ROCKFORD - The Rockford IceHogs came into Wednesday night's game against the Milwaukee Admirals with a 4-0 record in the playoffs. They swept the Chicago Wolves in the first round and took a 2-0 series lead over the Milwaukee Admirals in the second round to get to that point.

Feelings of relief quickly gave way to pride as Kendall Coyne Schofield assessed how the defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost refused to let their PWHL season end with a whimper. The Frost earned a return to the postseason by winning their final two games to clinch the fourth and final playoff berth by the slimmest of margins in a race Minnesota,

In an attempt to innovate, the young Professional Women’s Hockey League allows the top-seeded team in its four-team playoffs to choose its first-round opponent. A year ago, Toronto chose a fourth-seeded Minnesota team that had lost its final five regular-season games,