05/07/24 11:37:00
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05/07 11:36 CDT Toronto opens women's hockey playoffs against a hand-picked
opponent. They won't say how they chose
Toronto opens women's hockey playoffs against a hand-picked opponent. They
won't say how they chose
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer
Having the unusual option of choosing their playoff opponent wasn't taken
lightly by the staff and players of the Professional Women's Hockey League's
Toronto franchise for clinching first-place in the standings.
So sensitive and in-depth were the discussions, coach Troy Ryan declined to
disclose the reasons behind Toronto's decision to face fourth-place Minnesota
over third-place Boston --- two teams who finished with identical 12-9-3
records (including four OT/SO wins apiece), with Boston having the tiebreaking
edge.
"To be honest, from a hockey perspective, I think it would be somewhat
irresponsible to tip my hat to the exact details," Ryan said Monday night. "So
at this point, we'll keep that within house."
Leave it to the PWHL to provide an intriguing plot twist entering the playoffs
after its inaugural 72-game regular season in which the playoff race wasn't
settled until the final game. Toronto played a central role in determining the
final standings with its season-ending 5-2 win over Ottawa on Sunday night
eliminating Ottawa and securing Minnesota its playoff berth.
The concept of teams selecting playoff opponents has long been entertained in
theory in North America's four major pro sports, but yet to become a reality.
The Southern Professional Hockey League introduced a pick-your-opponent
first-round playoff format in 2018 before abandoning it two years later.
Toronto's decision to choose Minnesota as its playoff opponent made sense in
various aspects.
Toronto had a 3-1 record against Minnesota in the regular season, while going
3-2 against Boston. Minnesota closed the season losing its final five games,
while Boston went 3-1-1, including a 2-1 win over Toronto.
Minnesota coach Ken Klee expressed little surprise in Toronto's decision by
saying: "To me, that's who I expected." He also noted that Minnesota logged the
most air miles in a league whose other five teams are concentrated in the
Northeast.
"If I was (Toronto), I would say who has the furthest to come and has the
toughest travel to get here," Klee said. "But in my mind, our group's excited.
We're in the playoffs."
Of all the aspects taken into consideration, ranging from analytics,
head-to-head records, travel and injuries, among the most important, perhaps,
was the fear of providing their opponent additional motivation entering the
best-of-five semifinal series, which opens in Toronto on Wednesday. Montreal
will face Boston in the other semifinal starting on Thursday.
Boston coach Courtney Kessel couldn't help but envision what her players'
reaction would have been had they been selected.
"I think it's a good thing and a bad thing to kind of be in their position,"
Kessel said of Toronto. "I think if they would have chosen us, we would have
had a little bit more fuel, you know, like them thinking that they can beat us
in choosing the third-place team."
Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury said the process in determining which opponent to
select began last week after Toronto clinched first place. Kingsbury consulted
with Ryan before getting feedback from the team's leadership core and
eventually the entire roster.
"In the end, it wasn't an easy decision. Minnesota was not the necessarily the
lead in that right away," Kingsbury said. "There were a lot of pros and cons on
picking Boston or Minnesota. And in the end we just went with what seemed to be
a little more pros than cons."
Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull said the most important thing to remember was
to focus on their team, not the opponent.
"No matter who we picked, there's going to be some people that might think we
should have gone the other way," Turnbull said. "But I think at the end of the
day, no matter who we're going to face in the semifinal round is going to be a
really tough opponent."
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AP Women's Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
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