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2024-25 PWHL Power Rankings: Week 20 (05/02-05/06)

It's not goodbye, it's see you later in the final 2024-25 PWHL power rankings, featuring Disney movie endings.

2024-25 PWHL Power Rankings: Week 20 (05/02-05/06)
Marie-Philip Poulin celebrates her goal against New York at the bench. Photo courtesy of the PWHL.

Welcome to the final 2024-25 installment of The Ice Garden’s weekly power rankings! Remember: if you think your team is ranked too low, it’s definitely, totally, 100% because we hate them.

The PWHL regular season wrapped up with a bang this weekend, with every team in action and three teams still fighting to secure playoff spots. In the end, the Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost took care of business to join the Montréal Victoire and the Toronto Sceptres for this year’s playoffs. We’ll have tons of coverage coming your way these next few weeks, but unfortunately, this is it for the 2024-25 PWHL power rankings. Thank you to everyone who tuned in this season! These are a labor of love for me, and I truly hope you enjoy reading even a smidge as much as I enjoy writing them. I’m graduating from college, so my plans for next year are a bit up in the air, but these will return unless something forces me to stop. So, it’s not goodbye, it’s just see you later. Now, bring on the playoffs!

I kicked off this season with a sequels theme, and it feels right to finish it with endings one. I debated how to do this in a way that wouldn't make people mad at me for spoiling things, and I landed on just endings to Disney movies because odds are, anyone reading this has seen them already or doesn’t plan to. That said, yell away if I still deserve it (but also know I regret nothing).

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#1. Montréal Victoire (12-7-3-8, 53 points)

Duboise raises her arms in celebration as New York players look on in disappointment. She is wearing a cream away uniform, while the New York players are in teal home ones.
Catherine Dubois celebrates her goal against New York. Photo courtesy of the PWHL.

Last Week’s Ranking: Tied for first (-)

This Week’s Results:

  • Sat, May 3 @ NYS- 3-2 W

Ending: Tangled (2010)

After being kidnapped as a baby and hidden away in a tower for years, Rapunzel was finally reunited with her parents and crowned a princess at the end of the movie. Likewise, after a rocky couple of weeks, the Victoire were finally officially crowned the regular season champions with their win over the Sirens this weekend.

They didn’t make it easy on themselves, but the Victoire ended the season with a win and are your 2024-25 regular season champions. Despite the rocky stretch, they remain the team to beat in the playoffs this year with great goaltending, strong defense, and a potentially explosive offense. Plus, they’re hungry to ditch the bad taste in their mouths from last year’s sweep. I would not really want to be the Ottawa Charge right now.

#2. Toronto Sceptres (12-3-6-9, 48 points)

A Toronto player lifts her leg and leans forward and to her left, into the follow through of her shot. She is wearing a blue home uniform.
A Toronto player shoots on Ottawa's goal. Photo courtesy of the PWHL.

Last Week’s Ranking: Tied for first (-1)

This Week’s Results:

  • Sat, May 3 vs OTT- 2-1 OTL

Ending: Lilo and Stitch (2002)

Lilo and Stitch ends with a montage of all the fun and mischief the family has when they’re officially named Stitch’s caretakers. It’s a perfect way for a movie filled with delightful mischief to end, and it fits the Sceptres’ vibe just as well. They had a horrible start to the season, but things worked out great for them in the end, as they secured the second seed and were in contention for the first up until the last day.

The Sceptres nearly played spoiler to Ottawa’s playoff hopes for a second straight season, but they couldn’t capitalize on their chances in overtime. Luckily for them, it had no impact on their playoff standing. They're still the second seed, and now they get to try to exorcise their demons from last season’s reverse sweep by taking on Minnesota again. 5v5 scoring remains an issue, but if they can figure that out, they’ll give themselves a good chance to play for their first Walter Cup.

#3. Ottawa Charge (12-2-4-12, 44 points)

Jenner holds her arms out in expectation of a group hug after scoring against Toronto. She is wearing a white away uniform.
Brianne Jenner celebrates her goal against Toronto. Photo courtesy of the PWHL.

Last Week’s Ranking: 3 (-)

This Week’s Results:

Ending: The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

For most of The Emperor’s New Groove, it was touch-and-go whether Kuzco was going to be selfish and uproot Pacha’s entire village for his summer home. However, in the end, he made the right choice, building his place on the next hill over and staying close with Pacha and his family. Similarly, it was an extremely touch-and-go season for Ottawa, but it’s ending on a fun note after they made the playoffs for the first time.

