Even if you’ve never watched playoff hockey before, even if your team isn’t playing, I need you to lock into the PWHL playoffs. 🫵 Playoff hockey hits different. Every game is more physical and intense. The celebrations are bigger. The heartbreaks hurt even more. Games can go to unlimited overtime. Upsets are the norm. We will witness the birth of new rivalries. These playoffs have the ability to destroy me psychologically. If that sounds like fun to you, keep reading…
Table of Contents
🗓️ PWHL Playoff Schedule
Thu, Apr 30: Ottawa vs Boston, Game 1
📍 Lowell; ⏰ 7PM EST / 4PM PST
Watch: Canada: TSN, US: NESN, ION, Youtube
Sat, May 2: Minnesota vs Montreal, Game 1
📍 Laval; ⏰ 2PM EST / 11AM PST
Watch: Canada: Amazon Prime, US: FOX9, ION, Youtube
Sat, May 2: Ottawa vs Boston, Game 2
📍 Lowell; ⏰ 7PM EST / 4PM PST
Watch: Canada: TSN, US: NESN, ION, Youtube
Tue, May 5: Minnesota vs Montreal, Game 2
📍 Laval; ⏰ 7PM EST / 4PM PST
Watch: Canada: Amazon Prime, US: FOX9, ION, Youtube
🎂 365 Birthday Girl livestream! Upgrade your subscription to attend the watch party livestream!
🧑🏫 PWHL Playoff Format Explained
How are the matchups determined?
The top 4 teams from the regular season make it to the playoffs. A team’s final regular season ranking determines its “seed”.
Montreal Victoire
Boston Fleet
Minnesota Frost
Ottawa Charge
The first seed gets to pick their playoff opponent between the third and the fourth seed. First seed Montreal picked third seed Minnesota.
The two semifinal series will be:
#1 Montreal vs #3 Minnesota
#2 Boston vs #4 Ottawa.
The winners of the semifinal series will face off for a final series to win the Walter Cup.
How do playoff series work?
The semifinal series and the final series are both 5 games each. Whoever is the first to win 3 games wins the series.
The series will be a maximum of 5 games long, but if a team manages to win 3 games earlier, then they won’t play all 5 games.
💥 Why Playoff Hockey Hits Different
⏳ Unlimited 5v5 Overtime
In the regular season, if a game is tied after regulation, the game goes to 5 minutes of 3v3 hockey and then to shootouts. But in the playoffs, they continue to play 20-minute periods of sudden-death 5v5 OT until somebody scores. Last year there was a game that went to QUADRUPLE OT. It was literally two hockey games in one hockey game. I was in the building in Montreal it was so fun and so crazy!
🤯 Upsets are the Norm
Teams that were really good in the regular season may not be as successful in the postseason. The regular season really rewards regulation wins, but in the playoffs being able to win close games or OT games is really important. This is why the higher seed has never won ANY PWHL playoff series. Depth players really matter and players who aren’t your typical “star” players can be the difference makers!
🔥 Heated Rivalries
Playoff series are how heated rivalries are formed. Playoff games are way more physical and intense than regular season games. There’s so much drama from having teams play each other multiple nights in a row. Players and fans are really getting to know the other team over the series and there’s gonna be bench battles and changing tactics between these two teams.
Keep Reading!
❄️ Minnesota Frost vs ⚜️ Montreal Victoire Semifinal Series Preview
Victoire picked the 2X defending Walter Cup champions Frost as their opponent 😱
After Victoire clinched first place and the ability to choose their opponent, I made a video explaining why I thought the Victoire should pick the third seed Minnesota Frost (2X defending Walter Cup Champions) over the fourth seed Ottawa Charge:
Victoire’s head-to-head record against the Frost is really good
Victoire doesn’t want to play Gwyneth Philips again
Despite this reasoning, I wasn’t sure if they would ACTUALLY DO IT. Shortly after I posted this video, the PWHL posted that the Victoire chose the Frost😲 I’M LITERALLY SAT! 🪑
Who are you rooting for?
Who I’m rooting for: ⚜️Victoire
My prediction: Victoire wins in 5 games
Season series recap:
Jan 4, 2026: MTL defeats MIN 3-2 in OT, 📍Laval [game summary]
Jan 21, 2026: MTL defeats MIN 2-1 in OT, 📍St Paul [game summary]
Mar 1, 2026: MTL defeats MIN 4-0, 📍Laval [game summary]
Mar 25, 2026: MTL defeats MIN 3-0, 📍St Paul [game summary]
⚜️ Montreal Victoire Lore
Playoff history: Victoire has now reached the playoffs in all 3 years of the PWHL but their playoff efforts have felt Sisiphean. Despite a 2nd place finish in the regular season in 2024 and a 1st place finish in 2025, the Victoire has never made it to the finals. In 2024 they were swept by the lower seed Boston and in 2025 the lost in 4 to the Ottawa Charge, with their only win being the quadruple OT game.
