But the reality of winning last year’s championship hasn’t fully set in, let alone the idea of two titles.

“The fact that we went back-to-back definitely hasn’t hit me yet,” said Rooney, amid the Walter Cup Championship celebration on May 28 on the floor of Xcel Energy Center. “But how cool that years from now, we’ll be able to look back and see our name in the history books as the only team to ever win it within the original six. It’s just so special to be a part of history like this.”

Rooney was one hero of the Minnesota Frost’s Walter Cup Finals series against the Ottawa Charge, making 33 saves in Game 4 on Monday at Xcel Energy Center to earn her fifth consecutive postseason win. All four games were identical in two ways: Each finished in overtime with 2-1 scores. The Frost dropped Game 1 in Ottawa before winning the next three to take the best-of-five series 3-1.

Kelly Pannek hands the Walter Cup to goaltender Maddie Rooney during the on-ice celebration after Game 4. Rooney made 30+ saves in three consecutive starts and finished the postseason with a 1.75 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The win brings the total number of professional women’s hockey championships to three in Minnesota. The Whitecaps won the Isobel Cup in the 2018-19 season during Minnesota’s first year in the then-NWHL, the women’s professional hockey league at the time.

Liz Schepers, for the second year in a row, scored the championship-winning goal for Minnesota. She scored 12 minutes into overtime, getting a couple of whacks at the puck to put it past Ottawa goaltender, and Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP winner, Gwyneth Philips.

“That series was a grind. It took everything we had, and then some,” said Schepers, at the Walter Cup Celebration two days after winning the Cup. “Mentally, physically, it was really difficult, and that’s a tip of our cap to Ottawa because they played a great series.”

The Frost trailed for most of the series, needing to tie the game to force overtime and then getting the wins. After dropping Game 1 (Minnesota is 0-4 all-time to open playoff series) early in overtime, the Frost were in danger of staring at a 0-2 series deficit before Britta Curl-Salemme tied Game 2 with 15.4 seconds left and then also getting the overtime winner at 16:24.

Minnesota brought the series home tied at a game apiece, with a chance to clinch on home ice. Game 3 turned into a marathon and the third-longest game in PWHL history at 109:57. Katy Knoll was the hero in that game, scoring at 9:57 in the third overtime to give the Frost a 2-1 series lead.

A year ago, Minnesota thought they’d won the Cup in Game 4 before the goal was called off for goaltender interference. So, Minnesota settled for winning on the road in Boston. This time, the only team to reach both PWHL Finals finished the job at home so it could celebrate on home ice with festive fanfare and confetti in front of family, friends and a season-high attendance mark of 11,024 fans.

Liz Schepers (No. 21) scored the game-winning goals in both of Minnesota’s championship-clinching games in 2024 and 2025. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“There was a different hero every single night,” Schepers said. “I think that’s just the difference. We had the confidence, and we’d been there before. We trusted our room a lot. Trusted our depth, obviously. And it paid off.”

Similar story to a year ago
Beyond the obvious similarities – like Schepers netting the game-winning goals and Minnesota winning the championship again as the fourth-place team – Minnesota also kept a similar mindset as it squeaked into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

The common refrain from Minnesota players and coach Ken Klee going back to last spring was that the belief they had in each other, in the team, was always there. No matter the stats, opponent or facing a series deficit. Rooney said it was that confidence, belief and grit that helped the Frost win the tightest series they’ve been in with the four-peat of 2-1 games.

“Never a doubt all season long, even when our backs were up against the wall,” Rooney said. “The culture of this group, it just allowed us to prevail in those tough moments.”  

Last season, Minnesota played out the ultimate underdog script on the way to the inaugural Walter Cup Championship after going 0-5 to end the regular season and backing into the playoffs. They followed that was two shutout losses in the first round before winning three in a row. They upset Boston in a five-game series to win the title.

Liz Schepers skates with the Walter Cup above her head to celebrate being back-to-back champions. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Frost didn’t go into a losing skid at the end of the regular season this time, but goal scoring dried up for a time, and they were staring at another scenario of possibly missing the playoffs in the final couple of regular-season games. But they made it, again.

“There’s definitely a lot of parallels you can draw, right?” Schepers said, during the Cup celebration. “Making it at the last minute, being that fourth seed, underdog mentality. Going into the playoffs winning a couple games felt really nice this year compared to last season.

“But our work ethic stayed the same. Our core group knew how hard it was going to be to win. We were able to bring our new girls along with that, and they bought in and there was never a doubt that once we got in that we were really going to make a push. Really happy to do it again.”

Minnesota returned 16 players this season from its championship team last year, including captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, 2024 Playoff MVP Taylor Heise, defender Lee Stecklein (leading scorer in the 2025 playoffs with four goals and four assists in eight games) and Michela Cava, a forward who’s now won five consecutive professional hockey championships with four different teams.

