my prayers, scoring two goals in 24 seconds to take the lead and get their first ever regulation win!

WATCH: My game recap: The Victoire got Britta Curl’ed

Getting mad at Britta Curl-Salemme just makes her stronger 😭 It’s what she wants! Watching the end of this game as a Victoire fan was so painful. It was tied in the third period and the Victoire just needed to win this game to make it to the final for the first time in team history. But they blew it.

I could tell that tensions were rising in this game as Britta Curl-Salemme and Abby Roque got into a shoving match in the third period. This all started back in game 1 when Britta Curl-Salemme gave Abby Roque a black eye, but if I’m being honest, Curl has been under the skin of the Victoire for a while now. Things came to a head when a hit from Laura Stacey on Britta Curl-Salemme in the third period gave the Frost a powerplay. The Frost capitalized and scored the game-winning goal.

PS. Shoutout to Sidney Morin who is on a generational run rn for the Frost.

Going into game 5, the Victoire need to control their emotions and just play their game. In both of the games the Victoire has lost in this series, game 1 and game 4, the Victoire have taken the bait and the games have become crazy and physical. Obviously I support standing up for your teammates and I’ll admit the games are exciting, but if Victoire wants to win game 5, that’s not the type of game they want to play. In my opinion, the Victoire need to play smart, defensive hockey. The best revenge is winning.

The Frost’s key to the game is Maddie Rooney. If I was Ken Klee, I would definitely start Rooney in game 5. She has proven to be extremely elite under pressure, whether that be winning Gold for Team USA in the Olympics in 2018 in a shootout, backstopping her team to a reverse sweep in the PWHL semifinals in 2024, or her outstanding performances in game 2 and game 4 of this series.

See my game recaps of games 1 & 2 from last week’s newsletter.

WATCH: My game recap: How did the Charge win this game?!

This game was tied at 1-1 through the third period and charge goalie Gwyn Philips was standing on her head. I swore this game was going to OT but Aerin Frankel made a mistake with only 28 seconds remaining, deflecting the puck into her own goal. 😭

I love Aerin Frankel, but prior to this game, she shared merch for her caesar salad account, Pain by Romaine, which featured AI-generated “art”. Fans responded pretty negatively, and comments on the post were eventually turned off. Did AI curse Aerin Frankel?

WATCH: My full game recap and semifinal retrospective!

I am speechless, not because I slept on the Ottawa Charge, but because I can’t believe it’s over for the Boston Fleet. Despite the outcome, there is so much for the Fleet to be proud of this season.

The Ottawa Charge made the playoffs on the last day of the season, but they upset the higher seed Boston Fleet, who was the first PWHL team to clinch a playoff spot this year. I hate to say it but Gwyn Philips outplayed Aerin Frankel. This game had everything: it was a high-scoring banger that stretched into double OT, but Michela Cava was the OT hero for the Charge.

This has got to be frustrating for the Fleet. They outshot the Charge significantly in every game and they seemed to be the “better” team, but the Charge were opportunistic and played their brand of chaos puck.