As a senior at Minnesota Duluth in 2022, former Centennial High School standout Gabbie Hughes had 33 goals for the Bulldogs and was a top three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top player in women’s college hockey.

She was on hand to see then-Gophers star Taylor Heise win the trophy. But Hughes has a chance at a kind of revenge three years later.

One of the key players for the Ottawa Charge, Hughes and her team got to the Walter Cup Final — which begins Tuesday evening in Canada’s capital city — largely by shutting down the Montreal Victoire’s top offensive players en route to winning their best-of-five semifinal series. 3-1.

Versus Minnesota Frost goal scorers like Heise, Michaela Cava and Kendall Coyne Schofield in the best-of-five Final, Hughes said she would relish the opportunity to play a shut-down role again.

“It takes a lot of pride in the D zone to do the job that we did (versus Montreal), and we did it well,” Hughes said this week. “It gave the rest of the team the opportunity to run with their game and play that offensive game. And on top of how great we did defensively, we produced too.”

Minnesota returns to the Final, which the Frost won in five games last season, having won five of its last six. The quintet of victories includes the final two regular season games, when Minnesota needed every available point just to qualify for the four-team postseason field.

After losing their regular season home finale and looking like a longshot to make the playoffs, the Frost responded with a 3-0 win in Ottawa and an 8-1 win in Boston to return to the playoffs with an exclamation point.

To prevent Minnesota from getting the three wins needed to repeat as Walter Cup champions and keep the silver chalice in the State of Hockey for another summer, it’s no secret Hughes and company will need to slow down that top line for the Frost, with Heise leading the way.

The first overall draft pick in PWHL history, Heise has six assists and just one goal in the playoffs, but it was the series-winner in overtime of Game 4 in their first round series win over Toronto.

Frost coach Ken Klee said the media and fan attention that comes from a return trip to the Final suits Heise perfectly.

“She’s a big time player, a big time personality, and she wants to shine when the lights are bright,” Klee said. “I think for her, standing up in these series is just a way of reaffirming that she’s one of the best players in the world, and is tough night in, night out.”

If there is a question for the Frost heading into Game 1, it might come in goal, where Klee has perhaps too many good options.

Maddie Rooney’s stats took a hit when Minnesota survived a crazy 7-5 win over Toronto in Game 3 of their series, but her playoff record is 2-0, which is the most vital statistic in May.

Nicole Hensley played the first and last contests of the Toronto series and was brilliant in keeping Minnesota in a game where it fell behind by a pair of goals but refused to go quietly.

“I think it’s no secret we’ve been relying on both of them to play well,” Klee said. “We did it last year, and it served us well, and I think we kind of had the same mindset this year.

“I think you look at their regular season … Maddie might have had a few more starts than Nicole,” Klee said. “But come into the year, it’s Nicole’s turn to step up, and she did so. For us .it’s either goalie in net. Our team has great confidence in them.”

Game 1 and Game 2 of the series will be played at TD Place in Ottawa on Tuesday and Thursday, with both games facing off at 6 p.m. CDT. Game 3 at Xcel Energy Center is a 4 p.m. CDT start on Saturday, with Game 4 if necessary slated for 4 p.m. CDT on Monday, May 26, which is Memorial Day.

If a decisive Game 5 is needed, it would be Wednesday, May 28 in Ottawa at 6 p.m. CDT. FanDuel Sports North will televise all of the games.