From controversy to a championship defense
The offseason was mired in controversy just days after the celebrating the inaugural championship, as the league in its words “parted ways” with first-year Minnesota general manager and now Hockey Hall of Famer, Natalie Darwitz. The 2024-25 season started with a new general manager in Melissa Caruso and the return of coach Klee. The initial media day in mid-November was the first chance players had to publicly address the controversy that hung over the offseason.

“Those were league decisions,” Coyne Schofield said. “We’re here, and we’re here to play hockey. We’re here to defend our title.”

Minnesota players – with a fresh new nickname and logo this season – looked ahead to the upcoming PWHL season as a chance to defend their championship.

“I just feel like we’ll kind of have a chip on our shoulder knowing teams are going to want to get a little bit of revenge on us from last year,” Cava said, at Frost media day. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to go out there and show everybody that we’re back, and we’re hungry for another championship.”

The Minnesota Frost raised a championship banner before their home opener on Dec. 1, 2024. (Photo courtesy of PWHL)

Minnesota’s season started by raising a championship banner to the rafters of Xcel Energy Center, something that hasn’t been done in the 25-year history of the arena. They got off to a fast start and seemed to pick up where they left off, winning four of their first five games to keep them around the top of the standings.

They played six of their nine January games at Xcel Energy Center and went 2-3-1-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in January. One of the regulation losses was a 5-0 shutout to the New York Sirens on home ice Jan. 4 with a unique goaltending situation after illness had spread through the Frost locker room around the holiday break. After Nicole Hensley was injured in warmups, then-reserve Lucy Morgan got the nod for her first PWHL start, while Rooney – still feeling ill – had to rush to the rink from her suburban home to serve as the backup.

Checkmark for adversity.

The Frost had other tough stretches, struggling defensively in a lopsided, 8-3 loss at Ottawa on Feb. 13. Though the Frost led the league in goal scoring during the regular season with 85 goals, it also went through some offensive dry spells later in the season in March. The Frost scored only four total goals during a three-game losing skid from March 11-26. There was a period where scoring more than two goals a game was a struggle.

The Sirens, a team that had the Frost’s number, shut out Minnesota 2-0 on April 27, leaving the Frost needing two wins and some help to reach the postseason.

Team effort
Like last year, Minnesota dispatched higher-seed Toronto in the semifinals to give itself a shot at defending its championship.

It took everyone, up and down the lineup, to make that happen. Knoll will remember how well the team came together.

“I think that is very unique, but looking back at it, it’s very common for championship teams,” Knoll said. “The teams that win championships need everyone to participate. You don’t have only five or six players going when you win a championship. You have everyone going.

“The way that the group came together after that Worlds (international) break when we needed to most, it was do-or-die. We were almost not going to make the playoffs. To turn it around and make the playoffs with two must-win games and then to have then run we did, it was exceptional, and I’m just so proud of the group.”

The Frost played five consecutive overtime games to end their season, going 4-1 in those games with overtime winners scored by Heise, Curl-Salemme, Knoll and Schepers.

The reality of winning the championship hadn’t sunk in yet for Knoll either at the Cup celebration, though she figured it might as time marches on, especially knowing it’s officially the offseason.

“I think it’ll start to stink in a little bit more,” Knoll said. “Just kind of trying to be a sponge, enjoy the moment, absorb everything. Nothing’s guaranteed in the future. This is the top level of women’s hockey. We’ve reached the top, and that’s so great.

“Enjoying it while we can, because it’s not guaranteed to happen again.”

The Minnesota Frost poses for a team photo with the Walter Cup. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson).

Gallery: PWHL Finals Game 4, Charge vs. Frost
Gallery: PWHL Finals, Walter Cup Championship Celebration

The post Back-To-Back Champs appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Here are five rules from the Frost’s (4-3-2-4) second shutout loss of the season:

1. Ottawa Charge rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips earns a shutout for her first PWHL win in her third career game.

Gwyneth Philips worked so hard in her first career professional victory – a shutout, too – that her hand started cramping up in the middle of the postgame press conference, prompting coach Carla MacLeod to say: “we’ve got to get this kid some water. Some electrolytes maybe.”

But in all seriousness, the coach offered high praise for the 24-year-old goaltender out of Northeastern University.

“What’s been so impressive, from our perspective, how she’s just stepped in with confidence,” MacLeod said. “And this is a tough league. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

Philips made 22 saves and kept Minnesota off the scoresheet completely, helping her team hold onto a 1-0 lead for nearly the entire game after Brianne Jenner scored her first of the season less than five minutes into the contest.

Philips is the first rookie goalie in PWHL history to earn a shutout in her first professional season.

