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PWHL Boston’s title game against Minnesota is hottest ticket in town
"People are trying to get tickets. I mean, it's gonna be a wild atmosphere."
With the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s first-ever championship on the line Wednesday night, PWHL Boston is expecting a raucous crowd at Lowell’s Tsongas Center in a decisive Game 5 showdown against PWHL Minnesota.
“I think whenever you set out for the start of a season, this is the game that you want to be in,” PWHL Boston captain Hilary Knight said Tuesday evening. “Obviously, to close out a season with a win is the goal. But to have all the support of our hometown fans is going to be outstanding.
“I know our room is extremely excited. Running into different people here in the Boston area. They’re ecstatic, people are trying to get tickets. I mean, it’s gonna be a wild atmosphere. So we’re really looking forward to closing out the season and putting ourselves in a successful position to do so.”
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Wednesday’s championship-clinching bout is the hottest ticket in the area, with tickets already completely sold out for the game on both PWHL Boston and Tsongas Center’s official websites. Seats on the resale market are going for a high price, with the cheapest ticket on StubHub going for over $200, with several seats currently going for over $1,000.
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For PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel, Wednesday’s sold-out crowd in Lowell stands as a rewarding culmination to a successful first season for the lone professional women’s hockey league in North America.
“Boston’s a sports city. And I think we’re excited to bring this Game 5 back and to be able to play in front of a sold-out crowd is going to be incredible,” Kessel said. “Honestly, these fans have been incredible all year and just kind of building this fanbase that we’re trying to create here has been a process and a fun one, for sure.
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“And I think we’re far beyond where any of us could have imagined from September [to] now, it’s pretty incredible what this league has created — not only for these women, but for these young little girls that can look up to play this professional game. So we’re super excited that we’re able to play Game 5 here in Boston.”
PWHL Boston has carved out an impressive run in the lead-up to Wednesday’s matchup, which will be the culmination of the inaugural Walter Cup Finals.
Despite finishing third overall in the PWHL standings, PWHL Boston caught fire at just the right time this spring, sweeping PWHL Montreal over three games during the semifinals.
PWHL Boston kept its season alive on Sunday in a drama-filled Game 4 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, with Northeastern alum Alina Müller lighting the lamp with 1:24 left in double overtime to lift Boston to a 1-0 win on the road.
It was an impressive turnaround for Boston, who kept themselves off the ropes after a potential championship-clinching tally from Minnesota’s Sophie Jaques was overturned due to goaltender interference just 1:11 before Müller forced a Game 5 with a scorching wrist shot.
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“I think we’ve taken the path less traveled all year,” Kessel said. “So why not do it in Game 4? Such an exciting, crazy game. Happy we came out on the positive side of that of course.
“We’re really looking forward to hosting Game 5 here at Tsongas and when I woke up this morning — it’s like at the beginning of every year, every team thinks that they’re going to be in this final and here we really are.”
If PWHL Boston wants to hoist the Walter Cup on Wednesday, it will need another sterling performance in net from Aerin Frankel — who posted a 33-save shutout against Minnesota in Game 4 and is sporting a .953 save percentage over seven playoff games this spring.
Knight is no stranger to lifting some hardware on the ice. The 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist with Team USA won the Clarkson Cup twice with the CWHL’s Boston Blades and helping the NWHL’s Boston Pride take home the inaugural Isobel Cup in 2016.
But given the strides made by the PWHL this season after a sprint to the starting line, getting the opportunity to cap off a landmark year for women’s hockey with a title would stand as a fitting reward for Knight and her teammates.
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“Winning a trophy — there’s nothing like it, right? But yeah, this is so special,” Knight said. “It’s really hard to put into words. It’s been such a magical season — historical, transformative. I mean, you name it.
“So to be in the finals and be one of these teams competing for the Walter Cup is just incredible. And what an honor it is to be here and to be able to represent this city and Titletown and have a shot at the title.”
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