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ANNER RAISING HAS BECOME AN OPENING-NIGHT TRADITION FOR THE MINNESOTA FROST. Two years of the Professional Women's Hockey League has yielded two Walter Cup championship wins for the hometown team. But with the PWHL adding two new teams in Vancouver and Seattle, pillaging the Frost's roster and adding more roadblocks to glory, how feasible is it to go into a third year and claim a third straight title? "I feel like we got asked this same question last year about a repeat," Frost general manager Melissa Caruso said with a laugh. "It's unbelievable what we were able to accomplish going back-to-back. And the league is going to be very competitive this year with the expansion adding two new teams and more skilled players. "But we're excited for the challenge of a three-peat. That's definitely what we're trying to go for." Minnesota enters the 2025-26 without four of its top seven scorers from last season, finding itself heavily handicapped at the blue line with the expansion draft losses of Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson who were third and fifth in team scoring respectively. Jaques' absence will be felt the most. Her seven goals and 15 assists in 25 games last season tied for the lead in scoring among defenders with 22 points. Left unprotected by the expansion draft, Jaques signed a three-year contract with the Vancouver Goldeneyes in June. Thompson will also be hard to replace. A finalist for Defender of the Year after finishing with four goals and 14 assists in 30 games her rookie season she is now an alternate captain with the Goldeneyes. 25 THE MINNESOTA FROST'S QUEST FOR A THREE-PEAT IS UNDERWAY BY: JESSI PIERCE JAN/FEB 2 0 2 6 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M But we're excited for the challenge of a three-peat. That's definitely what we're trying to go for." -MELISSA CARUSO, GENERAL MANAGER Andover's Maddie Rooney, a 2018 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, continues to rack up the hardware.