This year’s storyline: Can the Victoire finally get it done, even without Marie-Philip Poulin at 100%? In past years the Victoire was criticized for relying on their star players and not having enough depth. Poulin has recently returned to the lineup from injury but she’s still not playing at 100%. The Victoire has showcased their offensive depth in the regular season, but can they translate it to the playoffs?
Root for this team if: You like being stressed out
Players to watch: Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Abby Roque, Ann-Renee Desbiens
❄️ Minnesota Frost Lore
Playoff history: 2024: snuck into the playoffs then reverse swept Toronto in the semifinals; defeated Boston in 5 games to win the first ever Walter Cup! 2025: defeated Toronto again in the semifinals then defeated Ottawa in the finals with every game going to OT!
This year’s storyline: Can they three-peat? (FWIW I think they can)
Root for this team if: You like being the team to beat
Players to watch: Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne-Schofield
⚓ Boston Fleet vs ⚡ Ottawa Charge Semifinal Series Preview
Are the Charge really the underdogs?
The Fleet were the first team to clinch their playoff spot back on March 29, whereas the Charge only clinched their playoff spot on the last day of the season. But the Charge might not actually be the underdogs in this series. 👀
The Charge and the Fleet played an extremely close season series, with every single game going to OT or shootout, and with Ottawa winning 3 out of 4 games and handing the Fleet their first loss of the season at Tsongas center in the last week of the season.
This series will be a U.S. goaltending duel between Gwyneth Philips on the Charge and Aerin Frankel on the Fleet. Not only are these two goaltending partners on the US Olympics team, they also played together at Northeastern.
Who I’m rooting for: ⚓Fleet but I wouldn’t be mad if Charge won
My prediction: Fleet win in 5 games
Season series recap:
Dec 27, 2025: OTT defeats BOS 3-2 in shootouts, 📍Ottawa [game summary]
Jan 11, 2026: OTT defeats BOS 2-1 in shootouts, 📍Halifax [game summary]
Feb 28, 2026: BOS defeats OTT 3-2 in shootouts, 📍Ottawa [game summary]
Apr 22, 2026: OTT defeats BOS 2-1 in OT, 📍Lowell [game summary]
⚓ Boston Fleet Lore
Playoff history: 2024: Upset Montreal in a series sweep to make it to the final, but were defeated by the Minnesota Frost. Dramatically missed out on the playoffs in 2025 thanks to a 8-1 loss to the Frost on the final day of the season.
This year’s storyline: Rising from the ashes! After their tough ending to last year and the departure of Hilary Knight, nobody expected that this would be one of the top teams in the league this year. Despite their amazing regular season, this kind-of feels like a rag-tag group that is greater than the sum of its parts, with exceptional rookies and everybody contributing!
Root for this team if: You like being the underdog
Players to watch: Aerin Frankel, Megan Keller, Alina Muller
⚡ Ottawa Charge Lore
Playoff history: 2024: Missed out on the playoffs. 2025: Snuck into the playoffs and upset Montreal despite being picked by them, lost to the Minnesota Frost in 4 games, with every game going to OT
This year’s storyline: Doing it for Carla. The Charge won key games down the stretch to clinch their playoff spot on the last day of the season. Head Coach Carla MacLeod stepped away to undergo treatment for breast cancer but she will be back to coach the playoffs!
Root for this team if: You love chaos
Players to watch: Rebecca Leslie, Brianne Jenner, Gwyneth Philips
🎂 365 Birthday Girl Livestream!
I’ll be livestreaming Victoire vs Frost Game 2 on Tuesday, May 5 at 7PM EST / 4PM PST. May 5 also happens to be my birthday! 😀 Last year I traveled to Montreal to watch the PWHL playoffs to celebrate my birthday and that’s how I found myself at the quadruple OT game. [WATCH: Me trying MPP gatorade for the first time]
I do monthly livestreams for my paid subscribers but this month I will be doing two livestreams, one for the semifinals and one for the finals!
Introducing this month’s livestream special guest: not kate sports! Kate is a women’s sports content creator based in CT who talks about basketball, F1, and hockey in a super funny and down-to-Earth way. We vibed instantly as soon as we met and I had so much fun watching the Madison Square Garden PWHL game with her. Check out her amazing PWHL vlog here (featuring 365)!
Upgrade your subscription to attend monthly livestream watch parties! Support me so that I can continue making women’s hockey content. ($5 per month)
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3️⃣6️⃣5️⃣ Who am I rooting for?
Who am I rooting for? Anybody but the Frost. (All love to Frost fans but I want somebody else to win.) I’ll be returning to my roots as a Montreal Victoire fan for these playoffs.
If you made it all the way to the end… thank you for reading this long-ass newsletter!
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