Back in May, the Minnesota Frost became the first team to win the PWHL’s Walter Cup. On Sunday, they received the league’s first-ever championship rings.
Each ring is made of sterling silver with 18 purple amethyst gemstones and 74 genuine diamonds. They were designed in collaboration with Paris Jewellers as part of the league’s new multi-year partnership with the Canadian jewelry brand.
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The 26 players from the 2024 championship team, plus franchise staff, were given their rings in a private ceremony held on Sunday night after Minnesota’s 2-0 loss against the New York Sirens.
“This group will always carry the honor of being the first team in PWHL history to win the Walter Cup,” said Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield. “And now we will forever have these special championship rings that encapsulate the journey to the top.”
The design process took place over several months, with many calls between the company and PWHL to “make sure that it was really, really perfect” and “honored the story of the season,” said Chau Lui, co-owner of Paris Jewellers.
The top of the ring features the Walter Cup — the league’s trophy, designed and crafted by luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. — in the center, surrounded by 18 amethysts, which represent the number of wins Minnesota had en route to winning the inaugural championship. Purple is Minnesota’s primary jersey color, but the significance goes deeper.
“Amethyst is said to be the stone of resilience, strength and evolution,” said Lui. “It really just signified that entire journey.”
The 74 diamonds around the sides of the ring represent each goal scored over the course of the season. “Win one game,” a motto that was important to the team, is engraved inside the ring, along with the championship game’s date (May 29, 2024) and the final score (3-0).
Minnesota entered the playoffs last year as the lowest seed (4) after a five-game losing skid to end the regular season. The team was on the brink of elimination against Toronto, which got out to a 2-0 series lead, but Minnesota won three straight games to advance to the Final and upset Boston, the top-ranked team in the league, 3-2 with a Game 5 win at the Tsongas Center.
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“A lot of people counted us out,” Coyne Schofield said after Game 5. “As soon as we got in, we never looked back.”
The left side of the ring features each player’s name and their number. The right side says “INAUGURAL SEASON” below the league’s logo.
Kendall Coyne Schofield’s ring. (Courtesy of Paris Jewellers Canada)
“Paris Jewellers Canada did an outstanding job capturing the spirit and significance of the league’s inaugural champions by designing a ring that is distinctive to the PWHL and Minnesota, and that our players and staff will cherish,” said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations. “Winning a championship is the pinnacle in sports and these rings not only celebrate a landmark moment but are the culmination of a long journey and the beginning of a new era in women’s sports.”
Lui, who has two daughters who play hockey, said working with the PWHL on this project was one of the biggest honors of her career.
“It was beyond an honor to be trusted with the design of these rings,” she said. “And it means so much to our company. We’re a 90 percent female workforce, so for us to be partnered with the PWHL just means so much to the people in our organization.”
After Sunday’s loss to New York, Minnesota remains four points out of a playoff spot with only two games left in the season. According to a league release, the 2024-25 PWHL Playoffs will start the week of May 5.
The ring design process will begin again — with Lui and her company — once a new champion is crowned.
(Top photo of Kendall Coyne Schofield and championship ring: Troy Parla / Getty Images and Paris Jewellers Canada)
Hailey Salvian is a staff writer for The Athletic covering women’s hockey and the NHL. Previously, she covered the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators and served as a general assignment reporter. Follow Hailey on Twitter @hailey_salvian
