Prince Albert's Kaitlin Willoughby (left) and the Montreal Victoire will battle fellow Prince Albertan Brooke Hobson and the Ottawa Charge for this year's Walter Cup, marking the first all-Canadian finals in the leagues history. (Image Credit: Arianne Bergeron/Montreal Victoire, Josh Kim/Ottawa Charge)

By Logan Lehmann

For the crown

P.A. locals to go head-to-head in PWHL finals

May 13, 2026 | 11:40 AM

Two Prince Albert Northern Bear alumni are set to battle it out for the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s (PWHL) top prize.

The Walter Cup is up for grabs and it’s an all-Canadian matchup between Kaitlin Willoughby and the league-best Montreal Victoire, versus Brooke Hobson and the fourth-ranked Ottawa Charge.

The Victoire narrowly claimed the top-spot in the standings following the 30-game regular season, with a 16-6-2-6 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record. They actually tied Boston in points with 62 but earned the first seed due to having more overall wins throughout the season as the Fleet finished at 16-5-4-5.

Montreal needed all five games to get past the two-time defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost in the semifinals, where the clubs traded wins until the deciding Game 5. There, the Victoire edged the third-ranked Frost in a 2-1 nail-biter, with Marie-Philip Poulin scoring the game winner early in the third period. Willoughby has been held off of the scoresheet so far in the playoffs, registering a +2 in five games.

Le moment clé présenté par @QuickBooks , ou devrions-nous dire clutch, quand notre capitaine a marqué le but pour assurer notre place en finale de la Coupe Walter 😌

The play of the game presented by @QuickBooks : or, dare we say, clutch, when our captain scored the goal to… pic.twitter.com/APDjOaNZ8U

— xz – Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) May 13, 2026

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On the other side of the bracket, Hobson and the Charge faced off with the second-ranked Fleet where the underdogs dominantly prevailed.

Ottawa won three-straight games to take the series after Boston won Game 1, 2-1. The Charge didn’t look back following the loss as the went onto win 3-1, 2-1, and 4-3 (OT) in the following contests to advance to their second straight finals.

Hobson got in on the action in Game 4 to help Ottawa move on, where she scored the game-tying goal in the second period to force overtime. That set up Michela Cava to pot the game winner just 1:12 into the extra frame. Hobson also had two penalty minutes along with a -1 rating in the series.

🚨 Brooke Hobson (1)
🍎 Fanuza Kadirova
🍏 Kateřina Mrázová pic.twitter.com/2nIDEqKiKu

— x – Ottawa Charge (@PWHL_Ottawa) May 10, 2026

The Game 1 of the best-of-five Walter Cup finals between the Victoire and the Charge goes Thursday at 5 p.m. CST from Place Bell in Laval.

—

loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

by Logan Lehmann

P.A. locals to go head-to-head in PWHL finals

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