PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs to start May 8
We now know the official start date for the inaugural Walter Cup Playoffs.
On Tuesday, the PWHL announced the league’s first-ever postseason will begin on May 8, with Toronto hosting Game 1 of its semifinals. Montreal will be home the following night, May 9, for its first matchup in the best-of-five series.
Teams begin chasing the Championship next week! 🏆
The dates, times, and venues of the first two games of each semifinal series have been set.
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Toronto will host its first two games on May 8 and 10, with Montreal playing on May 9 and 11. Those games will all start at 7 p.m. ET.
The league also revealed the venues for the top two team’s home games in the postseason. Toronto will play at the Coca-Cola Coliseum, the home of the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. The arena at Exhibition Place has a capacity of over 8,000. It will be the 15th different arena to hold PWHL games this season.
Toronto has played most of its home games at the Mattamy Athletic Centre—formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens—though it did beat Montreal at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 16.
Montreal will be in more familiar confines, as they will play at Place Bell, home of the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Montreal has played there four times this season, posting a 3-1 record after losing to Ottawa last month. Two of those games were played in front of sold-out crowds of 10,172. Montreal also played at the Verdun Auditorium, as well as the Bell Centre over a week ago.
Who Toronto and Montreal will face in the opening round of the playoffs is yet to be determined. The two teams are tied for first place with 41 points, with Toronto having a game in hand, giving them a good chance of snagging first place.
Three teams are in the running for the last two postseason positions. Minnesota sits third with 35 points, and just needs one in their final two games to clinch. Ottawa and Boston are tied with 32 points, but Ottawa can clinch with a regulation win over New York on Tuesday night.
First place is important for either Toronto or Montreal, as whoever ends up atop the standings will get to choose between the third- or fourth-place teams for whom they will play in the semifinals.