Following years of instability for the Premier Hockey Federation, largely due to COVID-19 restrictions and delays, the 2022-23 successful season, which introduced a seventh expansion team in Montréal, came to a thrilling conclusion tonight in Tempe, Arizona, with the Toronto Six capturing the Isobel Cup with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Minnesota Whitecaps.

After two years of having to play the tournament at a single location due to COVID-19, with 2021 in Boston (following a failed bubble attempt in Lake Placid, New York) and 2022 in Tampa, the semifinals were held on home ice for the top seeded, two-time defending champions Boston Pride, who were upset by the Whitecaps in two straight to clinch their final spot, while the Six needed three games in Toronto to dispatch the Connecticut Whale. The championship game, scheduled on neutral ice at the Mullett Arena, home of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, saw the Six win their first ever Isobel Cup, in just their third PHF season, and become the first Isobel Cup champions from north of the American border.

A back and forth bout throughout, it was goals from Brittyn Fleming, Brooke Madsen and Joanna Albers for Minnesota against Dominika Lásková, Breanne Wilson-Bennett and Taylor Woods with the equalizer for Toronto that sent the game to overtime at a 3-3 score, despite the Six outshooting the Whitecaps 31-23 in regulation. In 3-on-3 overtime, Toronto was pouring on the pressure from puck drop, and after Amanda Leveille was forced to make a number of big saves early, it was Tereza Vanišová with a top corner snipe on Leveille off a turnover in the corner that clinched the win for the Six.

Our congratulations go out to the players, management and fans of the Toronto Six, with those on the roster that have also held the IHLC highlighted in bold:

Photo Credit: TSN – IIHF – HHOF – IOC