The PWHL gave the hockey world something it has craved for decades—an all-Canadian final. My Montreal Victoire will be facing off against the Ottawa Charge starting tonight at Place Bell, their home arena. You can watch the game on TSN in Canada or on ION in the United States starting at 7 pm. This will be the first time in the PWHL’s history that its final will be nationally broadcast in the United States.
Let’s first look at the Victoire’s opponent.
The Ottawa Charge
It’s been a roller coaster ride for the Kazoo Crew. Even though they lost last year’s final to the Minnesota Frost, Gwyneth Philips, their rookie goaltender, received the Ilana Kloss playoff MVP award. She took over from Emerance Maschmeyer after she sustained a gruesome goaltender injury mid-season, helping to take the Frost to the brink. They lost multiple players in the offseason thanks to expansion, including defenders Ashton Bell and Anna Tejlarova, who played key roles in keeping the puck away from Philips. The Charge sorely missed those players, as Philips had to become more of a brick wall in net.
The Charge also played the latter half of their season without their head coach, Carla MacLeod, as she underwent treatment for breast cancer (obligatory “F-k cancer” here). I would not blame them if they folded into mediocrity as they did in their first season. But the Charge did not want their season to end, and kept putting themselves in the playoff position, and thanks to Toronto’s collapse, they secured the fourth and final PWHL playoff position. They also
While one may think that the Charge only rely on Gwyneth Philips, that isn’t entirely true, although it helps to have a playoff MVP and goalie with a .951 save percentage in net. Brianne Jenner leads her team in scoring, with 26 points. She is also a part of their top line, which includes Rebecca Leslie and rookie Sarah Wozniewicz, who generated nearly half of Ottawa’s regular-season goals. Gabbie Hughes has also done well as a forward, placing third in scoring just outside of Jenner and Leslie with 16 points. But the biggest surprise has been Fanuza Kadirova, who was selected in the sixth round of last year’s PWHL entry draft. She led her team with 2 goals and 5 points against Boston, and I look forward to my fear of the goal horn going off every time she has the puck on her stick. Scoring from players not named Jenner and Leslie has helped them make it to the finals, but the Charge need them to get going.
And now
ALLEZ VICTOIRE!!!
Remember when the Victoire had the top spot in the league, chose the Charge, and then lost in Ottawa with chants of “You picked us!” in the background? I do! It’s not like I’ve thought about it every other week since the start of the season. The Victoire started off slow, but then found their game in January and February. The Olympics did take their toll—Erin Ambrose went on LTIR thanks to an Olympic injury, and captain Marie Philip Poulin re-aggravated her own Olympic affliction on March 15 (they later lost that game in overtime to the Boston Fleet). In their absence, players like Natàlie Mlýnkovà and Hayley Scamurra stepped up until Poulin and Ambrose joined the team. Rookie Nicole Gosling has also done well, scoring 19 points to place her in third below Abby Roque (our answer to Brad Marchand as a hockey pest) and Poulin. Once Poulin came back, she continued her clutch play, and has accrued two game winning goals in the first round against Minnesota.
Depth scoring has been a question that has surrounded the Victoire’s playoff run for the past two years—hopefully, those questions go away with it activated during the regular season. It also doesn’t hurt to have Ann Renée Desbiens, the French-Canadian brick wall in net. Like Philips, she has become the most valuable player on her team, and her save percentage (.940) is 10 points fewer than Philips. She has also had to outduel Maddie Rooney, especially in a Game 3 goalie-off that Desbiens came away the victor. I, for one, cannot wait for more goalie duels between Philips and Desbiens. Allez Victoire, and here’s to a good series.