Toronto Six aiming to bring 1st Isobel Cup title to Canada
CBC
Although Sunday's championship final will be the last game of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) season, it may be more notable as a game of firsts.
For the first time, a Canadian team — the Toronto Six — will contend for the PHF championship.
For the first time, two women — the Six's Geraldine Heaney and the Minnesota Whitecaps' Ronda Engelhardt — will be behind the bench for the one-game final.
The victor will lift the Isobel Cup — named after Lord Stanley's daughter — on Sunday in Tempe, Ariz., at the NHL Coyotes' Mullett Arena.
"It's making history and with this group of girls it'll be something they'll never forget," Heaney said. "We've talked about it from the beginning of the year: enjoy the journey, and it's been one hell of a journey and we're just one game away from achieving our goals."
The Six finished second overall in the regular season (51 points in 24 games) and enter the championship after a narrow three-game semifinal win over the third-place Connecticut Whale. That series included a season-saving comeback overtime victory in Game 2.
WATCH | Six defeat Whale in Game 3:
The Whitecaps, meanwhile, were thought to be fodder for the first-place Boston Pride. Minnesota ended the season on a seven-game losing streak before turning around and sweeping a Boston team featuring the league's top scorer and top goalie.
Whitecaps goalie Amanda Leveille said her team isn't changing anything ahead of the championship game.
Leveille made 77 saves over the two games against Boston, allowing just three goals in those victories.
Toronto swept the season series against Minnesota 4-0, though the first three of those games were decided by one goal before a 7-1 blowout in their final meeting in February.
Heaney said the key for Toronto will be to limit special teams time in the final. Minnesota sported the second-best power play in the league during the regular season, while the Six allowed three power-play markers in the semifinal.
"Taking down Boston in two games straight was quite an accomplishment for them," she said. "They're fast and they don't give up and they're the type of team that will do the little things."
Heaney, a Hockey Hall of Fame defender who won 2002 Olympic gold with Canada along with seven world championships, is a rookie coach in the PHF.
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