Toronto opens women’s hockey playoffs against a hand-picked opponent. They won’t say how they chose

Having the unusual option of choosing their playoff opponent wasn’t taken lightly by the staff and players of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Toronto franchise for clinching first-place in the standings.

So sensitive and in-depth were the discussions, coach Troy Ryan declined to disclose the reasons behind Toronto’s decision to face fourth-place Minnesota over third-place Boston — two teams who finished with identical 12-9-3 records (including four OT/SO wins apiece), with Boston having the tiebreaking edge.

“To be honest, from a hockey perspective, I think it would be somewhat irresponsible to tip my hat to the exact details,” Ryan said Monday night. “So at this point, we’ll keep that within house.”

Leave it to the PWHL to provide an intriguing plot twist entering the playoffs after its inaugural 72-game regular season in which the playoff race wasn’t settled until the final game. Toronto played a central role in determining the final standings with its season-ending 5-2 win over Ottawa on Sunday night eliminating Ottawa and securing Minnesota its playoff berth.

The concept of teams selecting playoff opponents has long been entertained in theory in North America’s four major pro sports, but yet to become a reality. The Southern Professional Hockey League introduced a pick-your-opponent first-round playoff format in 2018 before abandoning it two years later.

Toronto’s decision to choose Minnesota as its playoff opponent made sense in various aspects.

Toronto had a 3-1 record against Minnesota in the regular season, while going 3-2 against Boston. Minnesota closed the season losing its final five games, while Boston went 3-1-1, including a 2-1 win over Toronto.

Minnesota coach Ken Klee expressed little surprise in Toronto’s decision by saying: “To me, that’s who I expected.” He also noted that Minnesota logged the most air miles in a league whose other five teams are concentrated in the Northeast.

“If I was (Toronto), I would say who has the furthest to come and has the toughest travel to get here,” Klee said. “But in my mind, our group’s excited. We’re in the playoffs.”

Of all the aspects taken into consideration, ranging from analytics, head-to-head records, travel and injuries, among the most important, perhaps, was the fear of providing their opponent additional motivation entering the best-of-five semifinal series, which opens in Toronto…