First and foremost, it is with the utmost joy and respect that I congratulate PWHL Minnesota on winning the inaugural Walter Cup Finals. Ken Klee and his squad showed tremendous resilience and determination to win both playoff series in 5 games against debatably (I have some biases) the two best goaltenders in the PWHL in Aerin Frankel and Kristen Campbell respectively. All season I have talked about the great play of Minnesota’s superstars in Zumwinkle, Heise, and Cava, and all three of them found a way to achieve greatness when the lights shined the brightest. I look forward to what those three will continue to do in the future; however, I’m going to take you on my journey through the PWHL season as someone who both covered it from an independent media perspective as well as through the lens of a passionate hockey fanatic obsessed with growing the game.
For those of you in the PWHL fan communities who I have had the pleasure of interacting with this season might be surprised to know that I was not supposed to be covering the PWHL at all for Black Stitch Hockey. Originally, my cohort and brother, Damien, was supposed to be our lead analyst for this league. I had committed to covering the inaugural season for MCLA’s Men’s ice hockey in North Adams, Massachusetts while also keeping an eye on their concurrently debuting women’s hockey team. Men’s goalie Mathew Gover and Women’s goalie Juliette Barney were doing for their teams all season what Aerin Frankel was doing for PWHL Boston (They earned this plug if you want to research them a bit). During the winter break for the NCAA, the PWHL got rolling at the start of 2024 as we all know at this point. I missed the opening games due to a prior commitment, but read Damien’s article recapping them, and realized that PWHL Montreal at PWHL Minnesota on January 6th was a game I needed to watch. I watched it, and after seeing Zumwinkle’s breakout performance in front of what was a record crowd at the time, realized that I needed to go all-in on this league and leave the NCAA D-III content to our Editor-in-Chief.
Two weeks after that game between Minnesota and Montreal, my closest proximity team, PWHL Boston, was returning home on a Saturday afternoon to face off against PWHL New York. I bought four tickets to the game to take in the movement that the PWHL was becoming with my then-fiancée, brother, and a dear friend (more on them in a bit). Boston got mashed 4-1 in the game, but the experience in the rink was exceptional, and the hockey itself was great. When I got home after, I couldn’t wait to get my article out to as many people as possible to talk about how great the hockey was, and how this league was doing a lot of things right to standout in the landscape of professional sports, not just pro hockey or in women’s sports. The next thing I did was buy tickets to their next home game against PWHL Minnesota the following Saturday. I went to that game with my friend (spoiler alert, they never missed another PWHL Boston home game all season) and we had an incredible experience in Boston’s 4-3 OT win, even if Boston couldn’t hang onto a 3-goal lead that they established in the first period.
During the month of February, my friend and I were at almost every game with one of their friends and usually my fiancée. Outside of PWHL Boston, I was digging into creating a lot of PWHL Minnesota and PWHL Ottawa content. Watching the ascension of Savannah Harmon, Gabbie Hughes, and Lexie Adzija in Ottawa (and Harmon at the ASG) was one of my biggest highlights in the early season. I had said all year that the likes of Hilary Knight, Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, and Kendall Coyne-Schofield were all top tier superstars in the league, but watching the next generation rise to the occasion and establish themselves was and is surreal. I know the league spent a lot of time talking about the future PWHL stars growing up watching this league, but I wanted to, and will continue to talk about the women whose era is here and now.
As March descended upon us, I continued my coverage, but my fiancée and I were inching closer to our wedding date, and I was pulled from my normal coverage throughout most of the month. Luckily, Damien was able to keep our PWHL content flowing, and my friend would continue supporting PWHL Boston without me at the Tsongas Center. The March 10th game between PWHL Boston and PWHL New York was a special one for me. For most people, it was a match between two fledgling teams on the fringe of the playoffs that ended in a 3-2 OT win for the home team, but for me, it was an unforgettable memory. Most people go out drinking and partying for their bachelor party. Me? I went to a PWHL game with my guys, and we aggressively rooted for Boston (and Alex Carpenter because she played for the same Juniors Program as one of my groomsmen). This was just an extension of my efforts to grow and share this league with anyone and everyone who would listen.
