Earlier this week, I was in Lowell covering Game 5 of the PWHL Finals and the ensuing inaugural Walter Cup presentation and celebration. Itโs an experience Iโll never forget, and I tried to document some of it to share with our paid TIG subscribers so you could see what your subscription enables us to do.
To kick things off, here are the final seconds of the game from the press box, which was luckily located on the side where the initial celebration happened.
The final seconds of the inaugural PWHL season and ensuing Minnesota celebration.
I would be remiss if I jumped into the details of Minnesotaโs celebration without mentioning the sendoff fans gave PWHL Boston. The crowd was on their feet for the final seconds, and shortly after the final buzzer sounded, a thunderous โFrank-el, Frank-el, Frank-elโ chant broke out, followed by a โThank You, Bostonโ (unfortunately only captured the latter on video).
Fans chant “Thank you, Boston” as the players await a handshake line.
Not only did they stay until their team had left the ice, but most of the crowd remained until the Walter Cup was lifted. It was beautiful to see how many of those in attendance were not just fans of a team, but of the wider sport who recognized the magnitude of the moment and wanted to see it through despite their disappointment.
The crowd aside, non-league media was not allowed on the ice until after the team photo. So, I donโt have the best photos and videos, especially since the quality was damaged while converting the original files to ones supported by our publishing platform. However, hereโs a press box view of some of the Walter Cup presentation.
Billie Jean King and Mark Walters present the Walter Cup to captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.
After all the broadcasted festivities, I got to be part of a scrum for a brief on-ice interview with Kendall Coyne Schofield. She was asked what it was like receiving the Walter Cup from Mark Walter
and then raising the “beautiful” trophy for the first time.
โIt was heavy, but I really wanted to bring it from the bottom to the top, so thatโs kindโve what I was going for,โ said Coyne Schofield. โI asked Mark to hold it with me for a secondโฆI was like โok, help me until I get off the carpet.’ It was cool to be able to hold it alongside him.โ
Returning to a chronological recollection of the events, I also noted the order that the Walter Cup was passed around in. After taking a lap, Coyne Schofield passed it to Minnesota alternate captain (and her longtime Team USA teammate), Lee Stecklein.
Kendall Coyne Schofield skates with the trophy before passing it to alternate captain and longtime Team USA teammate Lee Stecklein.
Hereโs the full order
- Kendall Coyne Schofield (captain)
- Lee Stecklein (alternate captain)
- Kelly Pannek (alternate captain)
- Nicole Hensley
- Maddie Rooney
- Sophia Kunin
- Michela Cava
- Emma Greco
- Mellissa Channell
- Denisa Kลรญลพova
- Clair DeGeorge
- Liz Schepers
- Natalie Buchbinder
- Sydney Brodt
- Brittyn Fleming
- Brooke Bryant
- Grace Zumwinkle
- Taylor Heise
- Claire Butorac
- Sophie Jaques
- Maggie Flaherty
- Dominique Kremer
- Abby Boreen
- Nikki Nightengale
- Amanda Leveille
- Lauren Bench
After the team photo, I headed to the Boston presser before going onto the ice to get some content and soak up the sights and sounds. Since I arrived later than many others, I didnโt get much content of the players. Coyne Schofield ended up being the most accessible person since she was on the outskirts still doing interviews and spending time with family. Meanwhile, many of the others were in the thick of celebrating. The interview scrum I was a part of with her resulted in horrendous audio, but hereโs a still from it.ย
I later captured a sweet moment of her skating around with her son Drew, who was getting overwhelmed.
After he calmed down, they stopped to get a family photo (because everyone loves babies in trophies).
The only other player I got an even somewhat decent photo of was Nicole Hensley when she emerged from the mass of people to get individual photos with the trophy.
After that, I mostly wandered around and just soaked in the sights and sounds of a historic celebration. None of the other pictures and videos I got came out great since the celebration was so joyfully chaotic, but I hope youโve enjoyed this small look at the celebrations from my perspective. Thank you so much for continuing to subscribe to TIG so we can keep doing stuff like this!
