5 Reasons You Should be at Wednesday’s P-Dub Playoff Game
The PWHL playoffs are underway and Minnesota is hanging on by a thread. After two losses on the road in Toronto in a best of 5 series, Minnesota came out firing Monday night winning 2-0 and shifting the momentum in their favor. Game 4 is Wednesday night and Minnesota has the opportunity to level the series and force a winner take all game 5 with a spot in the inaugural PWHL Final on the line. Here’s why you should be at the X to back the P-Dub.
It’s Playoff Hockey
If the PWHL has done anything in year one, it’s debunked the negative stigma around women’s sports. Coexisting with the rise of women’s basketball, the PWHL has gained some mainstream coverage and helped shift the perception that women’s sports don't have true fans and are just subsidized by men's sports.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are one of the most fascinating and grueling tests in all of sports. The intensity, physicality, atmosphere, and high stakes combine for a can’t miss annual event. But the P-Dub also delivers in a big way. Monday night’s game was as high flying and as physical as any other playoff hockey contest with all the scrums and hits you’d want from playoff hockey.
The lines are certainly blurred on how much physicality is allowed in the PWHL. Arbitrary penalties become even more confusing with what's allowed when the intensity dial gets turned up in the postseason.
Check along boards = okay. Checking open ice = not okay.
Checking 3 feet from the boards = sometimes okay.
Penalties in the P-Dub are like the old, “i before e except after c and sounding like a in ‘neighbor’ and ‘weigh’ and on weekends and holidays… blah, blah, blah.” Confusing!
To be honest, the ambiguity of the officiating makes it more exciting. There’s no clue what they’re going to call next.
Officials aside, it’s still intense high quality playoff hockey. With the Wild on the outside looking in, this might be your only chance at playoff puck.
Be a Part of the Energy
Small but mighty - Certainly the best way to describe the crowd in the X Monday night. It was pretty disappointing to see only 3,344 in the seats which didn’t even fill up the camera side of the rink behind the benches. Especially when you compare it to the crowds of around 8,500 at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto that cheered their side onto two straight victories over Minnesota last week. We can do better!
What the Minnesota crowd lacked in size, they made up for in volume and passion. Every 3 on 2 break, every offensive zone d-man (d-women?) keep at the blue line, and every save was met with wild rally towels waving and cheers from the extremely knowledgeable home crowd. The chant of “Rooney, Rooney…” was swirling all throughout the second and third period as Minnesota goalie, Maddie Rooney, turned aside all 18 shots she faced. To be honest, it sounded a lot like “Rudy, Rudy…” Let’s just hope that no one carries Rooney off the ice midgame. She stood out as the backbone of the team, and the crowd let her know it.
While P-Dub crowds are normally scattered with girl’s youth hockey teams, Monday’s contest boasted a lot more hardcore older hockey fans with a lot of guys in purple PWHL Minnesota jerseys - crushing the stigma of guys not being allowed to cheer for women’s sports.
BELIEVE
“Believe” is literally the founding philosophy of what the PWHL stands on. Believe that there can be a self-sustaining women's hockey league. Believe that young girls can have a future in professional sports. Believe that we are in a new era of women's sports. The Walter Cup given to the PWHL playoff champion literally has a puck shattering the glass ceiling. Believe in shattering the glass ceiling.
How poetic is it to add “believe that the last seed team can come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best of 5 against the first seed team?” The product on the ice reflecting the values of the league only intensifies this symbolism. Afterall, Toronto got to select their first round opponent and they chose Minnesota. Maybe this is a little sappy and too Ted Lasso-esque but the PWHL is all about being a dreamer. Let’s keep Minnesota’s inaugural season dream alive!
Opposite of the Timberwolves Series
Let’s face it, Minnesota sports can be quite dismal at times. This past week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for Timberwolves fans. After sweeping the Suns in the first round, the Wolves took 2 on the road from Denver looking to come home and finish out the second straight sweep… then lost two in a row at home tying the series up.
PWHL Minnesota is the opposite of the Wolves. Stealing momentum and stealing hearts. A win Wednesday night would force a winner take all game 5 in Toronto to complete the comeback story. Before last night, Minnesota hadn’t won a game since March with a dismal finish to the regular season, squeaking in thanks to Ottawa losing. It’s better to be the underdog and rise from the depths than to be in the driver's seat when turbulence hits.
Toronto Choking in the First Round
This sweet 20 year joke ages like a fine wine. The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs made a significant splash in the NHL playoffs was 2004. Since then, they’ve only made it past the first round once with an astonishing 8 first round exits. They tend to make those first round exits in dramatic fashion as just less than two weeks ago they forged an epic comeback down 3-1 against Boston… only to blow the fairytale first round ending in a game 7 overtime loss.
For PWHL Tronto to lead Minnesota 2-0 in a best of 5 and then lose 2 straight in Minnesota, it would mirror a typical Maple Leafs playoff mishap. The PWHL team even has the same blue as the Maple Leafs, why not have the same playoff choking habit?
Why come to game 4 Wednesday night? Why not? Great historical playoff hockey as cheap as $25 a seat is a great excuse to take your whole family on a midweek outing to support the hometown underdog team. See you Wednesday!
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