Latest news with #MelissaCaruso
Reuters
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Frost sign G Marlene Boissonnault to 1-year deal
July 18 - The Minnesota Frost signed goaltender Marlene Boissonnault to a one-year contract on Friday. The 28-year-old Canadian originally joined the Frost as a reserve player last March. "We are thrilled to welcome Marlene back to Saint Paul for the upcoming season," Frost general manager Melissa Caruso said. "We were lucky to be able to get to know her as an athlete and teammate last season, and believe she is the perfect last piece of our goaltending group. She brings energy and enthusiasm to our locker room and proven skill to the crease." Boissonnault, who starred collegiately at Cornell, began her PWHL career with the Montreal Victoire in 2023-24. --Field Level Media
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Frost sign 2nd-round pick Abby Hustler
July 17 - The Minnesota Frost have signed rookie second-round draft pick Abby Hustler to a two-year contract. Hustler, 22, was selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2025 PWHL Draft out of St. Lawrence University, where the forward recorded 158 points in 154 career games. The St. Louis, Prince Edward Island, native was named second team All-ECAC each of the past two seasons. "Abby is going to add size, strength, and pace to our roster," Frost general manager Melissa Caruso said. "She is a strong power forward who has the skating ability and scoring instincts to be very effective in the PWHL. Her leadership at St. Lawrence makes her a perfect fit for our team culture in Minnesota and we can't wait to see what she will accomplish at the professional level."? Hustler is the first PWHL player to hail from the province of PEI, and was one of six players drafted by Minnesota last month. She joins a Frost roster that includes fellow forwards Kendall Coyne Schofield, Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, Claire Butorac, Britta Curl-Salemme, Katy Knoll, and Klara Hymlarova. "I am super excited to be joining the Frost and such an amazing hockey community," she said. "I can't wait to meet my new teammates and get started!" --Field Level Media
Reuters
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Minnesota Frost re-sign D Mae Batherson, F Claire Butorac
June 23 - Defender Mae Batherson and forward Claire Butorac have re-signed with the Minnesota Frost, the team announced Monday. Batherson, a sixth-round pick (33rd overall) of the 2024 PWHL Draft, signed a two-year contract with the two-time defending league champions. The 24-year-old had three assists in 25 regular-season games and also appeared in three playoff games with the Frost. "Mae integrated easily onto our blue line during her rookie season," Minnesota General Manager Melissa Caruso said in a statement. "She is quick and agile on the ice yet maintains poise under pressure in the d-zone. She has proven herself to be a valuable member of our team and we look forward to watching her role evolve over the next two seasons." Butorac, an Andover, Minn., native and a 2023 Minnesota State graduate, signed a one-year deal to stay in her home state. "We're excited that Claire Butorac will return to our roster for Season Three," Caruso said. "Claire brings speed, skill, and a relentless work ethic that will continue to elevate our forward group. Her passion for the game and ability to make an impact both on and off the ice make her a great fit for our team." Butorac has compiled three goals and six assists in 50 regular-season games over the last two seasons. She has notched one goal and two assists in 16 postseason games. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Minnesota Frost will celebrate championship with a St. Paul procession on Wednesday
The Minnesota Frost won their second straight Walter Cup championship on Monday. The club will celebrate being the only team to ever win a PWHL title in Downtown St. Paul on Wednesday, May 28. Frost players, coaches, and staff will start the party by marching the Walter Cup from Tria Rink to Xcel Energy Center at 5:30 p.m. The procession will wind through Seventh Place and Rice Park en route to the Xcel, where the team will celebrate its win on the arena floor with emcee Kristen Krull of the Bardown Beauties podcast. The festivities will include remarks from general manager Melissa Caruso, coach Ken Klee, and Frost players. Afterwards, there will be photo opportunities with the Walter Cup, a DJ, games, concessions, and merch available. Fans looking to attend the free event can enter at Gate One of Xcel Energy Center when doors open at 5:30 p.m. The in-arena presentation will begin at 6 p.m.
CBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
With PWHL expansion looming, the defending champion Frost go out on top
Social Sharing For the second year in a row, it was Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield hoisting the Walter Cup after her team won the championship. It was the player who played such a key role in the creation of the Professional Women's Hockey League who again led her team to the top of the mountain, through bumps and bruises and overtime galore. Just like last year, the team that squeaked into the playoffs as the final seed at the end of the season ended up on top. "It's hard to win back to back," Coyne Schofield told reporters on Monday after her team's win. "I'm just so proud of this group. When you look at the way we won, it takes everybody." A few things were different this year. For one, the Frost won this championship in front of a home crowd. More than 11,000 fans showed up to the Xcel Energy Center to watch the Frost defeat the Ottawa Charge 2-1 in overtime of Game 4. But the biggest distinction is that this felt like the last dance for a deep Minnesota team. WATCH | Frost captain Coyne Schofield lifts the Walter Cup: Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield hoists PWHL's Walter Cup 19 hours ago Duration 1:21 The second part is a reality every team across the league is facing: change is coming. As the celebrations continue in Minnesota, Frost general manager Melissa Caruso and her staff will need to start to decide who to protect in the upcoming expansion draft, which will help build new teams debuting in Seattle and Vancouver next season. Teams can only protect three players to start, and those protection lists are due next Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET. Once a team loses two players to expansion, a fourth player can be protected. It's a reality that wasn't lost on the Frost's players on Monday night. "This group's so special and it's sad to think that we'll never play together again," said goaltender Maddie Rooney, who is a free agent after this season. How the Frost won Like every other game in the Minnesota-Ottawa series, Game 4 required overtime. After Minnesota forward Kelly Pannek opened the scoring, the Charge's Tereza Vanišová scored her first playoff goal in the third period to tie the game. In overtime, fourth-line centre Liz Schepers was the hero for Minnesota for the second year in a row. Her line with rookies Katy Knoll and Klára Hymlárová was persistent throughout the series, and also earned the game winner in Game 3. Coyne Schofield described that line as Minnesota's best in the series "by far." " It just speaks to there was no role that was too big or too small," she said. It was Minnesota's depth, from the fourth line to the defenders, that ultimately helped them edge out Ottawa. But it was also the belief in the room, the kind of confidence that comes from having done this before, and having played and come out on top of big games. Even when it looked like the Frost might miss the playoffs or when the team dropped the first game of the final series to Ottawa, panic never set in. "The belief in ourselves and each other around the locker room was there all season despite some bumps in the road," said Rooney, who won all five games she started in the 2025 playoffs. "We never had a doubt." 'Unreal' goaltending performance Like Minnesota, Ottawa entered the stretch run of the regular season in a fight to make the playoffs. Things looked bleak in March when starting goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer was placed on long-term injured reserve. Enter Gwyneth Philips, the rookie goaltender who stepped into the starting role with ease. "She was unreal," Minnesota head coach Ken Klee said. "I thought in three out of the four games, if she doesn't play the way she played, then I don't think we go to overtime in any of them, to be honest with you." Philips finished her first playoff run with a 1.23 goals against average over more than 635 minutes of play. The performance earned her the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award, even though her team didn't win the championship. The crowd in Minnesota chanted and cheered for Philips as she skated over to receive the award. WATCH | Charge goaltender Philips claims Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award: Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips claims Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award 18 hours ago Duration 1:08 Philips told reporters after the game that she didn't hear the chants. The trophy she really wanted was the Walter Cup. "Right now, the individual award is superseded by the team loss," the goaltender said. "We were so close and we really wanted that. My accomplishments are attributed to the players in front of me. Maybe tomorrow it'll be nicer. But I really wanted that win." Beyond Philips, Ottawa found a top defence pairing of Ashton Bell and Jocelyne Larocque that could do a bit of everything, and a tough-to-play against top line of Gabbie Hughes, Emily Clark and Mannon McMahon. Ultimately, the team couldn't score more than Minnesota, falling one goal short three games in a row. If there's one area of missed opportunity, it's likely on the power play. Ottawa scored just once on 19 advantages throughout the postseason. Sitting between two devastated players after the game, Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod said she was proud of her players for giving it all they had. "The space was so limited in this series for both teams that everybody was doing their darnedest to try to score a goal and negate a goal," she said. "This isn't on one player's shoulders or one moment's shoulders. This was actually just the reflection of two great teams playing incredibly good hockey." The PWHL expansion draft: Explained 5 days ago Duration 0:55 CBC Sports' Karissa Donkin runs through the rules of the PWHL's expansion draft, explaining how new clubs in Seattle and Vancouver will fill their roster. Like Minnesota, tough decisions are coming in Ottawa. It's unlikely the team will be able to protect both Philips and Maschmeyer. Protecting one goaltender also means just two spots left for the likes of captain Brianne Jenner, Clark, Larocque, Bell and last year's second-overall pick, Danielle Serdachny. The last few minutes in the dressing room with this team, knowing they won't be back in full together again, was the hardest part, Jenner said. "This was a special group. We went through a lot this season. Showed a lot of resiliency." Change on the horizon While every team has tough decisions to make, some of the hardest ones might be coming in Minnesota. Protecting star forward Taylor Heise, who was last year's playoff MVP, would mean exposing one of the team's three foundational signings: Coyne Schofield, Pannek or Lee Stecklein. On the blue line, likely only one of Stecklein, Sophie Jaques Claire Thompson can make the initial protection list. Stecklein is a big part of the team's identity and leadership, and is one of the best defensive defenders in the world. Jaques and Thompson, meanwhile, boast offensive ability and hockey IQ, and both earned nominations for defender of the year. Klee has been able to cycle between Rooney and Nicole Hensley throughout the last two seasons, opting to go with whoever has the hot hand. That may be a thing of the past. Rooney is a free agent, while Hensley could be a target for an expansion team, should she not be protected. With a roster reset on the way, and the league growing to eight teams from six, winning the Walter Cup is only going to become harder to do. Minnesota is the only team that gets to properly celebrate the end of the original six era, with one last championship together.
