Ottawa Charge to face Montreal Victoire in all-Canadian PWHL final

The Ottawa Charge's Gabbie Hughes battles against Marie-Philip Poulin of the Montreal Victoire during last season's semifinal series game at TD Place in Ottawa on May 16, 2025. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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The Walter Cup will be awarded to a Canadian team for the first time in PWHL history, as the Montreal Victoire will advance to face the Ottawa Charge in the final.

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The Walter Cup finals are set to begin in at Place Bell in Laval, Que., with Game 1 on May 14 at 7 p.m. and Game 2 on May 16 at 2 p.m., before returning to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4, the league announced just moments after the matchup was set.

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The Victoire hung on to defeat the Minnesota Frost 2-1 in a do-or-die Game 5 on Tuesday night, eliminating the two-time Walter Cup champion Frost from the playoffs for the first time in league history.

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Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored the game-winning goal to bring her team to its first Walter Cup final. In the past two seasons, Montreal found itself unable to progress past the semifinal round, falling to Boston in 2024 and Ottawa in 2025.

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The Victoire has won three of four games in the regular-season matchup against the Charge, with Ottawa’s sole win coming in overtime on March 22. Montreal outscored its closest rival 9-4 in the regular-season series.

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After clinching its spot in the Walter Cup final with a Game 4 win over the Boston Fleet on Sunday, the Charge departed for Montreal by bus on Tuesday afternoon to await the result of Game 5 on the other side of the semifinal bracket.

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The Montreal-Minnesota Game 5 was originally supposed to take place Monday, but was postponed by 24 hours after the league cited player safety concerns due to illness.

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Ottawa will now be able to stay put in Montreal where the first two games of the Walter Cup final will take place later this week.. The series will then return to Ottawa for Game 3 on May 18, and Game 4, if necessary, on May 20, both at the Canadian Tire Centre. If a Game 5 is needed, it will take place back in Montreal with a date and time to be determined.

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The Montreal Victoire has a 2-0 record at the Canadian Tire Centre, after the Charge has hosted its closest league rivals for two regular-season games over the last two seasons. Most recently, Ottawa fell 3-0 to Montreal on April 3, 2026.

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