Ann-Renée Desbiens, Aerin Frankel and Gwyneth Philips were named the finalists for the 2026 PWHL Goaltender of the Year Award, the league announced on Thursday.
Desbiens, last year's winner, led the Montreal Victoire to their first Walter Cup title with a 4-0 shutout win over the Ottawa Charge on Wednesday, marking the first time a Canadian franchise has topped the league.
The Clermont, Que., native set single-season records with a 1.11 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage and co-led the league with a record 19 wins in 25 games.
Frankel has been named a finalist for the award with the Boston Fleet in each of the PWHL's three seasons. The 26-year-old from Chappaqua, N.Y., recorded a 1.17 GAA, a .953 save percentage, and shattered the single-season shutout record with eight, doubling the previous mark.
She finished the season with a career-high 631 saves on 662 shots, allowed one or fewer goals in 18 of her 26 starts, another single-season record, and logged the second-most minutes in league history with 1,583.
Philips took her Ottawa Charge to the finals for the first time in her second season in the league. The Athens, Ohio, native set a single-season record with 28 starts, including 18 straight to close the season.
The 25-year-old also set PWHL single-season records with 844 shots faced and 786 saves. She finished third in the league with 16 wins, a 2.12 GAA, a .931 save percentage and was the first goaltender to record multiple starts with 40-plus saves in a single season, which included a 42-save shutout on April 11.
Last season, the same three players were named finalists, and Desbiens won the award.
A selection committee cast their votes for six regular-season PWHL awards, and the winners of all six awards will be named on June 16 in Detroit.
