playoff hockey Montreal Victoire PWHL Minnesota Frost Shiann Darkangelo Place Bell Walter Cup Laval Quebec PWHL semifinals women's hockey

LAVAL, QUEBEC — The crowd at Place Bell for Game 1 was wound tight, like a guitar string on the brink of snapping. Our Montreal Victoire, who had never won more than one game in a playoff series, let alone a series itself, were set to face the Minnesota Frost, the only team who has ever won the Walter Cup, in the PWHL semifinals.

It felt like everybody in the arena was holding their breath, bracing for history to unfold before us, unchanged. It didn’t help that Minnesota scored twice before the first intermission. I could feel the crowd’s belief, or at least my own, ebbing. We needed the team to believe for us, to break open the glorious possibility of change.

Less than three minutes into the second period, Shiann Darkangelo delivered, making the most of chaos in front of Minnesota’s crease. It wasn’t an equalizer, but it was proof that mountains can be climbed, so long as you go one step at a time. The crowd’s reaction felt as much like a sigh of relief as a celebration.

Source: Defector
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