{"id":22588,"date":"2023-03-26T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/26\/the-premier-hockey-federations-phf-isobel-cup-single-game-final-preview\/"},"modified":"2023-03-26T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T04:00:00","slug":"the-premier-hockey-federations-phf-isobel-cup-single-game-final-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/26\/the-premier-hockey-federations-phf-isobel-cup-single-game-final-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"The Premier Hockey Federation\u2019s (PHF) Isobel Cup single-game final preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3 id=\"-how-it-works\">\ud83c\udfd2 How it works<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Before we dive into today\u2019s matchup, <\/strong>a quick refresher on the (quite complicated) state of women\u2019s hockey, the season setup and how we arrived at today\u2019s final.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The PHF (formerly NWHL) is the only professional women\u2019s hockey league<\/strong> currently operating in North America. First established in 2015, the PHF offered to do what no women\u2019s league \u2014 including the now-defunct Canadian Women\u2019s Hockey League \u2014 had done before: pay its players.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Flash forward to today,<\/strong> and the PHF still has incredible skill to boast in their <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fhthhyd-jitklkutjh-m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently expanded<\/a> seven-team league. After concluding a record-breaking regular season that saw each team play 24 games, the top four squads skated into the postseason, playing a best-of-three semifinal series. Phew.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>And now, the championship between the Toronto Six and<strong> <\/strong>Minnesota Whitecaps is set, but only one hockey-crazed city can hoist the Isobel Cup.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"-minnesota-whitecaps\">\ud83c\udf0a Minnesota Whitecaps<\/h3>\n<figure><figcaption> <span class=\"credit\"><\/p>\n<p>SOURCE: MINNESOTA WHITECAPS\/TWITTER<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>After losing eight straight games to close out the regular season<\/strong> with a mediocre 10-11 record, it looked like Minnesota\u2019s chances of reaching the Cup Final had washed away.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Insert the postseason return of top tendy Amanda Leveille and suddenly, <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fhthhyd-jitklkutjh-c\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">like pouring rain<\/a>, everything changed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>After dethroning the three-time champs<\/strong> (and regular season\u2013winning) Boston Pride with a quick two-game semifinal sweep, it\u2019s clear the Whitecaps\u2019 talent is nothing to <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fhthhyd-jitklkutjh-q\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">squawk about<\/a> as the squad looks for their first championship in four years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In terms of top players, <\/strong>veteran forwards Jonna Albers and Natalie Snodgrass <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fhthhyd-jitklkutjh-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">averaged nearly one point per game<\/a>, each notching 10 goals on the season to lead the team in scoring. Consistency at its finest.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paired with the defensive backing of 2018 Olympic gold medalist American Sidney Morin, and, of course, the formidable Leveille, Minnesota is ready to <em>wave<\/em> the competition goodbye.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"-toronto-six\">\ud83c\udf41 Toronto Six<\/h3>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.takeshape.io\/71fc3568-3ff2-4a40-a6dc-fed792e2222a\/dev\/1b6a695e-b949-4cad-a4c1-aeff96a12b39\/unnamed-six.073420.jpeg\"\/><figcaption> <span class=\"credit\"><\/p>\n<p>SOURCE: TORONTO SIX\/TWITTER<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Toronto is feeling good, as they should, <\/strong>after following up an impressive <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fhthhyd-jitklkutjh-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">second-place regular season finish<\/a> by securing the franchise\u2019s first-ever spot in the Cup Final. Time to show off their <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fhthhyd-jitklkutjh-jy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sunday best<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>After rebounding from a Game 1 loss <\/strong>in their best-of-three semifinal series against the Connecticut Whale, the Six squad will need to focus on starting strong if they want to find success against the Whitecaps in tonight\u2019s single-game final.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Of note, Toronto <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fhthhyd-jitklkutjh-jj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>swept Minnesota<\/strong><\/a> in the teams\u2019 four-game season series, on the back of elite offensive power and brick wall goaltending.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Forward Brittany Howard was a goal-scoring machine all season, leading the team with 16, and averaging over a point per game. Most importantly, Howard\u2019s been the reliable source of game-winners. Seriously clutch.<\/li>\n<li>On the other end of the ice, tendy Elaine Chuli has been a terror for her opponents, deflecting the puck from all angles, including a stunning Game 3 semifinal shutout win.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"-how-to-tune-in\">\ud83d\udcfa How to tune in<\/h3>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.takeshape.io\/71fc3568-3ff2-4a40-a6dc-fed792e2222a\/dev\/313c7c44-ab06-419f-aa33-15e770ae693f\/unnamed-tune.073545.jpeg\"\/><figcaption> <span class=\"credit\"><\/p>\n<p>SOURCE: PHF\/TWITTER<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>In line with this year\u2019s growing investment in women\u2019s sports coverage,<\/strong> you can catch tonight\u2019s opening puck drop on ESPN2 in the U.S. and TSN in Canada. Let\u2019s go girls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n  n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n  document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('init', '1716705275141133'); \/\/ Insert your pixel ID here.\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n      <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegistsports.com\/article\/6d2db921-ab7e-4e1a-af39-d37de2f2f63d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83c\udfd2 How it works Before we dive into today\u2019s matchup, a quick refresher on the (quite complicated) state of women\u2019s hockey, the season setup and how we arrived at today\u2019s final. The PHF (formerly NWHL) is the only professional women\u2019s hockey league currently operating in North America. First established in 2015, the PHF offered to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6805],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-womens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}