Philips said she’s still “feeling things out” in the league.”

“Little taps from my teammates telling me, ‘hey, I’m playing the puck well,’ and just that little reassurance goes a long way to build my confidence,” Philips said. “I let my teammates know how important that is to me.”

2. Minnesota celebrates Goalie Appreciation Night.

Perhaps the biggest showing of appreciation Frost starting goaltender Maddie Rooney could have gotten in the game was her teammates picking her up and scoring a goal so she didn’t get saddled with her second loss of the season.

Still, Frost players showed love for their goalies before the game, too, sporting various Nicole Hensley and Rooney hockey jerseys during their walk-ins to the arena. The team shared content of the walk-ins via social media. For example, Taylor Heise sported a red-white-and-blue Rooney jersey – wearing it backward so Rooney’s name appeared in the front – posing for a photo while making the shape of a heart with her hands.

Britta Curl-Salemme went a step further, wearing No. 29 Hensley goalie helmet – “bold of her to put on a goalie helmet,” said forward Kelly Pannek – while sporting a USA Hockey Rooney jersey, also worn backward.

Despite taking the loss after giving up an early tally, Rooney made 18 saves and still lowered her goals-against average this season to 1.85, which leads the PWHL.

“Hopefully they feel appreciated every night,” Pannek said. “Today, our goaltender played well, we just couldn’t get one or two in there to be on the other side of this game.

“I think in general our goalies have been great. … Definitely the backbone of our team.”

The Frost also welcomed U.S. Blind Hockey goaltender Evie Jones to announce the team’s starting lineup.

All three goaltenders – Hensley, Rooney and Lucy Morgan – signed autographs for fans postgame.

3. The Frost have lost a season-high three games in a row, two consecutive defeats in regulation.

After the Frost won the Takeover Tour game in Denver – a 4-2 decision over Montreal on Jan. 12 – the Frost have gone on a three-game skid with a shootout loss and now back-to-back regulation losses. Minnesota lost a seven-round shootout 3-2 in New York on Jan. 15 to earn a point in the standings.

The Frost have since fallen out of first place after losing 4-2 at Montreal on Jan. 17 and then the 1-0 loss to Ottawa, the second shutout loss for the Frost this month on home ice. Minnesota is three points back of Montreal (23 points), and Montreal has two games in hand.

While the Frost are still doing good things, getting pucks to the net and generating scoring chances, they’re having some “bad puck luck right now,” said coach Ken Klee.

“It’s hard to say exactly what it is,” Klee said. “We’re trying. It’s not like we’re not putting shots to the net. It’s not like we’re not battling and getting to the front of the net. We just need to continue to do that.

“And that’s hockey sometimes. It’s tough, and it’s not fair. But that’s the way it goes.”

Pannek said the team did a nice job in the second and third periods Tuesday getting to the front of the net, something they discussed in the locker room.

“Every team has great goaltending in this league,” Pannek said. “So, you have to make it really hard for them. Sometimes it comes down to a bounce.

4. Top Frost forwards Grace Zumwinkle and Dominique Petrie are still out with upper-body injuries.

Forward Grace Zumwinkle missed her sixth game after an upper-body injury knocked her out of the Jan. 2 game. She’s been considered day-to-day ever since. Dominique Petrie, who got off to a fast start with three goals in four games, was placed on LTIR with an upper-body injury and last played on Dec. 19.

Though the Frost still have a deep roster of players, any time top forwards out of the lineup for a significant amount of time, it’s likely to be an absence that’s felt on the ice and on the scoresheet. Klee said “it’s hard to tell” if they’re close to returning to the lineup.

“They still haven’t really fully practiced yet,” Klee said. “So, I think this next little bit here, I think we’ve got three straight practices. So, I’m hopeful that at least one of them will get back into a regular color [jersey] for practice and be able to practice. And then we can start talking about them coming back.”

The Frost’s next game is 2 p.m. Sunday at home against the Boston Fleet.

5. Taylor Heise had a game-high 5 shots on goal.

Heise centered the top line Tuesday with Kendall Coyne Schofield and Curl-Salemme. Though Heise didn’t add to her points total this season (two goals, 10 points in 12 games), she tied her season-high mark of five shots on goal. Klee said it was one of the better games Heise’s played.

“She was on pucks and working and creating plays,” Klee said.

The post Rink Rule: Charge vs. Frost appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

But at 12:50 p.m., her head coach called her.  

“And I’m like, ‘Why am I getting a call from Ken (Klee)?’” Rooney said. “And he just said, ‘Hey, might need you to get ready and come down to the rink, but don’t leave yet. Wait until I call you back.’”

