The New-Look Newly-Named Minnesota Frost Look To Defend Their Title

The Minnesota Frost are ready to hit the ground running this season after bringing home the inaugural Walter Cup in May. The Frost, one of six Professional Women’s Hockey League teams, are a deeply Minnesotan club in more than just their name.

12 of the 26 players on the roster are Minnesota natives, with another four originating nearby from Wisconsin and Illinois. The Frost have some incredible talent hitting the ice this season, including Minnesota native Lee Stecklein, who has more Olympic and IIHF World’s Gold Medals than Bobby Clarke has teeth. 

Midwesterners Kendall Coyne Schofield and Grace Zumwinkle were last season’s point leaders for the Frost and will continue to dominate the ice this season. Schofield was one of the first women to compete in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, where she placed seventh out of eight in the Fastest Skater challenge. 

Taylor Heise is one of the biggest names to watch out for. The first overall draft pick from 2023 and another homegrown Minnesotan, she and her filthy mitts will return to make a sophomore leap. 

The Frost made history as the first league champion last season and are gearing up to do it again. The underdog team barely made the playoffs, coming in as the fourth seed with 35 points, a solid 12 points behind the Toronto Sceptres, the league leader. 

Points are a little different in the PWHL. In the NHL, a team gets 2 points for any win, 1 for an overtime or shootout loss, and 0 for a regulation loss. PWHL teams get 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an overtime or shootout win, and 1 for an overtime or shootout loss.

The PWHL playoff format is different as well, with each series being best-of-five. After dropping their first two games to Toronto, Minnesota roared back by winning three straight elimination games in the first round of playoffs. In the Walter Cup Final, the Frost faced the Boston Fleet, where Minnesota kept both hockey-loving states on their toes by winning the first game, losing the next two, and finally bringing home the Walter Cup with a 3-0 victory in the winner-take-all Game 5. No word if PWHL Commissioner Jayna Hefford was wearing any clothing with the Minneapolis skyline on it.

Even though Minnesota won the championship, they underwent significant staff changes in a tumultuous offseason. In June 2024, the Frost removed General Manager Natalie Darawitz from her position just one week after the team she built won the Walter Cup. 

On September 3, they named Melissa Caruso as her successor. It wasn't the first strange set of happenings with the Frost staff. Heading into the 2023-2024 season, Charlie Burggraf was announced as the head coach, but ultimately stepped down on September 27. They replaced him with Ken Klee, and he remains Minnesota’s head coach going into this season. 

The PWHL's rulebook is based on the NHL and IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) rules, but includes significant changes. For instance, scoring during a penalty kill ends the penalty, just like scoring during a power play. Emma Maltais, a Toronto player, scored the first penalty-ending shorthanded goal last year. 

It’s an exciting change because it encourages an offensive penalty kill. That can result in more scoring chances for both teams since the penalty-killing team will take risks to gain control of the puck. 

The PWHL allows checking, which differs from the previous pro women’s league, the Premier Hockey Federation, which was formerly the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). Fighting still results in a penalty and game misconduct, which removes the player from the game. However, the league may loosen up on this in future seasons. Fans love hockey’s physicality, so allowing for checking in the women’s league will hopefully promote viewership. 

Another significant change is the pay. PWHL players make significantly more base pay, with a salary range of $35,000 to $80,000, not including bonuses or sponsorship deals. The PHF ranged from $5,500 to $15,000, not including bonuses or sponsorships.

The league has only six teams. However, it has already announced plans for a two-team expansion in the 2025-2026 season. That expansion comes off the heels of a successful 2023-24 season, which saw the league gain over 1 million social media followers and nearly 400,000 in-person attendees. The PWHL set the global attendance record for a women’s hockey game last year when 21,105 people attended the Bell Centre on April 20, 2024, to watch the Toronto Sceptres play the Montréal Victoire. 

Last season, all games were available to watch live for free on YouTube and appeared on various other networks. While the PWHL has not yet announced where to stream games, they expressed plans to do so in the coming weeks. In-person tickets are available online. Minnesota will play its first preseason game on November 20 against the Sceptres. Its first regular season game is on December 1 against the New York Sirens.