Montreal Victoire’s first-round playoff series is exclusive to Amazon — here’s how you can watch

The Montreal Victoire begin their Professional Women’s Hockey League playoff run on Saturday, with Game 1 of a best-of-five semifinal series against the Minnesota Frost at Place Bell.

But if you’re looking to watch it on TV, you’re out of luck. Amazon, which has the exclusive rights to one of the two first-round series under its PWHL broadcast rights deal, is airing the series on Prime Video.

The other series, featuring the Ottawa Charge and Boston Fleet, is on TSN and RDS, as will be the PWHL finals featuring the winners of those series.

How you can catch these games

Subscribe to Amazon Prime and stream it

If you don’t already have Amazon Prime — which includes Amazon Prime Video and several other features, like free shipping on Amazon purchases — it can be bought for $10/month or $99/year (which works out to $8.25/month) or try it out 30 days for free. PWHL games come at no extra cost to Prime members. Once you’re subscribed, you can watch the game:

• on a computer, at primevideo.com
• on a smartphone using the Prime Video app
• on streaming devices like Roku and Chromecast
• on latest-generation set-top boxes, including those for Bell Fibe and Vidéotron Helix, using the Prime Video app on many models of smart TVs

Go to a bar

Some sports bars will have the game on, including those like Le Nadia that focus on women’s sports. Check with your local watering hole if they’ll have it on, and if they don’t, ask them to put it on if they can.

Go to the game

It’s more expensive than subscribing to Amazon, but tickets for home games were still available starting at $50 each as we published this.

Follow on social media

You can follow the Victoire on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, in addition to the PWHL’s social media (X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok).

Catch up later

Besides the usual highlights on TSN and Sportsnet after the game, the teams or league will post a highlights package on YouTube, and a few days after each match the PWHL makes the whole game available on its YouTube channel to Canadian viewers.

What doesn’t work

Unlike Amazon’s deal with the NHL, you can’t get around it by just tuning in to RDS. Amazon’s deal is in both languages, across Canada (which means you can stream it in either language on Amazon). There are also no official radio broadcasts of the game.

Watching outside of Canada

Amazon’s deal is only exclusive in Canada, so if you’re in the United States or elsewhere, you’ll have other ways to watch. Several U.S. TV stations will broadcast the games including the Scripps Sports Network and FOX 9+ Minneapolis. And it’s also streaming free on PWHL’s YouTube, except in Czechia and Slovakia where other rights deals are in place.

PWHL playoff schedule

Montreal Victoire (1) vs. Minnesota Frost (3):

• Game 1: Saturday, May 2, 2 p.m. at Place Bell in Laval (Amazon Prime Video)
• Game 2: Tuesday, May 5, 7 p.m. at Place Bell in Laval (Amazon Prime Video)
• Game 3: Thursday, May 7, 7 p.m.* at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn. (Amazon Prime Video)
• Game 4, if necessary: Date/time TBD at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn. (Amazon Prime Video)
• Game 5, if necessary: Date/time TBD at Place Bell in Laval (Amazon Prime Video)

*Time may change depending on the Minnesota Wild’s playoff schedule.

Boston Fleet (2) vs. Ottawa Charge (4):

• Game 1: Thursday, April 30, 7 p.m. at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. (TSN1, TSN3)
• Game 2: Saturday, May 2, 7 p.m. at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. (TSN3, TSN5)
• Game 3: Friday, May 8, 7 p.m. at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa (TSN)
• Game 4, if necessary: Sunday, May 10, 3 p.m. at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa (TSN)
• Game 5, if necessary: Date/time TBD at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. (TSN)

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