She received the follow-up call about 10 minutes later, got in her car and “rushed down” to Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, about a 25-minute drive from her house. She didn’t know the details of why she was being summoned at the last minute to fulfill the role as backup goaltender until she turned down the music on her drive to take another call and learned that presumed starter Nicole Hensley suffered a lower-body injury during warmups.

Backup Lucy Morgan was going to be thrust into her PWHL debut.

Morgan, a 23-year-old who played four years at St. Lawrence University before spending her graduate season in 2023-24 with the Gophers (15-3-0 with a .931 save percentage and 1.65 goals-against average), was a reserve with the Frost this season.

During Saturday’s warmups, Morgan said she wouldn’t let herself believe that Hensley was hurt.

“I’m a big believer in karma,” Morgan said. “So, I’m like, ‘OK, she’s just fixing her skates.’”

Even in the locker room with about five minutes until the teams took the ice for pregame introductions, Morgan talked with captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, still unsure what was happening. The captain went to the trainer’s room to check on Hensley, then returned to the locker room, where pregame music blared.

Coyne Schofield gave a nod in Morgan’s direction.

“A head nod from Kendall, basically, that I was playing,” Morgan said.

The puck dropped only a few minutes later, with Morgan in the crease in front of an announced crowd of 6,414 fans. She said she wasn’t nervous, just surprised.

“Going into this year, I never expected to even play. Definitely took me by surprise,” Morgan said.

She added: “Just because I was surprised doesn’t mean I wasn’t ready.”

Flipping the mindset
Morgan acknowledged how rare it is for third-string goaltenders to get playing time in the PWHL, so she wanted to make the most of her opportunity. Of course, the 5-0 loss wasn’t what she wanted. It wasn’t nerves; she just didn’t play her best, Morgan said. But Klee, Frost General Manager Melissa Caruso and Rooney all acknowledged that Morgan played well for being put in such a tough spot.

“I would say the hardest part is just being third string, you’re here to [help] get the players better,” Morgan said. “And then switching out my mindset, like ‘no, I need to get better,’ is kind of hard, I would say that biggest challenge.

“It’s a mindset switch.”

The hardest part was making that switch about two minutes before Saturday’s game, she added.

Maddie Rooney makes the save of the game in a Dec. 19 game against Ottawa, reaching her right pad out to stop a shot from Natalie Snodgrass that would have tied the game 3-3 in the third period. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Meanwhile, Rooney made it onto the Frost bench by the end of the first TV timeout, with about 10 minutes left in the first period. The 27-year-old goaltender doesn’t recall being part of a situation quite like this one, “not to this extent anyway.”

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Rooney said. “It was a wild turn of events.”

When Hensley left the ice during warmups, Klee and his coaching staff were watching on the bench.  

“All of a sudden it was like, ‘That doesn’t look good,’” Klee said. “’We better go see what’s happening.’”

Morgan, without much time to think about the start, filled in and made 29 saves in the loss. The first goal was surrendered at 1 minute, 10 seconds into the game, a bad-luck tally deflected off a Frost defender.

It turned into a rough game for the Frost all around, not only with the result but also being shorthanded with multiple players scratched due to illness, injury or suspension.

“When it rains it pours, I guess,” Klee said. “We just rolled with it.”

In case of emergency?
After being off the ice for a week, Rooney returned to practice Monday at Tria Rink. She’s feeling better and said she was about 75% healthy on Saturday. Morgan was the other primary goalie practicing with the Frost on Monday, while Hensley skated on her own a bit for part of practice; her injury status is day-to-day, according to Caruso.

When Rooney went out ill on New Year’s Eve, the Frost signed reserve Morgan to a 10-day Standard Player Agreement ahead of the Jan. 2 home game against Boston, where she backed up Hensley. On Saturday, Klee said the team decided to let Rooney stay home since they had two other goaltenders who were healthy at the time, “so that was the right call then,” Klee said.

“Then obviously we had to pull an audible and say, ‘Hey, drive here and get here when you get here,’” to Rooney, the coach added.

In the NHL, emergency backup goalies (EBUGs) must be in the building for each game. Though injuries to goaltenders during warmups aren’t a common occurrence, it begs the question: Is there an emergency goalie protocol in the PWHL?

The short answer is no, though Caruso said there are emergency provisions for a goalie injury during a game. In that case, the backup goaltender enters the game and someone else can dress as the new backup goalie.

“Other than that, there’s not really any emergency conditions to sign another goalie at the last minute, should the injury happen,” Caruso said.

Could the PWHL make changes in the future to add EBUGs? Or at least discuss it?

“It’s certainly something that’s been on my mind the last couple of days,” Caruso said. “We were really fortunate that we had signed Lucy here as a reserve.

“She had a tough job to do. She handled it really well. So, we got lucky this time. Probably not always going to be the case.”

The post Goalie Gets The Nod appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.