April saw a decline in my flexibility to cover the league due to the wedding I mentioned earlier coming to pass on April 13th in addition to a hectic schedule with my day job. Despite this, Damien and my friend were able to stay locked in on all things PWHL and made sure that I knew that PWHL Toronto was a wagon, and that PWHL Boston was getting on a run, and there was a slim chance we would see playoff action at the Tsongas Center.
May 4th presented PWHL Boston with their first do or die game of the season. The regular season finale was the first game I got to attend with my wife (I know semantics but let me have this) along with my friend and their regular ride along. That game was special in Lowell. This was Boston’s first home sellout all season, and the crowd threw everything they had behind their team. That 4-3 win was the turning point for the PWHL Boston fanbase and team that primed them for their playoff run. I was sad to see PWHL Ottawa miss the postseason following their loss to Toronto, as I had grown quite attached to them over the season, but my heart longed for Minnesota to get at least 3 more games for their players and their fans.
The first round of the playoffs was everything that I had hoped it would be for the PWHL, and yet so much more. Minnesota and Toronto’s series had a little bit of everything between incredible defensive play, goaltending, and explosive offense. Obviously, the only regret in that series was not being able to watch Natalie Spooner play in games 4 and 5, as she had an iconic run for PWHL Toronto that will be talked about for years to come. For Boston and Montreal, games one and two were what hockey is all about with long overtimes and wars of attrition. I’ll link those recaps at the end of the article. Game 3 was something special for a lifelong hockey fan in the Boston area. Most PWHL fans on the internet remarked about how poorly attended that game was, with only 2,500 people coming out to support, and they were right about the head count, but not the passion. I’ve been to a lot of sporting events in my life, and the 3rd period comeback was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. The crowd and the players for Boston were feeding off each other like poetry. Every single hit, shot, save, and win along the boards fed into a louder and stronger reaction from the crowd, and as the voices in the building escalated, Boston’s play matched it. When Amanda Pelkey scored the jailbreak goal late in the 3rd, it was clear that Montreal was battling their opponents on the ice and the building itself. I know that sounds crazy, but unless you were there in the moment, I can’t explain it any other way. I’ve been to an NHL Game 7, and the PWHL gave me something I’ve never experienced before in that game.
The Walter Cup finals were an incredible ride from start to finish. Boston outplayed Minnesota in game 1, and then failed to do so again for the rest of the series. Based on my experience over the five-month season, I can say that the league gave us its best at the end, which promises us an incredible future.
Now, to get a little deeper and personal again. Why I needed to talk about that dear friend of mine throughout the article, is that this league gave them a place to belong. Prior to this league’s start, I had spent a lot of time with them while they were going through a lot of tough times that severely impacted their mental health. This person was at a point in their life where they had no hobbies, nor did they have the motivation to break out of a work/sleep existence. To watch this league give them something to care about, and a space they felt like they belonged in was special to me. Seeing someone who had given up on their hobbies and passions dragging as many of their friends as possible to the Tsongas Center every time PWHL Boston took the ice showed me the power that this league has. If anyone reads this and knows the PWHL Boston team, feel free to pass along that their favorite player is Emily Brown, and she helped someone find a love for this game when they needed it most.
Now that the overly emotional stuff is over, thank you to everyone who has been on the ride with me this season. Thank you to anyone who has supported the PWHL with us through year one. I can’t wait for the draft, free agency, the new logos, and most of all: Next Season.
With Love,
Christian Tyler Bergeron
Game 1 Recap:
https://blackstitchhockey.com/2024/05/09/walter-cup-playoffs-pwhl-boston-pwhl-montreal-game-1-frankel-is-inconceivable-tapani-stirs-my-nostalgia/
Game 2 Recap:
https://blackstitchhockey.com/2024/05/12/pwhl-boston-pwhl-montreal-goaltending-and-grinders-dictate-the-outcome-in-3ot/
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