Toronto Sceptres get a do-over in PWHL semifinal matchup vs. Frost
Plenty of motivation for a group that was devastated by last year's result
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The Toronto Sceptres didn’t have the choice of a first-round opponent this year, but they’re getting the same one they picked a year ago anyway.
The Montreal Victoire made that determination when they opted to take the official third-place finishers in the league in the Ottawa Charge rather than the fourth-place Minnesota Frost, who now start their defence of the Walter Cup in the same arena they began a year ago.
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It will come against a Sceptres team that includes many who won’t ever forget that feeling of watching the Frost celebrate on Toronto’s home ice last May.
Enough has changed on both rosters and in both organizations that both sides are trying to downplay the Round 2 feel to a Sceptres/Frost semifinal, but there’s no getting around the lingering feelings of what could have been for at least a handful of the Sceptres players.
Put team captain Blayre Turnbull at the very front of that line. Turnbull is well aware how different the team around her is this year from last, and as much as she and her head coach Troy Ryan despise looking back, Turnbull admitted she can’t help but be motivated by the five-game loss a season ago that began with Toronto going up 2-0 in the series.
Ryan knows that’s just a reality, particularly given the competitors that make up his team, but it was still telling that all three of the leadership members on Sunday’s league-wide conference call were quick to cop to using last year’s defeat as motivation going into this year’s playoff series.
“There’s obviously a lot that crosses my mind when it comes to what motivates me going into this playoff series, but losing to Minnesota last year in five games is part of what motivates me and makes me even more excited to get this series started,” Turnbull said. “I think Troy made a good point. There are a lot of people on the team who are new so for those of who might use it as motivation, there is a group of people who have never experienced losing in the playoffs.
“It will be a fun dynamic to work through but I think everyone will show up on Wednesday night ready to go.”
No athlete enjoys or accepts losing well, but there are degrees of that and competitors like Turnbull, and alternate captains Allie Munroe (newly named to the role) and Renata Fast would easily be at the far end of that line of athletes who just don’t accept defeat.
It was evident on the night of that Game 5 loss last May and it was still there a few days later when the team conducted exit interviews with the media.
Turnbull, in particular, was still unable to hide the disappointment, or in her case real anger, at that result.
And the list of Sceptres that feel that way does not end with just those three.
On the other side, the defending champion Frost come in with some momentum and some fire that maybe wasn’t there right away last season in the series.
The Frost needed wins in their final two games to get into the playoffs and they delivered in spades knocking off a hungry Ottawa Charge team last Wednesday and then delivering a knockout blow to the Boston Fleet on their home ice that few saw coming on Saturday. Their 8-1 drubbing of a Fleet team that went to the Cup final a year ago and were a popular pick to get back there, knocked the Fleet right out of the playoffs while shocking a lot of seasoned league watchers.
In comparison, the Frost in year 1 lost their final five regular season matches and backed into a playoff berth only because the Sceptres knocked off Ottawa in the final game of the year.
How you get there, though, is not what matters, according to Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.
“The goal doesn’t change,” she said. “The way we play doesn’t change and how we get there I don’t think necessarily changes anything,” Coyne Schofield said. “We know how hard it is to win in this league night in and night out. As coach mentioned the parity is incredible. The league is so tight and you know every game is going to be a hard-fought game and I don’t think that changes as we head into the playoffs here.”
“It’s going to be a tough battle,” Frost head coach Ken Klee said. “We know that. Starting out on their ice, it’s going to tough. It’s the first team to win three games and it’s not easy to do and it’s not easy to get there. Right now we are just focusing on Game 1 and being excited to get there.”
The Frost come in at a slight disadvantage if you bring travel into things, having been on the road for a week already to end the season and looking at another week before they get home for Game 3.
The team made the decision to remain in Boston after Saturday’s game and fly directly to Game 1 of their semifinal opponent rather than fly home to Minneapolis and do a quick turnaround before heading out again.
Working in Minnesota’s favour, there is also a full extra day this time around to handle that turnaround from regular season to playoffs with the league making the very wise decision to end on a Saturday rather than a Sunday giving all teams a little more time to get that second season started in something less than the frenzy Minnesota endured a year ago.
All that said, as good as last year’s five-game marathon was, expect an even more hotly contested series the second time around. The league is better. The players are better. There’s even a little more history there to feed into some nastiness and the fans will be better served because of it.
The Sceptres-Frost series opens Wednesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum, with puck drop at 7 p.m.
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