Souhan: Loss in season opener doesn’t dim spirits as Frost raise championship banner

When the Minnesota Frost unveiled their latest championship banner on Friday night, before their season opener, they created a moment equally symbolic and awkward.

As the Frost players who won last year’s Walter Cup skated toward the banner, the players who are new to the team remained at the blue line, watching the celebration.

Then the Frost, who won the first two championships in PWHL history, lost the first game of the season, 2-1 to Toronto at Grand Casino Arena, providing another reminder of how difficult their task was — and is — and how quickly they need to assimilate their newer faces.

The Frost defeated Toronto in the league semifinals last year, and made the playoffs as the fourth seed in a six-team league. Friday night, the Frost played the first game of the PWHL season before Seattle and Vancouver, the league’s two new expansion teams, played in Vancouver, showing off players they took in the expansion draft.

During the pregame ceremony, assistant captain Lee Stecklein carried the 2024 Walter Cup onto the ice and placed it in front of the unfurled banner, and then assistant captain Kelly Pannek carried out the 2025 Walter Cup trophy.

Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield was the last Frost player introduced. She scored the first goal of the season, giving the Frost a 1-0 lead.

Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme rushed down the left side of the ice and took a massive hit that took her off her skates. She managed to flip the puck cross-ice.

Coyne Schofield, not surprisingly, was in the right place, flashing in front of the Toronto goal and scoring easily, then leaping into the boards behind the goal.

The Frost didn’t play poorly the rest of the evening, but they didn’t score again.

“Our one line was buzzing pretty good to start, but our other lines, I thought, struggled a little bit early,” said Frost coach Ken Klee. “But then we found a rhythm a bit.

“Games are going to be tight. We made two mistakes — individual mistakes, not even team mistakes or structure mistakes, and they buried both of them. We hit four or five posts and had our opportunities to score. We’ve just got to finish.”

Friday, though, was also about the start. Pannek and fellow forward Taylor Heise talked about the hard work they put in this offseason, the time they each spent with the Cup, and the team-building exercises they conducted, such as a recent team trip to Top Golf.

“Since this morning, my stomach’s been churning,” Heise said. “I just wanted to get out there.”

Once on the ice, Heise said, she was reminded of the fast pace and close games that mark the PWHL.

“One of our teammates said there’s someone coming down on us, down the wall, every single time,” Heise said. “I said, ‘Welcome to the PWHL.’”

The Frost drew an announced attendance of 9,138, after drawing 8,022 for their opener last year.

Pannek found herself constantly in the middle of the action, earning a point and a penalty shot and committing a penalty.

Heise and Pannek also reflected on the nature of their sport, and this season. They missed part of training camp while working with Team USA, and they could be joining Team USA at the Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

“We joined in late, coming off the USA camp,” Pannek said. “It’s really fun to see, from my opinion, seeing the new girls, the young girls out of college. … You can tell at the beginning that they’re kind of nervous.”