In a perfect encapsulation of their season, Ottawa didn’t make clinching a spot easy, but they got the job done. However, their reward is playing the powerhouse Victoire, so things may get decidedly less fun from here. Still, the Charge being here is impressive after they spent stretches of the season looking hapless, and then they lost Emerance Maschmeyer to injury back in March. Gwyneth Philips deserves a ton of credit for how she seized the crease and helped drag Ottawa to where they are today, and while I believe Montréal will win the series in four, Philips will at least keep them in every game.

#4. Minnesota Frost (10-5-4-11, 44 points)

The Frost celebrate a win with a team gorup hug in Nicole Hensley's crease. They are all wearing white away uniforms.
Minnesota celebrates their playoff-clinching victory over Boston. Photo courtesy of the PWHL.

Last Week’s Ranking: 5 (+1)

This Week’s Results:

  • Sat, May 3 @ BOS- 8-1 W

Ending: Monsters Inc. (2001)

After Boo’s door was destroyed, Sully spent a long time moping around the factory. However, the movie ends with Mike surprising Sully with Boo’s rebuilt door, and Sully poking his head into her room to be reunited with her. Likewise, things looked ugly for the Minnesota Frost’s playoff hopes for the past few weeks. However, they surprised the hockey world by beating the wheels off the Fleet on Saturday, so their story ends on a hopeful note as they get to defend their championship at least a little longer.

What a difference a week makes, huh? Things had already been getting dicey for the Frost, but they looked dead in the water after they lost to the New York Sirens last week. However, they flipped a switch, and now they’re in the playoffs after blowing out the Fleet. They drew the Sceptres in the first round, who have been a good matchup for them this season. A lot needs to go right for the Frost to get out of this series, but as we saw last year, crazy things happen once the playoffs begin.

#5. Boston Fleet (9-6-5-10, 44 points)

Tapani watches follows through with her stick after playing the puck. Michela Cava is down on one knee in front of her after trying to block the play. Tapani is in a green home uniform, while Cava is in white.
Susanna Tapani makes a play against Minnesota. Photo courtesy of the PWHL.

Last Week’s Ranking: 4 (-1)

This Week’s Results:

Ending: Coco (2017)

Skip to 3:25 for the relevant scenes.

One of the final scenes in Coco is Miguel singing a tearjerking rendition of “Remember Me” to his grandmother so that she does not fully forget her father. He was successful, and in the final scene that takes place a year later, we see that while she has passed, she’s been reunited with her parents and they all visit during the Day of the Dead festivities. In that vein, after the Fleet were eliminated, Hilary Knight spoke about legacies and how disappointing it was that their team's legacy would not be celebrated since they didn't win a championship. However, perhaps they can use it as fuel going forward and this time next year, we're looking at it a bit differently.

I repeat: what a difference a week makes, huh? After winning their first game back from the Worlds break, the Fleet needed to secure just two points in their last two games to make playoffs. They couldn’t do that. The 8-1 beatdown at home, where they had been strong all season, was a particularly stunning, heartbreaking way for the season to end. However, the collapse started long before that, as they won just one of their final six games. With numerous wacky game endings this season, it’s a tough pill for this team to swallow that they missed the playoffs by just one point, but they did it to themselves. Now, they have a long offseason to think about what happened and find a way to come out and play more consistent hockey next season so this doesn’t happen again.

#6. New York Sirens (8-4-5-13, 37 points)

Zandee-Hart leans to her left as she follows through with her stick after shoveling the puck on goal. She is just outside Ann-Renée Desbiens crease, and Desbiens is on the ground after making the save with her hands shielding her mask. Zandee-Hart is in a teal home uniform, while Desbiens is in cream.
Micah Zandee-Hart shoots against New York. Photo courtesy of the PWHL.

Last Week’s Ranking: 6 (-1)

This Week’s Results:

  • Sat, May 3 vs MTL- 3-2 L

Ending: Toy Story 3 (2010)

It’s sad to say goodbye, but sometimes in the end, it’s for the best. The Sirens will be much happier with the first overall pick than they would’ve been getting bullied out of the playoffs, just like the toys are much happier with Bonnie than they were shoved in some boxes.

The rollercoaster Sirens season has finally come to an end. From a strong start that had most believing they would make the playoffs to the nine-game losing streak that is the primary reason they missed out, this team never quite figured out what it was. Still, they made steps in the right direction, and perhaps if they can finally figure out how to score goals outside of the top line, they’ll get to join in the playoff fun next season.

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